Research and demonstration on hydrogen compatibility of pipelines: a review of current status and challenges

Hydrogen transportation by pipelines gradually becomes a critical engineering route in the worldwide adaptation of hydrogen as a form of clean energy. However, due to the hydrogen embrittlement effect, the compatibility of linepipe steels and associated welds with hydrogen is a major concern when designing hydrogen-carrying pipelines. When hydrogen enters the steels, their ductility, fracture resistance, and fatigue properties can be adversely altered. This paper reviews the status of several demonstration projects for natural gas-hydrogen blending and pure hydrogen transportation, the pipeline materials used and their operating parameters. This paper also compares the current standards of materials specifications for hydrogen pipeline systems from different parts of the world. The hydrogen compatibility and tolerance of varying grades of linepipe steels and the relevant testing methods for assessing the compatibility are then discussed, and the conservatism or the inadequacies of the test conditions of the current standards are pointed out for future improvement.     

高精度薄壁钢套类零件制造工艺

薄壁钢套类零件是机械制造中常碰到的一类难加工零件,由于其不同的功能用途和典型结构特点,其制造有一定难度,在实际生产过程中,经常出现加工制造后的零件尺寸精度、形状精度、形位精度达不到使用及设计要求。本文较系统地阐述了薄壁钢套类零件的典型制造工艺方法以及在制造过程中的变形分析和应对措施。     

选区激光熔化工艺参数对气雾化316L不锈钢粉末成形制品性能的影响

本研究系统考察了激光功率和扫描速度对316L不锈钢粉末选区激光熔化工艺成形熔道、制品微观组织及力学性能的影响,并分析了各类缺陷的形成原因。研究结果表明:在低激光功率和高扫描速度条件下,熔道中出现了大量球状颗粒,这些颗粒之间的空隙恶化了下一层粉末的熔化条件,这正是成形制品中熔道分布混乱以及孔洞、裂纹产生的根本原因,进而导致成形制品力学性能降低;在高激光功率和低扫描速度条件下,熔池快速升温/冷却的热应力作用增强,使得成形制品的熔道交界处也存在孔洞和裂纹等缺陷。在本研究实验条件下,激光功率为350 W,扫描速度为1750 mm/s时,SLM成形制品的力学性能最为优异,其中抗拉强度为731 MPa、屈服强度为638 MPa、断后伸长率为40.0%,致密度为96.27%。     

Investigating the influence mechanism of hydrogen partial pressure on fracture toughness and fatigue life by in-situ hydrogen permeation

In this work, we investigate the influence mechanism of hydrogen partial pressure on fracture toughness and fatigue life of a high strength pipeline steel. Both fracture toughness test and fatigue life test are carried out under different hydrogen partial pressure. The experimental results show that with the increasing of hydrogen partial pressure, fracture toughness and fatigue life decrease and the decrease trends gradually flatten out. Hydrogen has a larger effect on fatigue life than fracture toughness. Only 3% hydrogen gas can cause a 67.7% decrease of fatigue life. The in-situ hydrogen permeation test is performed respectively in 2 MPa, 5 MPa and 8 MPa hydrogen partial pressure. With the increasing of hydrogen partial pressure, the increase trend of hydrogen permeation current gradually tends to be gentle, which indicates that the hydrogen atoms entering into the material gradually become saturated. This result can be used to clarify the influence mechanism of hydrogen partial pressure on fracture toughness and fatigue life.     

45号钢垫圈断裂的原因分析和改进措施

针对45号钢垫圈在装配后发生断裂的情况,对45号钢垫圈进行断口形貌分析、力学性能分析、化学成分分析和金相组织分析。宏观形貌显示内孔存在加工台阶和明显刀痕,能谱测试发现断裂起始处存在锌元素,金相组织分析确认内孔加工面存在微裂纹。结合加工工艺分析,确认45号钢垫圈的断裂原因,并提出改进措施。     

Feedforward control of the transverse strip profile in hot-dip galvanizing lines

Hot-dip galvanizing is a standard technology to produce coated steel strips. The primary objective of the galvanizing process is to establish a homogeneous zinc layer with a defined thickness. One condition to achieve this objective is a uniform transverse distance between the strip and the gas wiping dies, which blow off excessive liquid zinc. Therefore, a flat strip profile at the gas wiping dies is required. However, strips processed in such plants often exhibit residual curvatures which entail unknown flatness defects of the strip. Such flatness defects cause non-uniform air gaps and hence an inhomogeneous zinc coating thickness. Modern hot-dip galvanizing lines often use electromagnets to control the transverse strip profile near the gas wiping dies. Typically, the control algorithms ensure a flat strip profile at the electromagnets because the sensors for the transverse strip displacement are also located at this position and it is unfeasible to mount displacement sensors directly at the gas wiping dies. This brings along that in general a flatness defect remains at the gas wiping dies, which in turn entails a suboptimal coating.In this paper, a model-based method for a feedforward control of the strip profile at the position of the gas wiping dies is developed. This method is based on a plate model of the axially moving strip that takes into account the flatness defects in the strip. First, an estimator of the flatness defects is developed and validated for various test strips and settings of the plant. Using the validated mathematical model, a simulation study is performed to compare the state-of-the-art control approach (flat strip profile at the electromagnets) with the optimization-based feedforward controller (flat strip profile at the gas wiping dies) proposed in this paper. Moreover, the influence of the distance between the gas wiping dies and the electromagnets is investigated in detail.     

