Glossary

Below is a comprehensive glossary of common terms used in the steel industry. If you have any suggestions for additions and/or corrections, please forward them to Mike Meyerhoff.

A.G.A - American Gas Association

A.N.S.I. - American National Standards Institute

Alloy - A combination of two or more elements melted together to form a new material.

Annealing - The manipulation of the hardness of a material through specific heating and cooling

A.P.I. - American Petroleum Institute

Arc Weld - Welding technique where by an electronic arc creates heat to melt and fuse to pieces of metal together.

A.S.M.E. - American Society of Engineers

A.S.T.M. - American Society for Testing Materials

A.W.W.A. - American Water Works Association

Bevel - A prepared angled end of a piece of pipe most commonly used for welding or splicing two pieces together. Standard bevels are 30 degrees.

Billet - Solid, round bar of raw steel used to make seamless pipe.

Bollard - Bumper post.

B.T.U - British Thermal Unit. A measure of heat energy. 1 B.T.U. = 1055..5585 joules

Brinell Hardness (BHN) - Arbitrary scale used to measure indentation hardness of steel representing kg/(mm^2).

Burst Test - Destructive hydraulic test used to determine physical properties of seamless pipe

Butt Weld - A weld between two pieces of beveled pipe of equal diameter.

Casing - Pipe used as a retainer, usually to protect materials from an exterior environment.

Charpy Impact Test - A measure of a metal-s impact strength, this test introduces a measured impact to a metal-s surface via a pendulum.

Coil Splice - A method of welding two pieces of plate together before being rolled into pipe.

Cold Drawn - Drawing pipe or tube over a die to manipulate outside diameter and wall and achieve tighter tolerances.

Collapse - The amount of pressure, when applied to pipe, will cause the pipe to cave in on itself.

Conical Points - Steel tips typically welded to the end of piling pipe used to help drive the piles into the ground.

Coupling - Sleeve (usually threaded) used to connect two pieces of pipe

C.W.T. - Per hundred weight.

Diameter - The measurement of a straight line from one edge of a circle, through the radius, to another edge.

Die Stamping - Permanent markings stamped on pipe per certain specifications.

Dolphin - A steel pipe driven into a river, lake, or seabed upon which a barge or other structure used to pivot.

Drawn Over Mandrel (DOM) - Method of manufacturing pipe or tube where skelp is pulled over a mandrel to create pipe with extremely tight tolerances.

Double Extra Heavy (XXH) - Scheduled pipe size describing wall thickness relative to outside diameter. Available in nominal pipe sizes - to 8 where wall thickness is double that of Extra Heavy (XH)

Double Random Length (DRL) - Pipe lengths ranging from 37- - 44-.

Double Submerged Arc Weld (DSAW) - Method of manufacturing larger diameter pipe whereby a longitudinal straight or spiral weld, created by an electronic arc, bonds a seam on both the outside and inside diameter.

Drifted - Finishing inside diameter to meet specific dimensions by pushing a mandrel through a pipe.

Ductility - Measured my elongation, ductility describes the plasticity of a pipe.

Eddy Current Test - Non-destructive test whereby an electrical current flow measures the discontinuity of a piece of pipe.

Electric Resistance Weld (E.R.W.) - Method of manufacturing pipe or tube where by a longitudinal weld, created by an electronic current, bonds a seam using no filler metals or flux.

Extra Heavy (XH) - Scheduled pipe size describing wall thickness relative to outside diameter. For nominal pipe sizes up to and including 8, XH is the same as sch 80. Any nominal pipe sizes greater than 8 maintain an XH wall thickness of 500.

Ferrous - Containing Iron.

Flange - Fitting attached to a pipe or tube typically used to attach a valve or some other type of fitting.

Flash - A small collection of metal formed after a welding process.

Flash Control - The removal of any flashing within a specified parameter.

F.O.B. - Free On Board. Term used to describe freight terms.

Forging - The compression of a metal form to create a desired shape.

Fusion Bond Epoxy (FBE) - A protective epoxy resin usually applied to the outside diameter of pipe to prevent corrosion in a marine environment.

