DS-1 Receiving Inspection T

H HILL ASSOCIATES, INC.

Drillpipepurchaserswilloftenordertheir
newstringofdrillpipetobeinspectedto
DS1Category5asawaytoensurethat
thestringishighqualityandfitforuse.
StandardDS1doescoverthemanufacturing
processinVolume1,butspecifyingaCat.5
inspectiononnewdrillpipehaslittleimpact
onqualityandwillincreaseshortandlong
termexpenseforthepipeowner.

Category5inspections(andothercategories)
arefullydefinedinDS1Volume3,an
inspectionstandarddevotedtoused
equipment.Themostimportanttypeofflaw
thatmightbefoundinausedinspectionisa
fatiguecrack,soallflawindicationsareassumedtobefatiguecracksandareimmediately
rejected.Nogrindingorreworkisallowed,becausethesteelwillsimplycrackagain.

ACat.5inspectiononnewpipeissuperfluousasitiscertaintonothavefatiguecrackingit
hasnotbeenloadedyet.Anyflawindicationsaremanufacturingdefects,likeseamsandlaps,
whicharegenerallyharmlessaslongastheamountofsolidmetalinthatareaisadequate.

Receiving Inspection
TheReceivingInspectionsdefinedbyDS1Volume1aredesignedto
findthoserepairablemanufacturingflawswhichwouldberejected
accordingtoVolume3.Sincetheinspectorknowsthatthoseflawsare
notrelatedtofatigue,theyaregroundormachinedout.

TherearemandatorymillinspectionsinVolume1andAPI
specifications.Thesemillinspectionsfindimperfectionsthatoftenexist
informedpipe,andrejectthosethatarelargeenoughtosignificantly
affecttheloadcarryingcapacityofthestring.Smallerimperfectionsare
correctlyconsideredharmless.

AReceivingInspectiondoesnotreplacethemillinspection;itisaway
toremovethoseharmlessmanufacturingdefectsbeforethepipeisputin
servicetopreventthepipefrombeingrejectedinfutureinspections.

Thisistheheartoftheproblem:defectsthatareacceptableinthenewinspectionsareunac
ceptableinusedinspections.Afteruse,anyimperfectionisassumedtoresultfromfatigue,and
theconservativeapproachisthecorrectone.However,thisleadstopipebeingrejectedfor
manufacturingimperfections(whichwouldnotcauseafailure)becauseitmightbeafatigue
crack(whichcouldcauseafailure).

Receivinginspectionssimplyallowustoremovethosesmallmanufacturingflawsatatime
whenweknowthattheyarenotfatiguecracks.

2013THHillAssociates,Inc.

 DS-1 Receiving Inspection T H HILL ASSOCIATES, INC.

Inspection Category (from Volume 3)

Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 HDLS
3.4 Visual Tube 3.4 Visual Tube 3.4 Visual Tube 3.4 Visual Tube
Receiving Inspection (Volume 1)

3.5 OD Gage 3.5 OD Gage 3.5 OD Gage 3.5 OD Gage

3.6 UT Wall 3.6 UT Wall 3.6 UT Wall 3.6 UT Wall
3.7 EMI 3.7 EMI 3.7 EMI 3.7 EMI
Methods
3.11 Visual Conn. 3.11 Visual Conn. 3.11 Visual Conn. 3.11 Visual Conn.
Required
3.13 Dimensional 1 3.13 Dimensional 2 3.13 Dimensional 2 3.13 Dimensional 2
(from
3.9 MPI Slip/Upset 3.9 MPI Slip/Upset 3.9 MPI Slip/Upset
Volume 3)
3.10 UT Slip/Upset 3.10 UT Slip/Upset
3.15 Blacklight 3.15 Blacklight
3.8 Heat Checking 3.8 Heat Checking
3.32 FLUT 2

Dimensions Project Specific

Imperfections Removed

AReceivingInspection,then,consistsoftakingalreadymillinspectedpipeandinspectingit
again.Thistimeinspectionproceduresdesignedforusedequipmentareapplied,andanyindi
cationsarehighlighted.Thoseindicationsareremoved,eitherbygrindingormachining,and
therepairedpipemustbeinspectedinexactlythesamewayyetagain.

ReceivingInspectionsaretimeconsumingandexpensive.

Butthatcosthasapurpose.Ifsmallmanufacturingimperfectionsare
foundduringtheReceivingInspection,andthoseflawsareremoved,
thenthatjointofpipewillnotbescrappedinfutureinspectionsfor
manufacturingflaws.Giventhecostandrentalratesfordrillpipe,
removingthisriskisworththemoneyandeffortformanypipe
buyers.

ItsalsousefultorememberthatReceivingInspectionsareentirely
optional.MillinspectionsarerequiredbyDS1Volume1andAPI
specifications,sothepipethatabuyerreceivesiscontrolledtoa
certainlevelofqualityalready.Theadditionalinspectionmaybe
skippedifthebuyeriswillingtoaccepttheadditionalriskthatthere
maybejointsthatareunnecessarilyrejectedlater.

Pipebuyershaveaproblem,onethatdirectlyorindirectlyaffects
everyuserofdrillstemequipment:itispossibletomanufacturebrandnewpipethatwillthen
beunacceptablewheninspectedafteruse.ButaReceivingInspectioncanfixthatproblem,lead
ingtolongerlastingdrillpipestringsandreducedwaste.

THHillAssociates,Inc.
(281)6715700www.thhill.com

2013THHillAssociates,Inc.