Definitions for "Seamless Pipe"
Keywords:  mandrel, billet, weld, pipe, downturns
Pipe with no weld in the circumference
Seamless pipe is high-tensile steel pipe used under extreme conditions such as those at oil fields and in the transportation of gas. Made by boring a hole through a steel bar and then rolling it, seamless pipe is stronger than welded pipe made by fusing together steel plates and rolling them into the form of pipe. Since seamless pipe is used mainly by oil companies, the market often contracts when order volumes decrease due to downturns in the oil industry. Oil majors slowed the pace of drilling amid the worldwide plunge in crude oil prices in 1998, resulting in a rapid decrease in the demand for such pipe. Seamless pipe ranks among the Japanese steel industry's loss-making products, along with stainless steel sheet and H-beam steel.
Pipe made from a solid billet, which is heated, then rotated under extreme pressure. This rotational pressure creates an opening in the center of the billet, which is then shaped by a mandrel to form pipe.