The development of full-scale tests of OCTG products (pipe body and connections).
The development of special tests, in the lab and on-site.
The development of new measurement techniques.

Research areas

Full Scale Tests of OCTG Connections

The industrial objective is the validation of connection service envelopes and failure limit loads, both for existing connections as well as to support the design process of new ones.

Laboratory equipment

Make - up of a tubing OCTG connection

Tubing Tong:
OD Range: 2 3/8” – 4”
Max torque: 10.000 lb.ft
Casing Tong:
OD Range: 4 ˝” – 10 ľ”
Max. Torque: 20.000 lb.ft

Vertical Make and Break Tongs

Full scale testing frame for OCTG connections

Maximum tensile load:	1500 metric tons
Maximum compressive load:	1000 metric tons
Maximum internal pressure:	30.000 psi
Maximum external pressure:	20.000 psi
Maximum bending load:	250.000 lb-ft
Maximum temperature:	300 °C

Pipe Collapse Station

Collapse chambers:

OD range	Pressure
9 5/8” to 10 3/4”	up to 25,000 psi
7” to 10 3/4”	up to 13,000 psi
4 1/2” to 7”	up to 20,000 psi
2 3/8” to 3 1/2”	up to 20000 psi

Full Scale Tests (ISO 13679) of OCTG Connections

The performance evaluation of OCTG connections requires their testing under several load combinations that include axial loads (tension and compression) and pressure (internal and external), up to 95% of the theoretical resistance of the pipe body. Additional tests rate the connection performance under bending and temperature cycling (again, with superimposed axial and/or pressure loading).

Tension-Compression + Internal gas pressure test	Tension-Compression + External pressure test
Full scale test of a 3 ˝” 9.2# tubing connection

Testing of galling resistance under different surface finish and lubrication conditions

Make up and break out operations are performed on several combinations of pins and boxes to evaluate the performance of different surface finishes and lubricants that are used in OCTG premium connections.

M&B Test Station

Pin nose after 10 M&B operations

Laboratory Tests for Pipe Bodies

Routine tests are performed to determine pipe body properties of OCTG pipes and cold drawn pipes as well as to support the design of new products.
These tests include collapse, burst, measurement of residual stress and fracturemechanical tests.

Low Temperature Burst Test of Cold Drawn Pipes for the Automotive Industry

Gas containers for air bags are manufactured from thin wall cold drawn pipes. In order to evaluate the material properties of the pipe, full-scale burst tests are performed, both at room and at low (-40 to –60 °C) temperature.

Low Temperature (-40°C) burst test

Special Tests

The industrial objective is the evaluation of new products and processes when there are no standard procedures available or when the aim is to evaluate some very specific properties.

Test of anti-galling properties using the ring-on-disk test

Universal testing machine adaptedto ring on disk testing

Ring on disk test (detail)

In order to perform a comparison of different surface coatings and lubricants for OCTG connections, a ring-on-disk test was developed. In this test, a load sequence (based on the results of FEA analyses of connections) is applied to a small-scale sample, and the time to galling is used as an indication of the relative performance of the lubricant.

Dope pressure measurement in OCTG Make up and break out tests

In addition to the standard make and break test, OCTG are also tested to measure the dope pressure build up during make up.

Dope pressure measurement in the Make up of OCTG connections

New Measurement Techniques

New measurement techniques are developed both for standard tests (to increase precision and productivity) as well as in innovative applications.

Continuous Digital Measurement During Sealability Tests

New leak detector

Sealability tests require the visual monitoring of the leak detector at given time intervals. A new device has been developed which allows the automation of the method and an increase in its accuracy.

The “Shapemeter”

The “Shapemeter” has been designed to provide accurate measurements of the OD of a pipe sample in order to accurately input its geometry into 3D FEA models of the collapse test. These measurements can also be performed on samples taken during production, both as information for statistical models as well as to evaluate the effect of the process set-ups.

Measurement of the external shape of a billet

Publications in the open literature (1995-2002)

(a) Refereed Journals

A.P. Assanelli, Q. Xu, F. Benedetto, D .Johnson, E.N. Dvorkin , Numerical/Experimental analysis of an API 8-Round connection, ASME J. Energy Res. Tech., Vol. 119, pp. 81-88, June 1997.

(b) Conference Proceedings

A.P. Assanelli, G. López Turconi, “Effect of Measurement Procedures on Estimating Geometrical Parameters of Pipes” OTC Paper no. 13051, Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, TX, May 2001.
A.P. Assanelli, R.G. Toscano, D.H. Johnson and E.N. Dvorkin, "Collapse Behavior of Casings: Measurement Techniques, Numerical Analyses and Full Scale Testing", SPE Paper no. 51314, SPE Applied Tech. Workshop on Risk Based Design of Well Casing and Tubing, The Woodlands, TX, USA, May 1998.