Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37

167
Development of Line Pipe Steels at JSW Vijayanagar Works

D Satish Kumar, Madhusudhana R, S Manjini, P K Ghorui, P C Mahapatra,
Madhu Ranjan and A K Agarwal

Transportation of oil and natural gas through pipes to longer distances requires special grades of
line pipe steels and has been denominated as API grades (API X42, API X70, etc) based on strength
requirements in accordance with the American Petroleum Institute (API) standards. For enhanced
transport efficiency and reduced pipe laying costs, by the use of thinner wall pipes, the demand for
high strength line pipe steels is rapidly growing. The successful development and production of these
line pipe steels requires a close control of process parameters, alloy designing and cleanliness
controls. JSW Steel has started commercial production of line pipe steels since its inception. Over
the years, extensive work has been carried out to develop higher grade line pipe steels, to meet the
growing needs of customers in their endeavor to reduce weight and pipe laying costs. At JSW Steel,
the highest-strength grade of line pipes that have so far been brought to commercial application is
equivalent to API X70. This paper describes the development of line pipe steels, and addresses
various issues of steel making and rolling to arrive at optimum structure and properties for its
specific applications.


Introduction

JSW Steel, Vijayanagar Works is presently a 4Mtpa integrated steel plant having two modules of
COREX C-2000 to produce 1.6 Mtpa and two Blast furnaces to produce 2.4 Mtpa of hot metal.
4Mtpa steel melt shop comprise three Basic oxygen furnaces, two Ladle heating furnaces, one RH
degasser and three single strand Slab casters and a Hot strip mill to produce 2.5 Mtpa of HR Coils.
The product range comprises of low carbon aluminium killed (LCAK), tube, structural, line pipe,
micro-alloyed, and a range of medium carbon steels. It can be seen from the product mix distribution
(Fig 1) that the line pipe steels constitute of a major portion of value added products.











Fig 1: Product Mix at JSW Steel Ltd (2007-08)

JSW Steel has successfully developed a wide range of line pipe steels based on strength requirements
as per the API specifications (Table 1). Line pipe steels have a range of yield strengths to suit
applications of different criticality. In addition, the line pipe is required also to be excellent in
weldability in order to improve pipeline construction efficiency. These steels are produced with
various alloying elements [1,2] and tailored processes suitably to obtain the higher yield strength and
toughness. Since its inception in 2000, JSW has started commercial production of these high strength
steels (Fig 2). Till date, the highest grade of line pipe steel developed is equivalent to X70 and is in
the process of developing steels equivalent to X80 and steels for sour grade application.
COLD
ROLLI NG
4 1%
DRAWI NG
SLAB GRADE
12 %
SPECI AL
8 %
STRUCTURAL
9 %
TUBE
12 %

Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
168
Table 1: API specifications for line pipe steels *
Grade
Yield
Strength,
Minimum
Yield
Strength,
Maximum
Ultimate
Tensile
Strength,
Minimum
Ultimate
Tensile
Strength,
Maximum
Mpa Mpa Mpa Mpa
X42 290 496 414 758
X52 359 531 455 758
X56 386 544 490 758
X60 414 565 517 758
X65 448 600 531 758
X70 483 621 565 758
X80 552 690 621 '827
* API Specifications 5L, 43
rd
edition, Mar 2004.














Fig 2: Commercial readiness of line pipe steels at JSW Steel Ltd

These line pipe steels when used for gas transportation, sometimes lead to some service leakages and
condensation/ freezing of gas under low temperature condition. This makes the low temperature
properties of line pipe grades more stringent. Combination of high tensile properties and low
temperature impact strength is controlled by optimal microstructure of steel, which is obtainable with
judicious effect of micro alloying and regimes of rolling.

The basic concept of producing line pipe steel includes:
Lowering carbon equivalent level below 0.45
Minimisation of sulphur and phosphorus contents in steel.
Attainment of high strength with such low carbon by micro additions of carbonitride forming
elements (V, Nb, Ti);
optimisation of casting, rolling and cooling conditions;
This paper explains the methods employed at JSW Steel, Vijayanagar Works to resolve metallurgical
and processing challenges for producing line pipe steels in the context of steel cleanness and
property requirement.

