Quenched and tempered steel pipe with high fatigue life, and its manufacturing method

Abstract

Provided is a steel pipe suitable for machine structure members that are required to be lightweight, of which the strength is increased and the fatigue life is prolonged with preventing the increase in the material cost and the production cost. The steel pipe is a high fatigue life quenched/tempered steel pipe having a composition comprising, % by mass, C: 0.1 to 0.4%, Si: 0.5 to 1.5%, Mn: 0.3 to 2%, P: at most 0.02%, S: at most 0.01%, Cr: 0.1 to 2%, Ti: 0.01 to 0.1%, Nb: 0.01 to 0.1%, Al: at most 0.1%, B: 0.0005 to 0.01%, N: at most 0.01%, and optionally at least one of Ni: at most 0.5%, Ca: at most 0.02%, Mo: at most 0.5% and V: at most 0.5%, with a balance of Fe and inevitable impurities, in which the mean grain size of the precipitated carbides is at most 0.5 μm and of which the hardness in the center part of the wall thickness in the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the steel pipe is at least 400 HV.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.