Lockshin, S. D.

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 The Knowledge Bank at The Ohio State University Ohio State Engineer   Title:  Seamless Steel Tubes Creators:  Lockshin, S. D. Issue Date:  Oct-1927 Publisher:  Ohio State University, College of Engineering Citation:  Ohio State Engineer, vol. 11, no. 1 (October, 1927), 30-31. URI:  http://hdl.handle.net/1811/34254  Appears in Collections: Ohio State Engineer: Volume 11, no. 1 (October, 1927)     30 THE OHIO STATE ENGINEERA Good Drink for EngineersA Pure Orange Drink...at...THE ORANGE MILLThree Doors South of State 'Theatrellll Morth Higk StreetCampus Tailor ShopCleaners and DyersSUITS PRESSED, 35 CENTSSpecial this Month Only—Ten Suit ContractPressed for $2.75Work Called for and DeliveredTelephone UNiversity 6344Creative •"l* PrintingrTHE PHILLIPS PRINTING CO.257 Cleveland ,Phone: ADams\venue9341SEAMLESS STEEL TUBESBy S. D. LOCKSHIN, '29.Steel tubes form a substantial part of the pro-duction of finished steel. Steel tubes are used inalmost every industry. Among these industriesare, of course, the water and gas systems, build-ing trades, and the automobile industries.The manufacture of the seamless tube is not anew industry, but it is still undeveloped to a cer-tain extent. Steel tubes were first made in Ger-many about twenty-five years ago. At that timethey were not in great demand mainly because ofthe high cost, but at present all industries preferthe seamless tube.Some of the more common uses of the seamlesstube are for oil well casings, drill pipes, boilertubes, and super-heat systems. In the automobileindustry we find the tubes being used in the steer-ing shaft, drive shaft, and differential. The build-ing trades look favorably on seamless tubing be-cause it is cheaper than brass, and unquestionablysuperior to the welded pipe.There are many different processes of manufac-turing these tubes, but they are all based on essen-tially the same principle. The one to be explainedis a German process, imported, installed, and op-erated by German engineers.It is not necessary at this time to explain theprocess of making the ingots or bar steel. Nearlyeveryone is familiar with the ordinary Bessemeror the open hearth processes. The ingots or billetsused are around ten inches in diameter, and aver-age thirty-six to forty-two inches in length.The first step is the chipping of the ingots. Alarge machine chips off all the dirt and scale ac-quired when the bar was being cooled. This isdone to remove the impurities and to prevent adefect in the finished tube.The cleaned ingots are then placed in a furnaceand heated to a white heat. They are now readyfor the piercer. The hot ingot is gripped by a pairof working rolls, conically inclined 5 to 8 degreesto the horizontal plane. These rolls rotate in thesame direction. A tapered plug which is held bya long rod is then placed at the open end. The dis-tance between the rolls and the greater diameterof the plug determine the outside diameter andth wall thickness of the pierced stock. The round,gripped between the rolls, is now forced to rotatebetween the rolls, and on account of their inclina-tion, is moved forward and is pulled over the plug.The rolls at the same time are exerting a pressureupon the outside of the round which is rapidlyrotating and at the same time moving forward.This causes a stretching of the inner fibers. Thestock is then stretched at the same time the holeis pierced.The piercing may be summed up in the follow-ing operations:1. The rolling between the cross rolls whichmake a hole in the center.2. The forward movement which pushes theouter fibers of the round forward between therolls.3. The resistance of the plug which forces theinner fibers to stretch along the conical surface ofthe plug.The piercing plug and its supporting rod areTHE OHIO STATE ENGINEER 31now held in position again and the forward move-ment of the hollow ingot is stopped by an abut-ment gate. After the piercing the gate is swungopen, the hollow round is taken off the plug rod,and the stock is conveyed to the Pilger mill forfinishing. When a new plug has been put on thepiercing rod, the gate is closed and the mill is inreadiness for piercing the next ingot.The Pilger mill mentioned in the above para-graph is used to smooth the hollow round. Con-trary to the other tube rolling and drawing pro-cesses, the Pilger process is carried out by a singlepair of rolls. The rolls rotate against each otheror rather in the opposite direction. The hollowbloom is forced back a certain distance after en-tering the rolls, and then again forward. Com-pressed air is used to force it forward, and themotion of the rolls in the opposite direction forceit back. The recoil is stopped by an air receiver.The tube is gradually worked through the rolls,and it comes out a true tube. .The rest of the work on the tube is simply amatter of threading, stamping, and painting. Thetube is now ready to be loaded and shipped as afinished product.

Seamless Steel Tubes

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Seamless Steel Tubes

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