0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1
Year of Commercial Production
Y
S
,

M
p
a
2001 2001 2004 2004 2005 2007 2008
~X42
~X52
~X56
~X52
~X65
~X70
~X80
P
L
A
N
N
E
D

Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
169
HMPT BOF LHF CONTINIOUS CASTING HSM
Steel Making

Line pipe steels are produced at JSW Vijayanagar works, by the process route shown in Fig 3. The
processing of line pipe grade steels requires more meticulous control of parameters than the ordinary
cold rolling or galvanizing steels. The steelmaking and casting processes are required to not only
produce clean steel with morphology modified inclusions, but also to ensure segregation and crack
free casting. In this respect the separate standard procedures were formulated to be followed during
the processing of these grades. This approach to steel cleanness was achieved by maintaining a
narrow range of processing parameters, casting temperature and chemical composition. The heats
made are of 130 t and sequence length is of 4/5 heats. All heats are de-sulphurised to 0.005 S
before being poured into the converter. The hot metal ratio is kept high with the use of minimum
scrap to avoid any S inputs. Customized blowing patterns and addition strategy is followed for
these grades. Steel cleanliness is ensured with the use of dart at tapping and ladle slag detection
system at caster. Tapping practice involves complete killing of the bath to obtain maximum recovery
of the various alloying additions. Calcium is injected to modify the shape of alumina-based
inclusions from angular to round and to tie-up any dissolved sulphur as calcium sulphide. Higher
calcium / sulphur ratio is an important requirement in line pipe grades. This necessitates higher
calcium addition in line pipe steel which sometimes, causes severe wear of the stopper rod in the
tundish and restricts the length of the sequence. This was resolved with usage of higher MgO
refractory material and optimization of Ca levels.








HMPT-Hot Metal Pre-Treatment, BOF-Basic Oxygen Furnace, LHF-ladle Heating Furnace, HSM-Hot Strip Mill
Fig 3: Process route for line pipe steels at JSW

Line pipe steels having low heat transfer phenomenon are one of the difficult to cast steels[3].
Separate mould powders with high viscosity are employed during its casting. Modified spray plans
with higher secondary cooling are used to avoid cracks and segregation. Macro-etched slab samples
show complete surface to centre columnar crystal structure with small equiaxed zone at the slab
centre. Macroscopic examination also confirmed very little segregation in the centerline region.
Some of the important changes or precautions made in the process during steelmaking are enlisted in
Table 2.

Table 2: Process specifications for line pipe steels
Hot Metal
Direct ladle after treatment at HMDS (% S =0.005
max).
Charge Mix
Desulphurised hot metal. Minimum Scrap due to
low S requirement HM temp > 1300
0
C
Tapping chemistry C 0.035 max, P 0.010 max, S 0.008 max
Tapping Procedure 1650-1660
0
C
% Slag FeO + MnO < 1.0 %
Super Heat 17-23
o
C
Casting Powder For Ferrite potential: 1.05

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170
Effect of Microalloying Elements
Line pipe steels are complex microalloyed grades and involve metallurgical concepts to include the
composition and precipitation of the carbide and nitride forming elements [2,3]. Their strength is
controlled by various mechanisms, viz. solid solution strengthening, grain refinement, precipitation
strengthening, dislocation strengthening and sub-structure strengthening [4]. First line pipe steels
were made with emphasis on ferrite-pearlite structure, which use additions of alloying elements such
as niobium and vanadium to increase strength of hot-rolled steel. Therefore steels equivalent up to
X56 were made with merely Nb & V combination. Niobium retards the austenite to ferrite
transformation and increase the strengthening by precipitation hardening. Addition of V increases the
TS without increasing the YS [5,6]. This helps in maintaining low YS/TS ratio. However for above
grades Ti, Cr and Ni were also added which lead to significant decrease in the carbon content thus
improving the weldability and impact properties without affecting the strength as shown in Fig 4.













Fig 4: Relation of YS & TS for line pipe steels
Additions of Ti, Cr and Ni enhance properties through mechanisms of precipitation strengthening,
suppression of grain growth and solute effects on transformation kinetics [2]. Titanium was added
also to bind nitrogen thereby preventing the precipitation of niobium carbonitride and making
niobium more effective for increasing the strength. With the increase in the grade, manganese
content was also increased which stabilizes the austenite phase and permits rolling to take place at
lower temperatures. Typical chemical compositions of line pipe steels made at JSW are enlisted in
Table 3

Table 3: Chemical compositions of line pipe steels at JSW
Steel C Si Mn S P Al Nb Others C
eq
P
cm

