FEM-Based Comparison of Mandrel Wear Resulting from Elongation of Pipes Manufactured from Various Materials on a Two-Roll Screw Rolling Mill

The present article discusses the cylindrical mandrel wear change during rolling using MISIS - 130 D mill depending on the type of rolled billets materials used. The research on the mandrel wear of the screw rolling mill during pipes elongation was carried out using the finite element method (FEM). The results of the wear modeling showed that the depth of the metal removed on the mandrel surface during stainless steel pipes elongation was higher as compared to alloyed and carbon steel pipes. The significant wear of the mandrel during stainless steel pipe rolling can be explained by the rise in the applied metal force resulting from the introduction of alloying components such as chromium and nickel into rolled billets materials. Consequently, the obtained modeling results can allow predicting the service life of working tools.

Experimental evaluation of step-by-step and continuous flaring methods for fixing thick-walled tubes in thick tubesheets

В работе рассматривается актуальная задача крепления толстостенных труб в толстых трубных решетках в теплообменных аппаратах. В настоящее время в теплообменных аппаратах с толстыми трубными решетками широко применяются так называемые комбинированные соединения, изготовление которых предусматривает предварительную развальцовку концов труб на конус, сварку концов труб с трубной решеткой и последующую радиальную раздачу труб на всю толщину трубной решетки. В работе проведена оценка технических возможностей пошаговых и ленточно-винтовых вальцовок при развальцовке толстостенных труб в толстых трубных решетках. Дано сравнение качества образцов соединений по критериям герметичности, прочности и состоянию поверхностей на развальцованных участках труб, полученных двумя различными способами развальцовки: пошаговым и непрерывным. Приведена сравнительная количественная оценка затрат времени, требуемого для развальцовки труб тем или иным способом. В процессе развальцовки труб в образцах было установлено, что как пошаговые, так и ленточно-винтовые вальцовки способны развальцовывать толстостенные трубы с соотношением внутреннего и наружного диаметров близким к 0,66 (если это отношение меньше 0,66, то такие трубы принято считать «невальцуемыми»). В результате исследований установлено, что вальцовки ЛВК могут успешно применяться для закрепления особо толстостенных труб малых диаметров в толстых трубных решетках, для которых применение пошаговых вальцовок может быть проблематичным из-за высокой вероятности поломки (скручивания) веретен. The paper considers the actual problem of fixing thick-walled tubes in thick tubesheets in heat exchangers. Currently, so-called combined joints are widely used in heat exchangers with thick tubesheets, the manufacture of which provides for pre-rolling the ends of the tubes into a cone, welding the ends of the tubes with a tubesheet and subsequent radial distribution of tubes to the entire thickness of the tubesheet. The paper evaluates the technical capabilities of step-by-step and band-screw rolling when rolling thick-walled tubes in thick tubesheets. The quality of joint samples is compared according to the criteria of tightness, strength and condition of surfaces on the rolled sections of tubes obtained by two different methods of expanding: step-by-step and continuous. A comparative quantitative assessment of the time required for tube expanding in one way or another is given. In the process of expanding tubes in the samples, it was found that both step-by-step and tape-screw rolling rolls are able to roll thick-walled tubes with a ratio of internal and external diameters close to 0.66 (if this ratio is less than 0.66, then such tubes are considered "non-expanding". As a result of the research, it is proved that LVK rollers can be successfully used for fixing especially thick-walled tubes, for which the use of step-by-step rollers can be problematic due to the high probability of breakage (twisting) of the spindles.

Seamless Pipes Manufacturing Process Improvement Using Mandreling

The paper discusses the specific aspects of hot rolled seamless pipes manufacture using pipe rolling plants including screw-rolling mills. The method of accuracy enhancement of pipe dimensions, as well as external and internal surface quality improvement, is proposed. The article specifies the results of computer and physical modeling of the pipes mandreling process. The application of the mandreling process within the cage using different diameter mandrels is shown. We managed to decrease the typical mark caused by the metal deformation, due to the screw-rolling mill and to manufacture pipes with more accurate dimensions, as a result of the mandreling process modeling. The results of the physical experiment on mandreling the shell pierced at the screw-rolling mill showed a positive effect from the process of hollow billet cold treatment using the mandrel.

Comparative analysis of damage criteria for screw rolling using computer simulation

Two-high screw rolling of billets was carried out using a MISIS-130D rolling mill. AISI 321 steel billets were deformed with feed angles of rolls of 6°, 12°, 18° and 24°. The diameter reduction was 17%, with the initial billets’ diameter being 60 mm. An axial fracture, the so-called Mannesmann effect, of the billets was observed after screw rolling. The experimental rolling was simulated using QForm finite element method software. Initial and boundary conditions were set in concordance with the experimental rolling. Several damage criteria were used for fracture prediction during computer simulation. The results of computer simulation of fracture prediction were compared with the billets fracture after screw rolling for stationary and non-stationary stages. The most effective parameter (in terms of fracture prediction) is triaxiality. The distribution of this parameter showed that the higher the feed angle value is, the lower the fracture risk is. Notably, the risk of fracture is lower at a stationary stage compared with the same risk of fracture at a non-stationary stage; the listed trends agree with experimental rolling results. The Oyane, Ayada, Brozzo, and Cockroft-Latham Normalized criteria are partly effective. These criteria are ineffective for fracture prediction 6 degrees feed angle of rolls because they showed that fracture is most probable at the billet’s surface, which contradicts the experimental rolling results. All these criteria are partly effective when predicting a less fracture risk at a stationary stage compared with the same criteria at a non-stationary stage or when predicting a decrease of fracture with increasing the rolls feed angle.

Statistical Research of Stainless Austenitic Steel Grain Size Distribution after Screw Rolling

Screw rolling of austenitic stainless-steel billets was conducted in two- and three-high mills. Statistical research results showed that, compared to heated but not rolled conditions, both screw rolling techniques provided a decrease of grain size, variance, grain size distribution asymmetry, and excess in the billet cross-section at the stationary stage of screw rolling. At that stage, grain size distribution after two-high screw rolling is closer to normal in terms of asymmetry and excess values compared to grain-size distribution after three-high screw rolling. A strong negative correlation between strain effective values and grain-size values for the cross-section of the rolled billets at the stationary stage was revealed for both two- and three-high screw rolling.