Seamless Hollow Bars forMechanical Engineering

MECAPLUS sizes andSpirafort grades

Seamless

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MECAPLU

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A long history of improvements for our machining customers

Hollow bars were first launched in the early 1940s to replace the solid bars then supplied to the machining industry. Solid bars used to be drilled out and machined externally to achieve the desired finished dimensions. The basic idea launched by some tube makers was to offer products in the same outside diameters as solid bars, but with a hollow cross section, so as to reduce material loss and save on time- and cost-consuming machining operations.

Over the years, most of the European tube makers started producing and marketing their own hollow bar products. The two companies which now form V & M TUBES were actively present on this market: Vallourec promoted its mecaVal, while Mannesmann developed its own grade, MW450M , along with hollow bar dimen-sional series.

But the lack of national standards for hollow bars frequently gave rise to discrepancies between proposed and achievable clean-turned dimen-sions and weight for a given tube size. To solve this problem, the European Authorities decided to have all the relevant product parameters defin-ed in a harmonized European standard, EN 10294-1 Hollow bars for machining Technical delivery conditions Part 1: Non alloy and alloy steels.

V & M TUBES` first MECAPLUS offering has been, since 2005, fully compliant with this European standard. To come even closer to the needs of our machining customers, we decided to go beyond the standard and offer as many dimensions as was feasible in our mills, with tight dimensional and straightness tolerances. Additionally, we worked on the steel grade and

highlighted its improved machinability in a new name: Spirafort.

V & M TUBES now goes beyond European standard EN 10294-1, and offers a perfect combination for machining in the shape of its Spirafort grade series and new MECAPLUS dimensional offer!

A new branding philosophy!

MECAPLUS used to stand for both the grade series and the dimensional offer, which created confusion. For better clarity, we kept the name MECAPLUS for the hol-low bar dimensional series, and created the

new name of Spirafort for the grade series with improved machinability,

in line with our new brand portfolio.

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3

MECAPLUS is V & M TUBES' offer for hol-low bars, specially designed for our machining customers. Fully compliant with the EN 10294-1 standard, it goes much further: its size range combines excellent geometrical properties with a unique number of sizes, so as to reduce as much as possible the cost of the final machined piece. The offering comprises 5 grades, the Spirafort series, with superior machinability. The offering is in keeping with our product portfolio for Engineering grades: the Spirafort grades, with strength levels comparable to the Forterior series, have a different chemical com-position to improve machinability. Forterior grades are designed for applications where impact test values and weldability are key and are available in a number of standard sizes. One step above, for tougher requirements, we also supply Advanced engineering grades, typi-cally in the quenched and tempered condition. Finally, our FineXcell series covers fine-grain steel grades with impressive strength levels

combined with excellent Charpy values. Please contact us for further product information. Our technical team will be happy to help you select the right material. Do not forget either to have a look at our various product brochures

V & M TUBES' superior hollow bars: MECAPLUS in Spirafort grades

Grade portfolio Industry division

V&

M T

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ades

V&

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S sp

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d gr

ades

Increasing technical requirements

AdvancedEngineering Grades

Avadur series ASTM A 519

Alloyed heat treatable steels 25CrMo4, 34CrMo4, 42CrMo4, Grade 4130, Grade 4140, ...

Unalloyed heat treatable steels C35E, C45E, C60E, Grade 1045, ... Case hardening steels 16MnCr5, C10E, 20NiCrMo2-2,

Offshore Grades

Oceanfit series API 5L, EN 10225

X52, X65, X80, ...

Engineering Grades

Spirafort series EN 10294

Forterior seriesEN 10297, EN 10210Multicert series

EN 10297, EN 10210

E355, S355J2H, Grade B, C,

Fine-Grain High- Strength Grades

FineXcell series Stahl-Eisen- Werkstoffbltter

S460NLH, P690QL1, ...

Basic Mechanical Grades

Square and rectangularhollow sections

Round tubesHollow bar

V & M TUBES grade brands meet and in many cases surpass the requirements of the relevant standard grades. The respec-tive compliance with the standard is clearly indicated in the material datasheets, orders and certificates.

Machinability means the suitability of steel for machining by turning, cutting, boring, etc. All these operations can easily be performed on Spirafort grades which permit higher cutting speeds, and ease of manufacturing and mainte-nance processes thanks to improved chip forma-tion and lower tool wear.

Designed for higher cutting speed and longer tool life

Spirafort grades offer a significant gain in machinability compared to standard stock mate-rial, and even compared to the nearest equivalent grade in the EN standard. In identical machining conditions, Spirafort 470 machines up to twice as fast as ordinary E470 steel as defined in EN 10294-1. Or, to put it another way, without changing the machining conditions recom-mended by the tool manufacturers, the use of Spirafort increases the tool life up to threefold. This enables you to reduce the consumption of tips and inserts, decrease changing frequency and improve the reliability of insert behaviour. In other words, to turn the material faster while saving money!

