Welded Pipe Manufacturing Process

You will learn about Welded Pipe Manufacturing Process such as SAW, ERW, EFW & HFW.

Welded Pipes are manufactured from Plate or from continues Coil or strips. To manufactured
welded pipe, first, Plate or coil is rolled in the circular section with the help of plate bending
machine or by a roller in the case of continues process.

Once the circular section is rolled from the plate, in second step pipe is weld with the help of
welding setup. A pipe can be welded with or without filler material using appropriate welding
method. Welded pipes are cheaper as compared to a seamless pipe and also weak due to
the weld joint. Welded pipe can be manufactured in large size without any upper restriction.
Welded pipe with filler material can be used in the manufacturing of long radius bends and
elbow.

Here, I have shown you a forming of the plate by rolling machine. In this method, the plate is
placed in between the pair of rollers. The plate is formed in circular section by gradually
applying the load on the top roller and rotating the plate. This method is used for manufacturing
of higher thickness SAW pipes. Instead of the roller, point pressing method which also known as
UO methods can also be used to form a circular section from the plate. UO means first you made
u shape & then O shape.

SAW Welded Pipe Manufacturing Method

In single seam SAW pipe, wedding is done with the help of submerged arc welding process. In
this method, a welding arc is submerged in welding flux. A Continues solid filler wire is fed
from the outside. The pipe is welded first inside and then from the outside.   

In the case of double seam saw pipe first two halves are joined by tack weld which is called fit-
up. Double seam saw pipe is havening a two weld seam opposite to each other. Both the seams
are welded from inside and outside of the pipe. In the case of high thickness pipe, multiple pass
welding is done.

In a spiral saw pipe, steel plate from the de-coiler is formed in a spiral loop. This spiral loop is
then welded from inside and outside of the pipe. Because of the method of manufacture, a wide
variety of diameters can be produced. Spiral saw pipes are used for low-pressure services.

Whereas straight saw pipes are used for medium to high-pressure services. Spiral saw pipes are
less costly compared to straight saw pipe.

Once the welding is completed heat treatment is carried out on the weld or on the full body of
pipe, this depends on the thickness of pipes. Weld seams are also subjected to various non-
destructive testing such as RT & UT to ensure the soundness of the weld material.

Once all NDT is completed pipes are hydro tested to ensure strength and ability to remain leak
proof under pressure. In the last stage of inspection, the pipe is checked visually and
dimensionally by competent inspection engineer. He will ensure that pipe is meeting the code,
standard, and specification requirements. Once the Inspection engineer cleared the pipe, it will
mark as per the standard requirements & send for the packaging.  

ERW / EFW or HFW Welded Pipe Manufacturing Process

Less thickness pipe, mainly ERW / EFW or HFW welded pipe are formed by continues rolling
method. In this method, a flat metal strip from the strip coil is feed into the series of roller
assembled in line. These rollers gradually form the strip in the circular section. At the end of
rolling assembly, this pipe is continuously welded by welding machine.

ERW/EFW and HFW are welding methods in which pipe is welded without adding filler
material. However, EFW welding method can be used with filler material also.

ERW Pipe Manufacturing Process

In ERW welding, two electrodes, usually made from copper, are used to apply pressure and
current. The electrodes are disc shaped and rotate as the material passes between them. This
allows the electrodes to stay in constant contact with the material to make long continuous
welds.

A welding transformer supplies low voltage, high current AC power. The joint of the pipe has
high electrical resistance relative to the rest of the circuit and is heated to its melting point by the
current. The semi-molten surfaces are pressed together with a force that creates a fusion bond,
resulting in a uniformly welded structure.

HFW Pipe Manufacturing Process

In HFW welding, a high-frequency current is used to create weld joints. Whereas, in EFW
welding process, the external high energy electric arc is used to create a weld joint. Once the
welding is done, the excess weld material from outside and inside of the pipe is removed with
the help of trimmer tools.

In general, to reduce the negative effect of welding, a localized heat treatment of weld seam is
carried out immediately it clears online ultrasonic test. Normally an induction heating method is
used to restore microstructure of welded zone. This type of heat treatment is known as post
annealing. In next stage, the pipe will go through Hydro testing, visual and dimensional
inspection and once certified by inspection engineer it will send for packaging.

This is all about welded pipe manufacturing process.