Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect

Elisabetta Ceretti, Claudio Giardini, Ferdinando Brisotto

Universit degli Studi di Brescia - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica

Raul Bedogni
Centro Sviluppo Materiali SpA
r.bedogni@c-s-m.it

Luca Montelatici
Tenaris Dalmine SpA
lmontelatici@tenaris.com

presented at Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

Contents
the Rotary Piercing Process general description the Mannesmann effect FEM simulation of the Mannesmann effect FE model basics results validation through industrial trials on-line application of the results of the FE model into the process control systems at the Tenaris tube rolling plants

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

Production steps of seamless steel tubes (hot rolling cycle)

heating of round billets up to rolling temperature piercing of the billet into a hollow shell elongation of the shell into a mother tube final rolling of the mother tube to the final dimensions
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Rotary Piercing Process

roll-billet touchpoint position of the plug nose

left roll

billet piercer plug

right roll void reduction length

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Rotary Piercing Process

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Rotary Piercing Process

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

Basic schematization of the forces exerted by the piercer rolls on the billet in the inlet cone of the piercing mill
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

central rupture produced by the Mannesmann effect (as seen on the longitudinal section of the semipierced hollow)

piercer plug

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

central rupture produced by the Mannesmann effect on a billet rolled in the piercing mill without plug

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

strongly beneficial to: shell concentricity (uniform wall thickness on the cross section) lifetime of the piercer plugs if not controlled, may produce internal defects on the pierced shell, due to oxidation of the internal surface

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

square tail end of the pierced shell non- square tail end (eccentric shell)

Pierced shell tail with square end

The non-squareness of the tail end of the pierced shell indicates wall thickness eccentricity of the cross section

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

Internal defects (as seen on the finished tube) generated by oxidation of the broken surface at the billet center, and subsequent rolling by the piercer plug
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

Normal wear pattern on the piercer plug (proper piercer settings)

Abnormal wear on the nose of the piercer plug, generated by absent or insufficient centeral rupture on the billet

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

normal wear pattern of worn piercer plug worn plug with deformed shape (central cavity too large)

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Mannesmann effect

It can be concluded that: the Mannesmann effect should be regarded as a basic feature of the rotary piercing process its control is important to assure an acceptable level of dimensional and surface quality to the rolled product in consideration of the 3-dimensional complexity of the piercer machine, it is sometimes difficult to predict the real actual extention of the rupture cone in the billet

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The FEM approach to in-line control of the Mannesmann effect

calculation (with FE model) of the stress and strain conditions in the billet as a function of time during the piercing process determination of the axial position where the material reaches a treshold value for central rupture (depending on steel grade, temperature and deformation conditions) validation of such theoretical approach with full-scale experimental tests (at rolling plant) theoretical simulation of possible rolling conditions and extrapolation of the results with artificial neural network techniques implementation in the process control of the rolling plants

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Finite Element model

Description of the problem

as previously described, in the rotary tube piercing process the round bar rotates around its axis, and the fracture is located on a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis of the round bar the influence of the axial stress in the hole formation mechanism has been investigated with a 3D model the FEM calculated value of the axial stress generated during the process has been found to be constant along the billet axis and only 10% of the transversal stresses it was then decided to approach the problem with a 2dimensional FE model, neglecting the influence of axial stresses on the hole formation and considering only the stresses acting on the transversal cross section of the billet

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Finite Element model

Calculation of stress and strain distribution

(step 1) - CAD schematization of the 3-dimensional geometry of the piercer mill

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Finite Element model

Calculation of stress and strain distribution

(step 2) - determination of the contact points between the billet and the piercer rolls on the void reduction length
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

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The Finite Element model

Calculation of stress and strain distribution

(step 3) - the 3-dimensional geometry is analyzed with a 2-D approach by neglecting axial stresses and reproducing the rollsmaterial contact with a spiral
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Finite Element model

Determination of the breaking point

The axial position where the center of the material breaks is determined with the Cockroft-Latham criterion of the maximum cumulated energy:

* Ci = d 0
The damage index C(x) is calculated along the longitudinal axis (x) of the billet center The starting point of the central crack is then determined as the point where the calculated damage index C(x) becomes greater than the characteristic value for the rolled material, at the piercing temperature
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

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The Finite Element model

Determination of the breaking point

Damage on the billet cross section for a given piercing condition

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

The Finite Element model

Model validation

3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 -450

Cumulated damage Limit damage for the material

B = Length of the Mannesmann effect

-400 -350 -300 Axial coordinate -250

Position where the breakage occurs

Position of the nose of the plug

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

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In-line algorithms for the prediction of the occurrence of the Mannesmann effect
FEM simulations and operational experience indicate that the occurrence and extention of the Mannesmann effect depends on the following main factors: steel grade piercing temperature geometry of the contact with the rolls (spiral), expressed through the parameters M, Q and a, where: M = arctan (

dQ ) *Q

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

In-line algorithms for the prediction of the occurrence of the Mannesmann effect

Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

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Conclusions
the FE model of the Mannesmann effect has been realized to exhaustively approach a well-known everyday problem of the tube rolling process the results provided by this model have fully matched the evidence of long-term operational experience, and have been also verified with specific and dedicated rolling tests the implementation of the results of the model in the process control of the Tenaris rolling lines will provide support to the operators of the mills in the decision-taking process, with expectations of specific improvements on: internal surface quality of the pipes plug life dimensional quality of the rolled product
Analytical prediction of the central rupture of billets during piercing in a cross-roll piercer due to the Mannesmann effect
Innovations in metal forming - an international Conference September 23-24, 2004 - Brescia, Italy

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