Protecting Drill Pipe
Hardbanding has been such an incredible innovation for protecting tool joints and casing downhole. But what about protecting the tubes of the pipe? For decades, it has been impossible to weld on drill pipe tube bodies, but with Arnco’s Heatless WearBanding, hardbanding can now be applied directly to the tubes.
How do you protect the tube bodies?
HWS™ can be used to apply bands of hardbanding around the tubes, just like they’re applied on tool joints or tubing connections.
Will the welding of hardbanding damage the pipe?
No. Arnco has performed extensive testing, including tensile testing, to ensure there are no changes to the properties of the pipe.
How does the welding not negatively affect the pipe?
Put simply, by controlling the heat. The Heat Affected Zone, or portion of the wall thickness that the welding changes, is shallow and the changes are minimal, all due to the low heat input. Because of this, the actual properties of the pipe don’t change much and aren’t negatively affected due to the welding.
Will the hardbanding cracks as the pipe is pulled?
No. Arnco has performed modified tensile testing, and found that the pipe will break before the hardbanding on the tube cracks.
Where should these “wear bands” be applied?
From multiple, meticulous trials and advanced computer modeling, it’s been found that two wear bands, equally spaced from the center, provide the optimal protection and prevent increased stress that could cause cracking.
How should these be inspected?
Arnco has worked closely with inspection companies and standards developers to ensure inspection is simple, with minor differences from how inspections are done on unprotected pipe.
How much longer will the pipe last when the tubes are hardbanded?
Arnco performed three trials and found the same result: the addition of wear bands will at least double the life of the pipe. If the pipe used to wear after 10 wells, one application of wear bands would cause it to last 20 wells.
Can the wear bands be reapplied?
Yes. Arnco can reapply the wear bands once, allowing the pipe to last at least 3 times as long as it would without wear bands.
Heatless WearBanding
Want to Know More?
For more information download our Product Data Sheet.
All hardbanding is done with
