Material Selection for the Subsea Industry

Assignment
1. AISI 4130 Ferrous, Low Alloy Steel, Cast.
A216 WCC Ferrous, Low Carbon Steel, Cast.
AISI 316 - Ferrous, Stainless Steel, Austenitic, Wrought.
AISI 220 Ferrous, Stainless Steel, Duplex, Wrought. Secon! "eneration Duplex#
I!C"!#$ 62 $on Ferrous, $ic%el Chro&iu& Alloy, Wrought.
'. AISI 4130 (Fe 97-98.2%, Cr 0.8-1.1%, Mn 0.4-0.9%, C 0.28-0.33%, Mo 0.15-0.25%, Si 0.1-
0.35%, P 0-0.04%, S 0-0.04%)
A216 WCC (Fe 96.4%, Mn 0-1.2%, Cr 0-0.5%, Si 0-0.6%, Ni 0-0.5%, Cu 0-0.3%, C 0-0.25%, Mo
0-0.2%, S 0-0.045%, V 0-0.03%)
AISI 316 (Fe, 61.3 72%, Cr 16 18.5%, Ni 10-14%, Mo 2.0-3.0%, Mn 0-2.0%, Si 0-1.0%, C 0-
0.08%, S 0-0.03%, P 0-0.04%)
AISI 2205 (Fe, 63.7 71.4%, Cr 21 23%, Ni 4.5-6.5%, Mo 3-3.5%, Mn 0-2%, Si 0-1.0%, N
0.08-0.2%, C 0-0.03%, S 0-0.02%, P 0-0.03%)
INCONEL 625 (Ni 58-64.9%, Cr 20-23%, Mo 8-10%, N 3.15-4.15%, !" 3.1-4.2%, Co 0.84-1%,
Fe 0-5%, #$ 0-0.4%, C 0-0.1%, Si 0-0.5%, Mn 0-0.5%, !i 0-0.4%, P 0-0.015%, S 0-0.015%)
('.
)he heat treat&ent o* &etals enables the crystal structure o* steels to be &anipulate! to gain speci*ic
&echanical properties. )he heat treat&ent o* steel begins with raising the te&perature o* the steel to
a speci*ic te&perature at a speci*ic rate to gain the !esire! grain structure %ee &r"'( 2.1#. )he
te&perature o* the steel is &aintaine! at the re+uire! te&perature *or a speci*ie! ti&e to allow
internal stresses to be relie,e! %ee &r"'( 2.2# an! *inally the steel is coole! at a speci*ie! rate to
gain the !esire! grain si-e an! structure that will exhibit the re+uire! &echanical properties o* the
steel.
A lot o* the ,ariables in the heat treat&ent process are !eter&ine! by the &etals carbon content (%ee
&r"'( 2.1) an! the !esire! crystal structure. For exa&ple, i* the purpose o* heat treat&ent is to
increase the &etals !uctility an! so*tness then a *errite grain structure woul! be !esirable, howe,er,
the bo!y centre! cubic .CC# structure o* *errite is only achie,able with &etals containing /./''wt
0 carbon. Co&parati,ely, the *ace centre! cubic FCC# o* ausentite grains witnesse! in steels at
high te&peratures can acco&&o!ate up to '.11wt0 carbon an! can be coole! to *or& a peralite
grain structure.
)here are three !istinct cooling processes e,i!ent in C2S 2!upac%. Firstly, there is the annealing
process. )he annealing processes is a &etho! o* slowly cooling the heate! steel in a heate! *urnace
in or!er to so*ten a steel an! &a%e it &ore wor%able. &r"'( 3.2 shows how cooling a steel o,er a
long perio! o* ti&e at a high te&perature results in the pro!uction o* coarse pearlite. Allowing the
steel to cool o,er a longer perio! o* ti&e allows a &ore uni*or& cooling rate through the &aterial
creating a &ore uni*or& grain structure which can restore lost !uctility within the &aterial. At the
sa&e ti&e a slower cooling rate allows &ore ti&e *or internal stresses to wor% there way out o* the
&aterial as !islocations are re*or&e! in the re-*or&ing crystal structure which increases the
har!ness o* the &aterial. )he higher the heating te&perature the &ore uni*or& the steel will beco&e
!uring cooling.
