Method of forming and heat treating coiled tubing
AssigneeTenaris Coiled Tubes, LLC
InventorsMartin Valdez, Bruce A. Reichert, Jorge Mitre
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Abstract
Described herein are coiled tubes with improved and varying properties along the length that are produced by using a continuous and dynamic heat treatment process (CDHT). Coiled tubes can be uncoiled from a spool, subjected to a CDHT process, and coiled onto a spool. A CDHT process can produce a “composite” tube such that properties of the tube along the length of the tube are selectively varied. For example, the properties of the tube can be selectively tailored along the length of the tube for particular application for which the tube will be used.
Claims20
A method of forming and heat treating a coiled tube, the method comprising:
- welding a plurality of steel strips together end-to-end to form a plurality of end-to-end welded strips and longitudinally welding the plurality of end-to-end welded strips to form a tube with a substantially constant inner diameter, outer diameter, and wall thickness along at least a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion, the third portion being disposed between the first portion and the second portion, said tube having one or more microstructures;
- and
- after forming the tube, performing a continuous and dynamic heat treatment (CDHT) process comprising a continuous quench and temper heat treatment along the first portion, the second portion, and the third portion, thereby modifying the one or more microstructures of the tube and thereby resulting in a post heat treatment (PHT) tube with a second microstructure comprising a uniformity of microstructure across (a) the plurality of steel strips, (b) a plurality of end-to-end welds joining the steel strips, and (c) a plurality of longitudinal welds joining the plurality of steel strips, and wherein the PHT tube after the continuous quench and temper process has at least 80% tempered martensite in the first, second, and third portions of the PHT tube;
- and
- coiling the PHT tube to form a coiled tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.