~ X42 0.11 0.22 0.95 0.01 0.01 0.05 - V 0.28 0.17
~ X52 0.14 0.23 0.98 0.008 0.008 0.04 0.028 V 0.32 0.18
~ X56 0.11 0.23 1.00 0.003 0.008 0.04 0.028 V, Ti 0.32 0.17
~ X60 0.095 0.22 1.25 0.003 0.006 0.03 0.035 V, Ti 0.34 0.18
~ X65 0.13 0.19 1.27 0.005 0.006 0.035 0.037
V, Ti, Ni,
Cr
0.34 0.18
~ X70 0.065 0.3 1.45 0.005 0.006 0.028 0.042
V, Ti, Ni,
Cr
0.37 0.17
C
eq
= C + Mn / 6 + (Ni + Cu) / 15 + (Cr + Mo + V) / 5
P
cm
= C + Si / 30 + (Mn + Cu + Cr) / 20 + Ni / 60 + Mo / 15 + V / 10 + 5B

Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
171
X56 X60 X65
Due to high alloy additions, these grades are prone to centre segregation. The problem is well
controlled by the developing customized spray plans for casting process and the maintenance of
casting machine alignment.









Fig 5: Optical microstructures (200X) of base material of line pipe steels
Figure 5 shows typical microstructures of three types of line pipe steel. The microstructures of these
material show good homogeneity. Banded ferrite and pearlite and coarse ferrite grain size (ASTM
810) are the characteristic features of conventionally rolled and normalized X56 and X60
equivalent steels respectively. The microstructure of X65 steels are more uniform and the ferrite
grains are finer (ASTM 1112). The improved properties of these steel can be attributed to its
uniform ferritic-pearlitic microstructure.
Rolling
Rolling parameters also play important roles in processing of line pipe steels. They control the final
microstructure through the kinetics of various physical and metallurgical processes, viz.
austenitization, recrystallization and precipitation behavior [7,8]. Due to increasing costs of alloying
elements the narrow range control of hot strip mill parameters enables achievement of a higher
degree of consistency in mechanical properties and microstructure.
The influential rolling parameters are:
- the slab reheating temperature for dissolution of the precipitated carbonitrides,
- the roughing temperatures for producing a fine grains by recrystallisation,
- the finishing temperature
- the degree of final deformation in this temperature range
- the coiling temperature
Finishing rolling temperatures and coiling temperatures influence ferrite grain size and morphology,
pearlite lamella thickness, grain boundary thickness and precipitate morphology [7]. By varying
finish rolling temperatures and run-out table cooling rates coiling temperature are controlled. These
parameters are set depending upon the chemistry and required final mechanical properties. Rolling
parameters employed for line pipe steels at JSW are enlisted in Table 4
Table 4: Rolling parameters for line pipe steels
~ X42 - X60 ~ X65 X70
Heating Zone 1250-1270 Deg C 1250-1270 Deg C
Soaking Zone 1240-1260 Deg C 1240-1260 Deg C Furnace
Temperature
RM Exit
Temperature
1050-1100 Deg C 1050-1100 Deg C
Finishing Mill
Finishing
Temp.
830-850 Deg C

830-850 Deg C F1-F3,
Scale suppression were
used F4-F6, Strip cooling
were used
Coiling Coiling Temp.
600-630 Deg C
(Normal Cooling)
570-600 Deg C
(Accelerated Cooling)

Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
172
Furnace temperatures and finishing temperatures are decided based on the optimum dissolution
temperatures of precipitates required for improving the yield stress. When finishing temperatures are
in the two-phase region a structure of deformed ferrite (which may recover or recrystallize), soft
ferrite or recrystallized ferrite and pearlite is formed. This microstructure produces highest strength.
For the composition of line pipe steels developed at JSW, coiling temperature of ~ 600-630C was
found to be optimum. Too low coiling temperature lowered yield strength due to insufficient
precipitation of Nb(CN) in ferrite and higher coiling temperature coarsen the precipitates lowering
their strengthening potential [8]. Table 5 shows the mean values of the mechanical properties
measured on the HR Coils. The measured tensile and the impact energy values conformed fully to
the specification requirements in all cases. The standard deviation for the yield and tensile strength
values was also very low.