Galvanizing - Protective zinc coating.

Gross Ton (GT) - 2204.62262 Net tons. Also known as a -Tonne-.

Hardness - The description of the indentation strength of steel measured by either the Brinell Hardness Scale or the Rockwell Hardness Number.

Heat Number - Identification number given to each production run of a given pipe rolling.

Holiday - An inconsistency in an applied pipe coating.

Hydrostatic Test - Pressure water test used to determine flow characteristics of pipe relative to specific requirements.

Inside Diameter (ID) - The measurement from any two points on the inside of a pipe passing through the geometric center. ID can also be found by taking the measurement of the outside diameter less the measurement of the wall doubled { OD - (wall x 2)}.

Lamination - Small defects in the outside diameter of a pipe which typically resemble splinters.

Line Pipe - Pipe typically used to transport gas or oil.

Longitudinal Weld - A weld running the length of a piece of pipe

Mid-weld - Often referred to as a -splice-, this is a method for connecting pieces of pipe where two ends of pipe are welded together to form a longer length of pipe.

N.A.S.P.D. - National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors

N.B.S. - National Bureau of Standards

Net Ton (NT) - 2000 lbs. Also known as a -Short Ton-

Nipple - Short length of pipe threaded on both ends.

Nominal Pipe Size (NPS) - Standard pipe sizes.

Normalizing - An annealing process whereby metal is heated to a critical temperature to create a uniform molecular lattice, and then is air cooled.

O.C.T.G. - Oil Country Tubular Goods

Outside Diameter (OD) - The measurement from any two points on the outside of a pipe passing through the geometric center.

Ovality - The difference between the maximum and minimum diameters of a piece of pipe.

Pickling - The immersion of pipe in an acid bath to remove impurities such as rust, dirt, scale, etc.

Piling - Pipe or sheet typically hammered into the ground to stabilize the surrounding soil, rock, or sand.

Pinch Piling - Typically smaller diameter pipe piles, usually used in foundation repair.

Pitting - Small indentations in the surface of steel.

P.S.I. - Pounds Per Square Inch.

Quenching - A heat treatment where the metal is rapidly cooled in a liquid medium.

Rack Pitting - Pitting which occurs along a recognizable line on the surface of pipe, typically caused by water collecting in a stack of pipe over time.

Radius - The measurement of a straight line from the center of a circle to the edge.

Range 1 - Pipe lengths ranging from 16- - 25-

Range 2 - Pipe lengths ranging from 25- - 35-

Range 3 - Pipe lengths ranging from 35- - 44-

Rockwell Hardness (RHN) - Arbitrary scale used to measure indentation hardness of steel sub-categorized into three divisions (A, B, and C) relative to the softness of the steel.

Scale - Oxidized iron which can build up on the surface or steel.

Seamless Pipe - Method of manufacturing pipe where a billet is pierced and rolled over a mandrel to create a pipe with no longitudinal seam.

Short Ton - 2000 lbs. Also known as a -Net Ton-.

Single Random Length (SRL) - Pipe lengths ranging from 17- - 24-

Stencil - Identification markings on a pipe which describe the spec, as well as other vital characteristics of the pipe. Typically stencils include OD, Wall thickness, Spec, and Heat number.

Stress Relieving - A process similar to annealing whereby steel is heated for an extend period of time, typically done after forging, normalizing, or cold working.

Tack Weld - Temporary weld used to join two pieces of metal for a short time.

Tensile - The strength at which a piece of pipe bursts, measured in PSI.

Threaded & Coupled (T & C) - Pipe which has threads at both ends to accommodate connections with other pipe via a screw-on coupling.

Tonne - 2204.62262 Net tons. Also known as a -Gross Ton (GT)

Victaulic - A method of connecting couplings where the ends of the pipe and coupling are grooved in such a way to accommodate each other and fasten.

Wheelabrator - Device used to clean the surface of steel using small pieces of metal shot, much in the same manner as a sandblaster.

Yield - The strength at which a piece of pipe bends, measured in PSI.