Synthesis and characterization of geopolymers containing blends of unprocessed steel slag and metakaolin: The role of slag particle size

The present research deals with the production and characterization of geopolymers prepared by mixing metakaolin with a steel slag from the production of chromium-manganese steel, a commercial sodium silicate solution and a sodium hydroxide solution. Different specimens were prepared by mixing metakaolin with different proportions of steel slag (20, 40, 60, 80 wt%) characterized by different maximum particle size. Specimens containing just metakaolin and steel slag alone were also prepared for comparison. All specimens have been characterized regarding their compressive strength, specific surface area, water absorption and microstructure. It has been observed that the use of fine steel slag powders leads to increases the performances and that the specimens containing 40 wt% steel slag and 60 wt% metakaolin revealed the best overall behaviour.     

Preparation of high strength foam ceramics from sand shale and steel slag

Foam ceramics with high strength were successfully fabricated by using sand shale and steel slag as the major materials and SiC as foam agent. The influence of raw materials ratio and heat treatment temperatures on crystalline phases, porosity, mechanical properties and pore structures was investigated via XRF, XRD, SEM, DTA-TG, Micro-CT. The results indicate that the raw materials composed of 94 wt% sand shale and 6 wt% steel slag enable the fabrication of foam ceramics possessing strength of 29.98 MPa, bulk density of 0.821 g/cm³, total porosity of 67.22%, closed porosity of 55.27% and thermal conductivity of 0.08 W/(m·K). Micro-CT result shows that the pores with an average size of 267.05 μm are isolated. Pore wall thickness conforms to normal distribution, and it ranges from 18 to 42 μm. The superior property makes it promising high-strength and lightweight material in application fields, including thermal insulation materials and lightweight building materials.     

Evaluation of behavior of the secondary columns in semi-supported steel shear walls

Semi-supported steel shear walls (SSSW), whose steel plate is connected to secondary columns rather than main columns of the frame, have been considered as an alternative steel shear walls to the traditional type. Many investigations have been made for proportionate designing of components of SSSW system. One of the important issues in this regard is the out of plane buckling of the secondary columns. In this paper, the plastic theory of structures is utilized to find out the axial force distribution, along the compressive column. Then, using energy method, for an assumed shear wall with specific geometry and material and a given shear force, the maximum overturning moment that makes the compressive secondary column buckles, can be determined. Repeating this method, for various shear forces, makes it possible to draw some interaction curves between overturning moments and shear forces. These curves can be used to analyze and design of semi-supported steel shear walls.     

Numerical evaluation on shell buckling of empty thin-walled steel tanks under wind load according to current American and European design codes

Liquid storage steel tanks are vertical above-ground cylindrical shells and as typical thin-walled structures, they are very sensitive to buckling under wind loads, especially when they are empty or at low liquid level. Previous studies revealed discrepancies in buckling resistance of empty tanks between the design method proposed by the American Standard API 650 and the analytical formulas recommended by the European Standard EN1993-1-6 and EN1993-4-2. This study presents a comparison between the provisions of current design codes by performing all types of numerical buckling analyses recommended by Eurocodes (i.e. LBA-linear elastic bifurcation analysis, GNA-geometrically nonlinear elastic analysis of the perfect tank and GNIA-geometrically nonlinear elastic analysis of the imperfect tank). Such analyses are performed in order to evaluate the buckling resistance of two existing thin-walled steel tanks, with large diameters and variable wall thickness. In addition, a discussion is unfolded about the differences between computational and analytical methods and the conservatism that the latter method imposes. An influence study on the geometric imperfections and the boundary conditions is also conducted. Investigation on the boundary conditions at the foot of the tank highlights the sensitivity to the fixation of the vertical translational degree of freedom. Further, it is indicated that the imperfection magnitude recommended by the EN1993-1-6 is extremely unfavorable when applied to large diameter tanks. Comments and conclusions achieved could be helpful in order to evaluate the safety of the current design codes and shed more light towards the most accurate one.