Preparation of High-Precision Dimension Seamless Thick-Walled Pipe by New Cold Rolling Process

Abstract

In this study, the cold rolling test on the quenched-tempered hot working die steel pipe with an outer diameter/thickness ratio of no greater than 3 was performed. The evolutionary trend of microstructure was examined by a combination of the microscope, SEM, and EBSD tests. The effect of feed rate on the inner wall roughness of rolled pipe was analyzed by means of white light interference. According to the experimental results, the maximum normal pressure per unit area increases from 1046.7 MPa to 1113.2 MPa with the rise in feed rate from 1 mm/stroke to 6 mm/stroke. Meanwhile, the inner wall roughness of the pipe declines from 0.285 μm to 0.146 μm after rolling. When the feed rate reaches 2 mm/stroke, the maximum normal pressure per unit area is 1058.4 MPa, which causes a significant plastic deformation to the inner wall of the pipe, and the average roughness below 0.2 μm. The microstructure of the pipe is dominated by tempered sorbite whether before or after rolling, and the grain size before rolling is 16.22 μm on average. After cold rolling, the longitudinal structure is deformed along the direction of rolling, in which the average grain size is 24.31 μm. With the increase in deformation work-hardening behavior in the rolling process, the tensile strength improves from 1134 MPa to 1178 MPa, the yield strength increases from 985 MPa to 1125 MPa, and the room temperature impact energy diminishes from 58 J to 52.5 J. After vacuum tempering at 600 °C, it is difficult to eliminate the deformed band microstructure along the rolling direction completely. However, the grain size is reduced after cold rolling, no coarsening occurs, and the impact toughness increases from 52.5 J to 60.5 J. With the recovery of the original microstructure, the mechanical properties are restored to the before rolling level.