"raph '.3 highlights the positi,e bene*its o* the annealing process to the toughness an! !uctility o*
the &etal.
An alternati,e cooling process to annealing is to use a process calle! nor&alising. $or&alising
cools the steel at a *aster rate than annealing as it allows the steel to cool in air at roo& te&perature.
)he increase! rate o* cooling pro!uces a stronger an! har!er &etal than the annealing process as
seen in &r"'( 2.4.
)he reason *or the increase in strength is that with &ore rapi! cooling there is less o* the so*ter
*errite grain structure *or&e! as the carbon &olecules ha,e less ti&e to !i**use *ro& the lattice
structure resulting in the *or&ation o* high carbon content pearlite an! ce&entite *or&ing.
$or&alising pro!uces a &uch *iner grain pattern o* pearlite an! ce&entite as there is a ,ery
localise! buil! up o* iron carbi!es ce&entite# as the carbon !i**uses +uic%ly *ro& the FCC
structure present at austenitic te&peratures.
)he *inal cooling process a,ailable *or steels is to increase the cooling rate *urther by +uenching the
hot steel in a cool li+ui! in a process %nown as +uenching or har!ening. 4n this process the cooling
rate is so rapi! that the carbon cannot !i**use *ro& the FCC structure present in austenite an!
beco&es trappe!, pro!ucing a &artensitic steel. (uenching pro!uces the har!est, strongest an! &ost
brittle steels out o* the three cooling options as can be seen in &r"'( 2.4.
)he +uenching process o*ten pro!uces steels that are so har! an! brittle they are un-wor%able. )o
restore so&e !uctility to the steel, the &etal is heate! up post-+uenching to relie,e so&e o* the
internal stresses in a process calle! te&pering. )he process in,ol,es heating the brittle &artensitic
structure allowing the trappe! carbon to !i**use into the surroun!ing structure pro!ucing layers o*
ce&entite. Why low alloy steels per*or& the best56
%3&
A &aterial reco&&en!ation *or a short length Su%e" F$o) *ine using .S 2$ 1/'/7-' L888 as a
co&parable &aterial.
1&'eneral (lo)line *esign S+ecifications
1.1 Subsea *lowlines transport the pro!uction *lui! *ro& the well hea!, a long the seabe! to the
base o* a riser that extracts the pro!uction *lui! to a processing *acility at sur*ace le,el. Flowlines
are typically entrenche! into the seabe! to a,oi! exposure to strong currents.
1.1.1 )he pro!uction *lui! enters the *lowline *ro& the well at high te&perature an! high
pressure. As the pro!uction *lui! tra,els a long the *low line heat !issipates into the surroun!ing
en,iron&ent creating a ther&al ,ariance along the pipe which can result in ther&al buc%ling. For
this reason *lowlines &ust be &a!e o* non-brittle &aterials that allow so&e elastic !e*or&ation. 4n
a!!ition, as the pro!uction *lui! cools there is an increase! chance o* a buil! up o* hy!rates on the
internal sur*ace o* the pipe. 9,erall, the ther&al per*or&ance o* the *lowline is a %ey consi!eration
when !esigning *lowlines.
i
1.1.' Flowlines are costly an! !i**icult to replace. Any !a&age !uring installation an! !uring its
operation &ust be %ept to a &ini&u&. )he &aterials resistance to crac% *or&ation an! crac%
propagation are both i&portant *actors when consi!ering &aterials. Choosing a &aterial with a high
toughness &ini&ises the *lowlines li%elihoo! to *racture an! *or that *racture to propagate the length
o* the *lowline.
