TPi July 2015

business & market news

30" pipe to be manufactured in China Nakata has received its first order for the newly developed ODF (orbital die forming) pipe mill from a Chinese pipe manufacturer. The pipe size is up to 762mm OD, and 25.4mm wall thickness, and most of the products are API line pipes up to X80 grade. surface and work like a huge roll or moving press machine. This concept makes the forming process very gentle and stable, resulting in adaptability to a wide range of product sizes and material properties, excellent surface quality and lower work hardening level in the material.

plate’ or ‘coil-by-coil’ style respectively. This hybrid production process allows the user to have flexibility in selecting raw materials corresponding to the size of lot or dimensions of product. Nakata has a 4" ODF test machine in its shop, with which the customer can verify the performance of the forming process.

Differing from the conventional roll forming process, ODF is an innovative technology in which movable dies are combined to form a continuous tool

Nakata Mfg Co, Ltd – Japan sales@nakata-mfg.co.jp www.nakata-mfg.co.jp

Both steel plates and coils can be used as raw materials in this production line, and the pipes can be produced in ‘plate-by-

A successful start to 2015 Tube Developments has reported a successful first quarter of 2015, with the award of contracts around the world, and the hope of continuing this success during the rest of the year. field development in the UK in over a decade, and is located on the East Shetland Platform of the UK North Sea, approximately 150km east of the Shetland Isles. Tube Developments also supplied structural tubulars to the Petrobras Iracema Sul project, where Saipem secured the EPCI contract. The company supplied process pipes for the Total Mariner project. The Mariner is the largest new offshore

In January, the company completed the evaluation procedures for Saudi Aramco and renewed its vendor and stockist approval status for the supply of pipes and tubulars.

Tube Developments Ltd – UK info@tubedev.com www.tubedev.com

Polysoude opens its doors in Nantes Polysoude held open days at its Nantes, France, headquarters in June. Over the two days, the company presented its latest developments in the fields of welding and weld overlay cladding using the TIG and TIGer (GTAW) process. Professionals and decision-makers from all industries who use welding in their line of business were invited to come and discover how they can optimise their productivity and guarantee a quality product. Representatives of the specialised trade press were also welcome. conventional and nuclear power plants, solar farms, oil exploration, aerospace, processing of foods and pharmaceutical products, water treatment, etc. For orbital welding, it can be easily demonstrated that using the hot-wire TIG process with an open head significantly increases welding speed, and it can be used to join thicker tubes than the cold-wire TIG process. Automation via a program recorded in the power source guarantees flawless production.

is perfectly reproducible by virtue of automation.

When high quality welds are required, orbital TIG welding is a suitable technology for tube-to-tube or tube-to- tubesheet welding applications. With or without filler wire, this is a stable, reliable process that can be used on steel, stainless steel, titanium and nickel and aluminium alloys, for example. The development of a welding programme guarantees a high-quality weld through automation. The welding cycle can be repeated as often as necessary with the same result. Orbital welding equipment can be used in difficult conditions such as a confined space or where there is a lack of accessibility or visibility. On all of these machines, the welding parameters can be checked and compiled into a printable protocol for guaranteed traceability.

For very thick-walled parts, another way of increasing productivity in addition to the hot-wire TIG process consists of reducing the groove, and therefore the volume to be filled by the weld. The use of an open-type carriage welding head equipped with a narrow gap torch limits the quantity of metal to be deposited. Additional gains are made on preparing the groove by limiting the loss of material and the machining time. This technology guarantees a quality weld thanks to the TIG process and

Polysoude has always aimed to optimise its customers’ productivity while improving the quality of their products by developing new solutions that tackle the most complex issues. Workshops on different topics, described below, offered opportunities to exchange information on the various types of mechanised and orbital TIG/TIGer welding and cladding applications. These applications are commonly used across a wide range of sectors such as

Polysoude – France www.polysoude.com

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Tube Products International July 2015

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