Abstract

Submerged arc welding is one of the most extensively used process for production of spiral welded steel pipes. Production process includes pipe forming by cold plastic deformation of hot rolled strips and double-sided submerged arc welding of the strip edges.
The double-sided welded seam as an integral part of the final steel pipes must be carefully controlled because plays principal role on the quality of welded steel pipes. In this respect, optical metallographic analysis of the welded joint cross section were used as efficient and effective method to control the double-sided welded seam.

The article presents a brief review of the role of optical metallographic analysis commonly used for quality evaluation of double-sided submerged arc welded steel pipes.