1.1.3 )he irregularity o* the sea *loor o*ten re+uires *low line routes to na,igate nu&erous pea%s
an! troughs an! the *low line &ust be able to cope with the &echanical stresses an! a!!e! internal
corrosion proble&s this brings. )his re+uire&ent will test the yiel! strength an! corrosi,e resistance
o* the &aterial. A &aterial &ust ha,e a high yiel! strength an! an a!e+uate *atigue strength to
ensure its per*or&ance is &aintaine! throughout its !esign li*e
1.' :aterial 2n,iron&ent - Subsea *lowlines are typically !eploye! in low te&perature
en,iron&ents Sea be! te&perature ; 1<C# where they are expose! to strong currents an! high
hy!rostatic pressures. )he &aterial &ust ha,e goo! resistance to salt water corrosion externally an!
goo! resistance to the corrosion an! erosion experience! *ro& the pro!uction *lui!s insi!e the pipe.
)here is also a possibility that the &il!ly aci!ic pro!uction *lui! &ay contain hy!rogen sulphi!e
creating a sour gas en,iron&ent= this &ust be ta%en into account !uring &aterial selection.
1.3 Fiel! Application 4nstalling *lowlines in,ol,es lowering the pipe sections *ro& the sur*ace
to the seabe!. )he &echanical stresses en!ure! by lowering cables an! pipe sections !uring this
process can be &ini&i-e! i* the pipe weight is %ept to a &ini&u&. For this reason, the speci*ic
strength the strength to weight ratio# &ust be consi!ere! when reco&&en!ing a &aterial.
1.3.1 Flowlines are installe! at great !epths an! the installation can be ,ery !i**icult. 4n or!er to
assist in both the *abrication an! installation o* the *lowlines it is ,ital that the &aterial selecte! is
wel!able.
1.3.' Finally, the o,erri!ing *actor to consi!er when selecting a &aterial is the &aterial>s cost. All
!esigns &ust wor% within a pro?ect bu!get an! any &aterial reco&&en!ation &ust a!here to this
*act.
2& S+ecific (lo)line A++lication
'.1 )he .S 2$ 1/'/7 L888 &aterial has the che&ical co&position e+ual to that in !"$e 3.1 an!
the &ini&al &echanical properties as liste! in !"$e 3.2.
!"$e 3.1 +S ,N10208 *555 -(e.i-"$ -o.'o%i/ion.
(C,V."0 C"ron ,1ui2"$en-e3 /o e "4ree5 (/".))
!"$e 3.2 +S ,N10208 *555 .e-("ni-"$ 'ro'er/ie% re1uire.en/
(6. !en%i$e S/ren4/(, 6/0.5 7ie$5 S/ren4/( 8or 0.5% ,$on4"/ion)
4n a!!ition to these &echanical properties there are also se,eral re+uire&ents speci*ic to the
!i&ensions o* the *lowline !esign. )hese re+uire&ents will be ta%en into consi!eration !uring the
&aterial selection test an! analysis section.
)he .S 2$1/'/7 also co&&ents on the re+uire&ent highlighte! in 1.3= 9/(e re1uire.en/% 8or /(e
-(e.i-"$ -o.'o%i/ion o8 /(e %/ee$% "n5 in '"r/i-u$"r /(e $i.i/in4 2"$ue% 8or /(e -"ron e1ui2"$en/
C,V ("2e een %e$e-/e5 /o in%ure /("/ /(e %/ee$% 5e$i2ere5 in "--or5"n-e )i/( /(i% 5o-u.en/ "re
)e$5"$e.:
ii
)he C2@
&ax
*or $ is greater than /.13 an! there*ore the .S 2$1/'/7 reco&&en!s
a C2@
&ax
be agree! be*ore &anu*acture. Aro,i!ing the C2@
&ax
re&ains below /.18, then the
&aterial can be classi*ie! as ha,ing goo! wel!ability as re+uire! by .S 2$1/'/7.(See #''en5i0
!"$e 1).
