TPT January 2010

H eat and S urface T reatments

T he application of heat is the oldest non-mechanical means of changing the character of a metal, and the heat treatment of tubes and pipes one of its greatest challenges. No miscalculation in metallurgy is without its penalty; but a slab offers a margin for error that a length of pipe – freighted with responsibility out of all proportion to its size, weight, and surface area – does not. Because heat and surface treatments of tubes and pipes are unforgiving, advances move quickly from the development into the perfectibility phase, where they remain: Reducing oxygen loss in the heat treatment of steel pipe; • Minimizing the loss of tube material due to local overheating in the furnace; • Controlling the super-elastic force of nickel titanium alloy tubes during heat • treatment. These are the kinds of concerns that engage the suppliers profiled in the pages of this section. Heat and surface treatment of metal is a highly evolved process. The evolution of the heat and surface treatment of tubes and pipes, and the equipment in which these are performed, is ongoing and unceasing.

Photo: ThyssenKrupp Steel