Improving the surface quality of cold-worked tubes made of corrosion-resistant steel

The methods used for improving the surface quality of cold-worked tubes made of corrosion-resistant steel were discussed. The roughness of the inside surface of tubes leads to the formation of deposits in heat exchangers use in the power and chemicals industries. The quality of the surface effects the resistance of the material to crack nucleation during low-cycle fatigue and thermal cycling under stress, the amount of drag created inside pipes, the reflection coefficient, and other characteristics. It was found that, when machining increases the surface roughness of parts made of 03Kh18N11 by one order of magnitude, the steel undergoes a reduction in resistance to intercrystalline corrosion (ICC) and corrosion cracking(CC).