4n a!!ition to being co&parable to 2$ 1/'/7 L888, the reco&&en!e! &aterial &ust also be *it *or
purpose in all the re+uire! *iel!s highlighte! in the 1.;e%i4n S'e-i8i-"/ion abo,e. )o ensure the
&aterial is *it *or purpose it &ust hol! co&parable &echanical properties to the &aterials alrea!y in
use in the subsea en,iron&ent liste! in (1. !"$e 3.3 shows the &axi&u& an! &ini&u&
&echanical properties that the reco&&en!e! &aterial &ust be withinB
Table 3.3 S(o)in4 /(e r"n4e o8 .e-("ni-"$ 'ro'er/ie% o8 ."/eri"$% in Q1, " re-o..en5e5 ."/eri"$ .u%/ ("2e
-o.'"r"$e 'ro'er/ie%.
(Fr"-/ure /ou4(ne%% %ee #''en5i0 &r"'( 13F"/i4ue S/ren4/( "/ 10<7 -=-$e% See #''en5i0 &r"'( 23 7oun4>%
Mo5u$u% %ee #''en5i0 &r"'( 3 )
L555
555 675
625
0.9
ELONGATION (% at Fracture) 18%
YIELD T!ENGT" (#$a)
TENILE T!ENGT" (#$a)
!
%
& !
t0.5
' ( #) $ * N+ T(
L555 0.16% 0.,5% 1.80% 0.0-% 0.02% 0.10% 0.06% 0.06%
'E*
%a.
t+a.
#() #a.
Fracture T/u01)e22 (#$a) 29 -58
Fat(0ue tre)0t1 (#$a) 207 6-9
Y/u)032 #/4u5u2 (G$a) 189 201
4* we apply the li&its in !"$e 3.3 to the !atabase o* &aterials in 2!upac% '/13 we gain the
*ollowing resultsB
C' out o* 3D/8 &aterials ha,e &echanical properties that are e+ui,alent to 2$ .S1/'/7 L888 an!
ha,e co&parable &echanical properties to existing in!ustry &aterials. &r"'( 3.1 highlights the
acceptable &aterials in blue. )he &aterials are ran%e! by their speci*ic strength an! categori-e! into
those with suitable !urability in a salt water en,iron&ent. At this stage, the i!eal &aterial will ha,e
a high speci*ic strength an! excellent !urability in salt water con!itions.
So&e acceptable &aterials are only categori-e! as >li&ite! use> but a corrosion resistant alloy
CEA# can be applie! to the sur*ace o* the &etal to !ecrease the rate o* corrosion &a%ing the&
&ore suitable *or the subsea en,iron&ent. Fowe,er, as this speci*ic *lowline is only >%(or/> in length
the cost o* the CEA lining will be expensi,e per unit length o* piping, there*ore all poorly
per*or&ing &etals will be !isregar!e! at this stage.
)he next stage in the &aterial reco&&en!ation is to ran% the acceptable &aterials with respect to
the !esign re+uire&ents highlighte! in 1.1 ;e%i4n re1uire.en/%. Consi!eration 1.1.1 i!enti*ies the
ther&al per*or&ance o* the &aterial as a %ey *actor when !esigning *lowlines. )he ability o* the
&aterials to cope with stress cause! by ther&al expansion when co&pare! to the *racture toughness
is illustrate! in &r"'( 3.2.
At this stage in the selection we are loo%ing *or &aterials that ha,e a high *racture toughness to
pre,ent crac% propagation along the *low line an! exhibit a low ther&al stress to pre,ent buc%ling
an! internal stresses at high te&perature !i**erentials. Currently the $ic%el-base! &etals an! the
Duplex Stainless steel &etals are best suite! to this re+uire&ent, with certain :artensitic stainless
steels also pro!ucing attracti,e results.
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)he ther&al stress in &r"'( 3.2 will be !rastically re!uce! in the *iel! by insulating the *lowline,
howe,er the &ini&isation o* ther&al stress begins with initial &aterial selection *or the *lowline.
With this in &in!, austenitic stainless steels &ay be !isregar!e! because o* the potential *or high
ther&al stresses an! low *racture resistance to *racture propagation.