This is clearly seen in the corresponding Taylor curve, illustrating tool wear time as a function of cutting speed.

Machining with Spirafort steelMachining with standard steel4

Spirafort series: stronger grades, faster and easier to machine

100

Too

l life

tim

e (m

in)

10100 1000Cutting speed (m/min)

E470

Spirafort 470

Cutting depth: 2.5 mm,Feed rate: 0.4 mm/revTool: P15, coatedFlank wear Vb: 0.3 mm.

Easy machining thanks to small chips

Chip formation is greatly improved with Spirafort grades. Our material yields small chips, which are easily removed when ma-chining. You can forget the burden of long, tangled chips in your machine and around your machined piece! This is all the more an advantage for automated machining pro-cesses, when unplanned stoppages due to low steel machinability can now be totally eliminated!

Comparison of machinability properties of Spirafort 470 to E470 according to EN 10294-1 in Taylor test according to ISO 3685-1993

This comparison is based on the tool life test according to ISO 3685-1993, which determines the life of a single-point cutting tool with a constant depth of cut and constant feed rate combined with varying cutting speeds. A flank wear test is consid-ered the most appropriate method because flank wear is the main cause of tool tip damage. A realistic comparison of materials in terms of machinability presupposes that the materials under consideration have similar mechanical properties, as the harder a steel, the more difficult is its machining. The test criterion is then the time to 0.3 mm tool flank wear with a cutting depth of 2.5 mm and a feed rate of 0.4 mm/rev.

Machining with Spirafort steel 5

Higher grade permits weight reduction

Spirafort 470 is the core grade of the V & M TUBES Spirafort series. Compared to a stand-ard E355 steel, choosing Spirafort 470 allows you to design your parts with thinner walls, and thus reduce the weight of the total component. With the same design, it also increases strength in highly stressed pieces, which improves the reliability and safety of component usage.

E355 / S355J2H

Spirafort 450ImpactFIT 20

Spirafort 470 Spirafort 590ImpactFIT 20

0%

25%

50%

Potential weight savings with Spirafort grades compared to standard stock material due to higher yield strength level

Larger machining ranges for your tools The improved machinability of Spirafort also increases the application ranges of the different cutting tool geometries. These ranges are given by the carbide tool manufacturers and defined by machining a traditional steel under constant conditions, varying the depth of cut and the cut-ting speed. Chips are removed and their shapes determine the machining ranges. The use of a Spirafort steel increases this machinability range, making it then possible to increase the machinability envelope or to mini-mize the number of tips to be used. This reduces the stock of required tips and saves time on tool changing from one operation to the next.

0

1

2

3

4

5

0.50.40.30.20.1

Spirafort grades

Non treated steel

Dep

th o

f cu

t (m

m)

Feed rate (mm/rev)

Fragmentation zone

6

Steel grade

C Si Mn P max.

S Crmax.

Momax.

Ni max.

Cumax.

N max.

Al Nb max.

Timax.

V2) Nb+V+Ti

max.

Spirafort 355 0.22 0.55 1.60 0.030 0.015 to0.050

1) 1) 1)

Spirafort 355ImpactFIT 20

0.22 0.55 1.60 0.030 0.015 to0.050

0.30 0.08 0.30 0.30 0.020 0.010 to0.060

0.05 0.05 0.10

Spirafort 450ImpactFIT 20

0.16to

0.22

0.10to

0.50

1.30to

1.70

0.0300.015

to0.050

0.30 0.08 0.40 0.30 0.020 0.010 0.07 0.050.08to

0.15

0.21Spirafort 470

Spirafort 590ImpactFIT 20

Chemical composition (in % by mass)

1) AR: as rolled; N: normalized or normalized formed; QT: quenched and tempered ; 2) valid for the smallest wall thickness range given in the respective material data sheets; 3) for 50 mm < TN 100 mm

1 ) Addition is left at discretion of manufacturer, if added to the cast, content will be reported; 2) V may be replaced by Nb or Ti percent for percent provided that V content shall be at least 0.05 % and the sum V + Nb + Ti 0.21 %

Mechanical properties (all other testing requirements according to EN 10294-1)

Steel grade Deliverycondition1)

Yield strength ReH min in MPa2)

Tensile strength

Rm in MPa2)

