Yield-strength prediction of flattened steel pipes by competing Bauschinger effect and strain hardening during pipe-forming.

Since flattened steel sheets often show the unexpectedly lower or higher yield strength than leveled sheets, unceasing efforts have been made to accurately predict the yield strength in pipe-forming industries. In the present investigation, the yield strength of line-pipe or casing-pipe steels was predicted by competing Bauschinger effect and strain hardening occurred during the pipe-forming. Yield drop (YD) and yield rise (YR) parameters were newly defined from cyclic simulation analyses of outer and inner walls of pipes to express more reasonably the Bauschinger effect and strain hardening. The YD increased abruptly until the pre-strain of about 1%, and then saturated, while the YR increased linearly with increasing pre-strain. By combining the YD and YR, the variation in yield strength (Δσ) showed a down-and-up behavior as the Bauschinger effect and strain hardening were dominant at low and high pre-strains, respectively, and plausibly explained the relationship of Δσ and piping strain used in pipe-forming industries. According to the microstructural analyses related to the down-and-up Δσ behavior, the polygonal ferrite reduced the yield-strength reduction in the low pre-strain range, whereas the granular bainite or pearlite expanded it. This yield strength prediction coupled with microstructural analyses provide a good idea for designing and reliably predicting the yield strength of in various steel pipes.