)he next stage in the process is to !eter&ine which &aterials possess the yiel! strength an! the
corrosi,e resistance to the pro!uction *lui!s that are highlighte! in 1.1.3. &r"'( 3.3 co&pares the
speci*ic strength against the price per %g o* &aterial o* the &etals categorise! as ha,ing >2xcellent>
!urability in a wea% aci! Sour "as# 2n,iron&ent. )he cost o* the &aterial has been consi!ere! as
there can be a case &a!e *or selecting &ore expensi,e &aterial i* less &aterial can be use! to gain
the !esire! !esign strength. )he graph shows that the $ic%el-base! &etals, *or exa&ple 4$C9$2L,
o**er co&parable Speci*ic Strengths but at a &uch higher cost.
Co&paring &r"'( 3.2 an! 3.3 there is a clear tra!e o** between *racture toughness an! the cost o*
the &aterial. 4* exceptional toughness is re+uire! it co&es at cost. For the purpose o* a >short>
*lowline, the bene*it o* ha,ing exceptional toughness is not worth the expense an! there*ore at this
stage it is ?usti*iable to !isregar! the $ic%el-base! &etals.
.elow is a table o* the best per*or&ing &aterials that ha,e &a!e it through the li&itations
co&paring their corrosion resisti,ity an! there Carbon 2+ui,alence C2@.# 4n a!!ition their
per*or&ance on the &r"'(% 3.1 an! &r"'( 3.2 is also ran%e!.
)he &artensitic stainless steels outper*or& the Duplex steels on their ther&al per*or&ance an!
PRE
ta()5e22 2tee59 %arte)2(t(c9 1585$" 6.5 9.5 15.5 17.5 1 -
ta()5e22 2tee59 %arte)2(t(c9 'u2t/% ,50 ,.9 6.07 15.5 19.- 2 2
ta()5e22 2tee59 %arte)2(t(c9 $" 1-88#/ 5.7 8 8.6 1, 15.5 - ,
ta()5e22 2tee59 4u75e.9 LD:2101 5.29 26 6 1
ta()5e22 2tee59 4u75e.9 6N -2550 7.28 9.7 -5.2 ,-.9 , 5
ta()5e22 2tee59 4u75e.9 6N -2760 6.-- 7.9- -7.1 ,, 5 6
!E" (%)
#ract$re
%&$ghness
(!a);)
Specific Strength
/ Price (!a);)
per*or& ,ery well on the speci*ic strength to cost ration, howe,er there is a signi*icant !i**erence in
their corrosi,e per*or&ance. )he Duplex stainless steels ha,e a &uch greater Chro&iu& content
an! conse+uently a &uch greater pitting resistance nu&ber.
)he carbon content *or all the top per*or&ing &aterials is below /.110 an! there*ore none o* the
&aterials are susceptible to Fy!rogen Assiste! Crac%ing FAC# !uring wel!ing. Fowe,er, the
&artensitic Steels are not consi!ere! wel!able ,ia the sub&erge! arc wel!ing SAW# process an! it
is the SAW process &ost *a,oure! by the .S 2$1/'/7 stan!ar! an! by the in!ustry. Conse+uently,
the :artensitic steels &ust be !isregar!e! at this stage.
)hree Duplex Stainless steels re&ain as a possible &aterial reco&&en!ations. Although the
cheapest o* the three choices, Duplex LDG'1/ !oes not o**er goo! enough *racture toughness or
pitting resistance to be a *inal reco&&en!ation. 4n co&parison Stainless Steel Duplex H$ SS3'88/
o**ers a greater *racture toughness with a si&ilar expecte! ther&al stress at high te&peratures. 4n
a!!ition H$ S3'88/ has a higher strength to weight ration than H$ S3'CID an! at a lower cost. 4t
is *or the reasons abo,e that 4 woul! reco&&en! a Stainless Steel *u+le,- .! S320.
i Su%e" Pi'e$ine% "n5 6i%er% (,$%e2ier ?-e"n ,n4ineerin4)
AublisherB 2lse,ier Science Lt!= 'n! Ee,ise! e!ition e!ition '1 $o, '//8#
LanguageB 2nglish
4S.$-1/B //7/118IIC
4S.$-13B DC7-//7/118II3
ii .S 2$ 1/'/7-' - - Wel!ability 7.1.1