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New high-strength alloy concept for large-diameter steel pipes receives award

Research into the use of a novel alloying concept that produces steel pipeline with both increased strength and toughness has won a group of scientists in Germany the 2010 Charles Hatchett Award.

The annual medal and prize is awarded to authors who have written the best paper on the science and technology of niobium and its alloys. The prize was presented to this year's winners at Salzgitter AG Group in Germany by CBMM — Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony in London in July.

This winning paper, selected by a peer review process managed by U.K.-based Beta Technology on behalf of CBMM, describes research on steel for pipes using the high niobium concept and high-temperature processing (HTP) for hot strip rolling mills. This process, combined with modern, low-carbon steels, allows the production of high-strength and high-toughness materials guaranteeing lighter pipes and ultimately saving resources and increasing the efficiency of the production chain for spiral welded pipelines.

"For the production of large-diameter spiral-welded pipes, two different alloy compositions and processing routes were investigated," said Sandrine Bremer, researcher at Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung, the arm responsible for pipe steel development and processing routes.

"We found that the niobium-alloy steels, with a reduced carbon content, offer the ideal base to produce API X80 steel grades, which in turn allow a reduction of pipe wall thickness," Bremer said. "Using more niobium and less carbon also facilitated and accelerated production times and reduced stresses during processing of the hot-rolled coil and during spiral pipe forming."