Elongation Amin in %

Min. average ab-sorbed energy

KV at 20 C in J

Compliant to EN 10294-1 steel grade

Long. Transv. Name NumberSpirafort 355 AR 355 490 18 16 E355 1.0580

Spirafort 355ImpactFIT 20

N 355 490 20 18 27 E355J2 1.0592

Spirafort 450ImpactFIT 20

N 450 600 - 750 19 17 27 E420J2 1.0599

Spirafort 470 AR 470 650 - 80017

(153))15

(133)) E470 1.0536

Spirafort 590ImpactFIT 20

QT 590 700 - 850 16 14 40 E590K2 1.0644

V & M TUBES grade brands meet and in many cases surpass the requirements of the relevant standard grades. The respective com-pliance with the standard is clearly indicated in the material data sheets, orders and certificates.For the detailed mechanical properties and chemical composition of the Spirafort grades we refer to our respective latest issued material data sheets.

40035030025020015010050

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

Nominal ID in mm (= min. achievable CTS for ID)

No

min

al O

D in

mm

(= m

ax. a

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vab

le C

TS

fo

r O

D)

EN 10294

Gapless MECAPLUS size range

Gapless MECAPLUS size range

Select the right dimension!

The easiest way to select the tube closest in size to your final piece?

Check our dedicated website: www.vmtubes.com/mecaplus

Ready made calculations, always up-to-date! Do not hesitate to contact our

technical team to discuss product details!

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Our standard hollow bar range has now been expanded to provide a gapless size range, with confirmed achievable clean-turned sizes for ODs and IDs in increments of just one millimeter for the whole size range instead of 5, 10 or 20 mm. Most of our standard dimensions are available from stock (see enclosed "Standard MECAPLUS dimensions" table), while gap-less dimensions will be available only ex mill.

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MECAPLUS is V & M TUBES' offering of hollow bars, with its own dimensional program, tight tolerances and guarantee of clean-turned sizes. This offering is available in combination with our Spirafort grades.

Achievable clean-turned size: with our tubes, you know what you get!

No more need for complex calculations. We guar-antee that, with a given tube, you can achieve all the dimensions necessary to manufacture your turned part without any black spots on its surface. In addition, tight tolerances and excel-lent straightness ensure that material removal during machining is reduced to a minimum. Our MECAPLUS offering is fully compliant with the EN 10294-1 requirements for tolerances and straightness. But the clean-turned size guarantee we make is even tighter than the requirements of the standard: with MECAPLUS you can be sure of getting the lightest tube for the machining of your finished piece!

An unprecedented size range

MECAPLUS is of course fully compliant with the requirements of EN 10294-1, and we offer the sizes given in the standard. But our approach goes much further: what do our customers do when they have to machine a piece with a dia-meter above 250 mm? Or when their dimension falls betwen two standard sizes, which means more material to machine? Taking advantage of the extreme dimensional flexibility of our mills, we are now offering MECAPLUS sizes in a gapless range: any outside diameter from 30 to 375 mm is now possible, with steps as small as just 1 mm.

And V & M TUBES is the only one to offer hollow bar dimensions with diameters larger than 250 mm, thus now covering most of the re-quirements of the machining industry. This opens new fields for hollow bars, where up to now only standard tubes or machined bars could be used. More than 25,000 dimensions in total: the size you require for your machined part is sure to be among them.

which permits significant weight savings

Why purchase material that is wasted during turning or machining? With our gapless MECAPLUS range, our tube is always as close as possible to your finished dimension, so that your material loss is reduced to the minimum. When machining from a solid bar, often up to 4050 % of the material purchased is turned into scrap. By selecting the appropriate MECAPLUS size, you can reduce this scrap to only 10 % of the material purchased.

MECAPLUS: the most advanced offering of hollow bars

Delivered OD (mm) Tolerance

OD 75 0.5 mm

75 < OD 180 0.75 %

180 < OD 250 1 %

OD > 250 1 %

Tolerances on the outside diameter (OD) of the delivered product

Delivered OD (mm) Delivered WT (mm) Tolerance

OD 180WT 15 12.5 % or 0.4 mm, whichever is the greater

WT > 15 10 %

180 < OD 250WT 30 12.5 %

WT > 30 10 %

OD > 250WT 30 12.5 % / +15 %

WT > 30 10 % / +12.5 %

Tolerances on the wall thickness (WT) of the delivered product

Straightness is according to EN 10294-1

Delivered tubedimensionFinished piece dimension(clean-turned size)

Material to be removed by machining

The perfect combination for machining!

In a single offering, V & M TUBES hollow bars combine MECAPLUS dimensions with Spirafort grades: the perfect match for any machined piece!

