The Development of Seamless Steel Pipes

seamless steel pipes, made from a single piece of metal without surface seams, come in various types based on production methods, such as hot-rolled, cold-rolled, cold-drawn, extruded, and mandrel pipes. they vary in cross-sectional shapes, including round and non-circular varieties with complex shapes like square, elliptical, triangular, hexagonal, melon seed, and star-shaped pipes. ranging from a minimum diameter of 0.3mm to a maximum of 650mm, seamless steel pipes serve diverse purposes, with applications in petroleum geological drilling, petrochemical cracking, boilers, bearings, and high-precision structural steel for vehicles, tractors, and aerospace.

revered as the "blood vessels" of industry, seamless steel pipes are crucial raw materials for national industrial and defense construction. they are indispensable in the manufacturing of airplanes, ships, trains, automobiles, boilers, power plants, as well as in oil, steam, and water transportation, and mineral exploration through geological drilling. without seamless steel pipes, key industries such as petroleum, chemicals, steel, machinery, defense, and aerospace would struggle to advance.

in the early years of the people's republic of china in 1949, the country lacked the capability to produce seamless steel pipes. shanghai, with limited equipment for converting steel pipes, faced challenges due to a lack of hot perforation machinery, rendering it unable to use round steel for seamless pipe production. the importation of raw pipes or the repurposing of used seamless steel pipes from abroad was the only option. notably, despite the japanese invaders having set up a hot-rolled seamless steel pipe unit in anshan in 1935, its equipment was dismantled by the soviet union in 1945, leaving china unable to produce seamless steel pipes at the establishment of the prc.

post the establishment of the people's republic of china, economic recovery during the first three years and the implementation of the first five-year plan marked the country's industrialization. economic blockades and embargoes by western hostile nations disrupted the source of imported seamless steel pipes, coupled with the domestic inability to produce them, severely impacting economic recovery and defense industries.

a significant milestone occurred on december 26, 1953, at the anshan seamless steel pipe factory in northern china, where the production of the first seamless steel pipe unfolded. this marked the end of china's inability to produce seamless steel pipes. the factory's commissioning, from breaking ground to the birth of the first seamless steel pipe, took only 1 year and 3 months. in the second year of production (1954), the factory successfully rolled out boiler pipes, geological pipes, oil pipes, and stainless steel pipes. the successful rolling of stainless steel pipes on a two-roll skew rolling perforator was a groundbreaking event in china's seamless steel pipe production history.

in southern china, on march 8, 1958, shanghai's yongxin hardware manufacturing factory (later renamed shanghai special-shaped steel pipe factory) developed china's first φ76mm perforation machine, ending shanghai's long-standing history of inability to supply billets for cold-drawn seamless steel pipes. this marked the establishment of the second seamless steel pipe factory capable of producing hot-rolled billets. subsequently, it evolved into the shanghai special-shaped steel pipe factory, with the most extensive variety and specifications of special-shaped steel pipes in china.

the shanghai cold-drawn steel pipe factory (shanghai steel five factory) later developed the "two-roll skew rolling perforation plus talc and lime lubrication cold drawing" process for producing stainless steel pipes. china's research and practice in using the two-roll skew rolling perforation process for stainless steel pipe production became world-class.

as the perforation machine developed in equipment and processes, a production line known as the perforation-cold drawing seamless steel pipe production line emerged. this simple production line became one of the common seamless steel pipe production processes in china, given the scarcity of conditions for producing small-diameter seamless steel pipes at that time. however, it was also a production process tailored to china's specific conditions – "low investment, quick output, and resource efficiency."

subsequently, spurred by technological advancements and market demands, there was further development towards producing larger-diameter seamless steel pipes. numerous factories, including hengyang steel pipe factory, shanghai steel pipe factory, kunming seamless steel pipe factory, guangzhou steel seamless pipe factory, and others, were successively established across the country. with seamless steel pipe factories proliferating nationwide, china's seamless steel pipe production entered a golden period. starting from 1982, the annual production saw a continuous average increase of 8.9% for 15 years, reaching 3.61 million tons in 1997, marking the first peak. in 1992, production exceeded japan (2.33 million tons), reaching 2.65 million tons; in 1994, it surpassed russia (2.81 million tons), becoming the world's leading producer and maintaining that position to date.

centerway steel co., ltd. has established a good cooperative relationship with the famous domestic professional seamless pipe manufacturer--"hengyang valin steel tube" enterprise. it is the first-level agent of hengyang valin steel tube co.,ltd and provides you with one-stop total pipe solutions.

centerway is committed to providing one-stop service for steel pipe products to customers around the world.