Tube and Pipe Production

1. Introduction

2. Production by extrusion

3. Production by drawing

4. Other methods

5. Production defects

Suez Canal University 1

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.

Tube drawing equipments

Tubes produced by hot deformation by rolling, extrusion or

piercing are often finished by drawing (cold deformation) with
the aims:-
- to reach close dimension tolerance.
- to improve the surface finish.
- increase mechanical propertied (by strain hardening).
- to produce tubes with irregular shape.

Drawing bench

Suez Canal University 2

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.
 Tube drawing processes

1- Sinking 2- Plug drawing 3- Mandrel drawing

Fixed plug Floating plug

Suez Canal University 3

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.

1- Tube extrusion using hollow billet

There are two methods to produce tubes by extrusion:-

1- Using a hollow billet as starting material.

The hole may be produced from casting, by machining or
by hot piercing in a separate process.

Piercing of a billet prior

to extrusion

Difficulties:-
Oxidation of the internal surface of the hole.
Production of the tube in one press action.

Suez Canal University 4

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.
 2-Tube extrusion by Piercing and Extrusion in one step
A more satisfactory method of producing extruded tubes is to
use a solid billet which is pierced and extruded in one step.

Piercing and Extrusion

in one step

The mandrel motion is separate from the motion of the extrusion ram. In the
double action processes, the mandrel is withdrawn, then the ram is pressed
to force the metal through the die.
The clearance between the mandrel and the die wall determines the tube
wall thickness.
A concentric whole and axial movement of the mandrel produces concentric
tubes and equal deformation resistance over the cross section.

Suez Canal University 5

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.

3- Tube extrusion using pothole die

A third method which is used for extrusion of tubes from

aluminum and magnesium alloys, using a porthole die with
press and without mandrel.

Suez Canal University 6

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.
 3- Tube extrusion using pothole die - cont.

In porthole die the metal is forced to flow through the separate

streams and around the central bridge which support the short
mandrel. The separate streams come together and welded in a
chamber to exit in form of tube.
Because there is no atmospheric contaminants, a sound weld will
be obtained. Beside tubing, porthole extrusion is used to produce
irregular shapes of aluminium.

Suez Canal University 7

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.

Seamless pipe and tubing

Pipe and tubing may be

classified into:
• Seamless pipe.
• Welded pipe.

Mannesmann mill Plug rolling mill

• Mannesmann mill is used to produce a rotary piercing of steel and
copper billet using two barrel shaped rotary mill fixed at an angel to
each others. Mannesmann mill doesn't help to produce reduced
wall and elongated finished hot-worked tube.

•In plug rolling mill, the tube is driven over a long mandrel
containing a plug
Suez Canal University 8
Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.
 Seamless pipe and tubing

Three roll piercing mill Reeling mill

• Three roll piercing mill produces more concentric tubes with

smoother inside and outside than Mannesmann design.

• Reeling mill irons the outside and the inside surface and
remove the slight oval shape and is usually one of the last
steps in the production of pipe or tubing.
Suez Canal University 9
Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.

Pipe drawing defects: Residual stresses

Tubes produced by sinking, with uniform deformation through
the wall thickness, the longitudinal residual stresses are tensile
on the outer surface and compression on the inner surface.
The circumferential and radial stresses are in the pattern (they
are nearly negligible) and increases with increasing the
reduction in diameter.

Residual stress of tubes produced by drawing over a plug

and mandrel showed the same distribution as for tube sinking.

Considerable reduction in residual stresses could be achieved

by tandem drawing, whereby a small reduction (2%) following
the main reduction.

Suez Canal University 10

Dr. Eng. Sabbah Ataya
Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Eng.