With those optimum product characteristics, you always get the tube as close as possible to the final clean-turned size, minimizing machin-ing allowance and the weight of the purchased material, as well as machining time and cost! The following graph illustrates the cost advantages with the V & M TUBES range, compared to solid bar and standard tube pre-material.

Cost saving with MECAPLUS and Spirafort grades compared to standard stock material for the production of the same finished piece

Machining cost saving thanks to Spirafort grade and MECAPLUS sizeMACHINING COST

MATERIAL COST

Pre-material cost saving thanks to lower weight of tube with MECAPLUS dimension

Standard stock material (E355 / S355J2H)

MECAPLUS dimension in Spirafort 470

50 % saving

27 % saving

Machining from a solid barBar size: 190 mm OD

Bar weight: 222.6 kg/m

55 % of the material purchased has to be machined!

Finished pieceFinal piece size (clean-turned size): 181 mm OD x 129 mm ID

Piece weight: 99.4 kg/m

Machining from a standard tubeDelivery size: 193.7 mm OD x 40 mm WT

Tube weight: 151.6 kg/m

34 % of the material purchased has to be machined!

Machining from gapless MECAPLUSMECAPLUS size: 181 mm OD x 129 mm ID

Delivery size:183.2 mm OD x 29.2 mm WT

Tube weight: 110.9 kg/m

10 % of the material purchased has to be machined!

Weight savings for machining from a bar, standard tube and gaplessWeight savings for machining from a bar, standard tube and gapless MECAPLUS

Cost saving with MECAPLUS and Spirafort grades compared to standard stock material for the production of the same finished piece

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Special steel production for Spirafort grades

The low-alloy steels used for the Spirafort series possess excellent mechanical properties, machinability and also a good level of wel- dability. Steel production takes place in an electric arc or basic oxygen furnace, which is charged with carefully selected scrap grades, hot metal and any necessary additions. Impurities are removed by addition of slag formers; these rise to the surface and combine to form a slag blanket, which is removed after tapping. The liquid steel is subjected to heat analysis and then transferred to a heating ladle. At this stage, silicon, calcium and sulphur are added to the liquid steel to give Spirafort grades their unique machinability properties. Even distribution of these elements is ensured by injection in a cored wire and dispersion of the particles by an argon jet at the bottom of the ladle. The silicon-calcium treatment acts on the non-metallic inclusions and reduces their abrasiveness through a modifica-tion of the composition and dispersion of their alignments. The addition of sulphur during steel production and ladle treatment is meticulously controlled, because the sulphur content is a decisive factor for ensuring the steels optimum machining char-acteristics. The sulphides gene-rate heterogeneities in the metal which result in

a sufficient reduction of the steels shear strength to improve the chip formation. Tool lifetime and cutting speed are thus greatly improved. A final analysis verifies that the chemical com-position meets all the requirements specified for Spirafort grades. Now the heat can be cast into billets for hollow bar production. The steel production process for Spirafort grades reduces anisotropy in the microstructure, which means the finish-rolled steel possesses almost equivalent properties in all directions.

Assel and PFP (Premium Forged Pipes): the perfect combination of mills for any dimension

The V & M TUBES hollow bar series with Spirafort grades and MECAPLUS size range is mostly produced in our Assel mill in Mont-bard and our PFP mill in Aulnoye. The billets are heated and pierced in a conventional piercer. The Assel process produces a tube of the desired outside diameter by simple adjustment of the roll settings, the metal being cross-rolled between the rolls and a mandrel.

In PFP production, the hollow bloom is forged in a four-hammer forge, with an internal mandrel. The manufacture of seamless steel pipes on an industrial scale by piercing and forging is a world premiere, jointly developed by V & M TUBES with its equipment supplier.

In their respective size ranges, both processes permit excellent tolerances on OD and WT, as well as straightness according to the tightest standards. With this, you can be sure that the MECAPLUS dimension you choose has been selected to reduce as much as possible the ma-chining allowance. But what is most remarkable is the ability of those two processes to achieve any dimension within their respective size range. No more restrictions in dimensions: we can produce the tube closest to your final piece. This is why our gapless range covers all dimensions in incre-ments of only 1 mm, both between two consecu-tive ODs and WTs, with the respective confirmed achievable clean-turned size for each!

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The production of MECAPLUS offering in Spirafort grades

Vallourec Group V&M

D02

B001

1B-1

2GB

V & M DEUTSCHLAND GmbH Industry Theodorstrae 90 40472 Dsseldorf Germany telephone +49 211 960-3580 telefax +49 211 960-2373 e-mail info.service@vmtubes.dewww.vmtubes.com/mecaplus

Technical Consulting telephone +49 211 960-2231 telefax +49 211 960-2350 e-mail mecaplus@vmtubes.de