Table 5: Mechanical properties of base material of JSW line pipe steels
Grade
ASTM
Grain size
YS,
MPa
UTS,
MPa
YS/UT
S
% El
Impact, J
(-0
o
C)
~ X42 9-10 350-380 450-480 0.76 38 110
~ X52 9-10 460-490 550-590 0.85 33 130
~ X56 10 470-500 550-590 0.86 33 140
~ X60 11 480-510 540-570 0.85 38 180
~ X65 11-12 490-520 590-620 0.86 34 150
~ X70 11-12 500-530 600-630 0.85 36 280 (-40
o
C)

Development of grade equivalent to API X70

Steel equivalent to X70 line pipe grade requires far higher production technology than an X60 or
X65 equivalent grade does. The development activities for the X70 line pipe in all the technical
fields such as pre-treatment, steelmaking, casting, and rolling was organized in an integrated manner.
The challenge of minimum 483 Mpa YS and minimum 565 Mpa UTS with the available facilities
was successfully taken up by conducting short sequence trials with varying chemistries. The
approach to increase the strength of the steel was aimed at the distribution and type of
microstructural constituents and at achieving additional solid solution hardening. The classical
composition of the niobium vanadium-type steel, used for grade equivalent to X65 pipe, was
modified by increasing the concentrations of copper & chromium in the steel. Both Copper and
chromium increases the strength by solid solution strengthening. Two short sequences were
experimented.

1. Cu / Nb / V combination, and
2. Cr / Nb / V combination

To optimize the rolling parameters in the commercial production, the trial slabs were rolled at
different thickness to examine the variation in properties. Steel plates of these different chemical
compositions and thickness were cut and analyzed. Compared to copper, chromium based chemistry
has been found to better match all the specifications and was accepted for commercial production.
Based on the properties achieved in the individual trials, final parameters were designed to be the
most cost effective. Changes in rolling parameters were done to achieve the desired mechanical

Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
173
100 X 400 X
properties consistently. Finishing temperature was maintained just above A3 temperature to have
single phase structure. Accelerated cooling was followed to have fine grain uniform microstructure.
Slabs were rolled and supplied at 3 different thicknesses and were found to match all specifications
at the customers end.












Fig 6: Micrographs of the rolled samples

The microstructures of rolled X70 equivalent (Fig 6) steel is uniform and the ferrite grains are finer
(ASTM 1112) with uniform distribution of precipitates. Table 6 shows the mechanical properties of
API X70 equivalent grade rolled coils at JSW, which matches well with the specifications.

Table 6: Mechanical Properties of API X70 equivalent grade
Coil
Thickness,
mm
Direction FT,
o
C CT,
o
C YS, MPa
UTS,
MPa
YS/UTS % El
Impact, J (-
40
o
C)
6.4 Transverse 860-870 590-610 540 614 0.87 35 296
9.53 Transverse 820-830 610-620 530 626 0.85 38 270
12 Transverse 835-845 605-615 524 620 0.84 34 274

Future Plans

With the commissioning of RH degasser and proposed slab conditioning systems, JSW is planning to
develop steels equivalent to API X80 and Sour grades. Further increases in strength and toughness,
required for the development of X80 steel, can only be attained by changing the microstructure of the
steel matrix from ferrite-pearlite to ferrite-bainite. X80 steel has a further reduced carbon content,
reduced grain size and an increased dislocation density. Optimum compositions and processing
parameters are being developed to meet the X80 category requirements. Sour service grades for line
pipe with resistance to hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) needs more increased cleanliness. To meet
these requirements, JSW has started introducing new technologies in steel making and rolling.


Proceedings of Steel Tech, Vol 2, No 3, pp 33-37
174
Conclusions

The development and economic production line pipe steels have stringent challenges for controlling
metallurgical and mechanical properties. The control of the steel cleanness in these grades requires
narrow range of processing parameters which often affects the productivity. JSW Steels, Vijayanagar
works have developed wide range of Line Pipe steels (from X42 to X70) through several
improvements and standardization of the processes for its economic production. In-house
development of these high strength steels have been made by controlling inclusion characteristics,
precipitation behavior and solidification phenomenon. HR coils performance at the customers end
w.r.t the chemical and physical property requirement before and after pipe making were satisfactory
to the API 5L specifications. Development of X80 equivalent and sour grades are also envisaged in
the coming years.

Acknowledgement

Authors acknowledges the steelmaking and rolling team of JSW Steel who directly or in-directly
contributed to the development of these steels. Authors also thank management of JSW for their
encouragement to publish the paper.


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