How to Cut Carbon Steel Pipes

With the continuous development of industrial technology, the use of carbon steel pipes is becoming more and more extensive. In the production and processing of carbon steel pipes, cutting is an indispensable step. 

How to cut carbon steel pipes？

Here are some ways to cut carbon steel pipes:

1. Cutting machine cutting

Cutting machine cutting is a commonly used method for cutting carbon steel pipes. This method is suitable for carbon steel pipes of different thicknesses and materials. Using a cutting machine to cut carbon steel pipes can obtain precise cutting sizes and smooth incisions, and the cutting speed is also very fast. However, cutting with a cutting machine requires the use of higher energy, and the thermal deformation caused to the carbon steel pipe is also relatively large, which is not suitable for thinner carbon steel pipes.

2. Flame cutting

Flame cutting is a faster and more efficient way to cut carbon steel pipes. This method is suitable for cutting thicker carbon steel pipes. Flame cutting mainly uses flames to heat the surface of the carbon steel pipe to the melting point, and then blows the molten metal with high-pressure oxygen to achieve the effect of breaking. The cross-section of the flame-cut tube blank is flat, the slit is about 6-7mm, and the one-time investment cost is relatively low. At the same time, the flame cutting machine is flexible in production. It can cut both round billets and square billets, and can cut most steel grades of tube billets. Its disadvantage is that it uses the general flame cutting method, which is not applicable to carbon steel with a carbon content of more than 0.45% and some alloy steels. At the same time, there are problems such as metal consumption, oxygen and acetylene gas consumption and workshop pollution, which pollute the environment and need to consider environmental protection issues.

3. Plasma cutting

Plasma cutting is a high-energy ion beam heating cutting method. Compared with flame cutting, it has higher precision and accuracy and can perform high-speed cutting and perforation processing. This method is mainly suitable for thinner carbon steel pipes, and has good performance in processing quality and efficiency.

4. Laser cutting

Laser cutting is a high-precision and high-speed carbon steel pipe cutting method. Laser cutting can be applied to various complex shapes and special-shaped carbon steel pipes. Since laser cutting uses non-contact cutting, the deformation of carbon steel pipes is also very small. However, the cost of laser cutting is higher than other cutting methods, requiring expensive equipment and high energy costs.

How to cut large-diameter carbon steel seamless pipes？

1. Shearing method

The shearing machine has high productivity and no metal consumption during shearing. However, due to the flattening phenomenon at the fracture and the easy cutting angle, the shearing machine is also easy to crack when shearing high-alloy steel, so the shearing machine is generally only used in small units with many shearing times and low-alloy steel and carbon steel products.

2. Sawing method

The end face of the pipe cut by the sawing machine is straight, which is convenient for centering, easy to bite into when perforating, and the wall thickness of the hollow billet is relatively uniform. At the same time, pipe billets of various steel grades can be cut by cold sawing machines. However, its disadvantage is that the saw blade or saw blade has large loss and high production cost. Despite this. Due to its good sawing quality, most of the newly built units currently use the sawing method. There are two commonly used sawing machines, one is a circular saw with tungsten carbide carbide teeth, and the other is a band saw with a strip-shaped saw blade. The former has higher production efficiency and high equipment cost; the latter has lower production efficiency and low equipment cost.

3. Breaking method

The productivity of the breaking machine is high, but the cross section of the broken tube is extremely uneven, which can easily cause uneven wall thickness at the front end during perforation. Even uneven wall thickness of the entire tube. At present, this method has been basically eliminated.

In summary, there are many ways to cut carbon steel pipes. Choosing different cutting methods for different requirements can improve processing efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure processing quality. When choosing a carbon steel pipe cutting method, readers need to consider factors such as actual conditions, application requirements, and economic benefits to choose the most suitable method.

Read more: Roughness of carbon steel pipe