Numerical and experimental validation of solid-state mechanical welding for 4-in schedule 40 oil and gas pipelines

Abstract Solid-state welding technologies would introduce advancement for the development of sustainable industrial practices. This work investigates mechanical welding by solid-state welding of X52 4-in s4 Schedule 40 pipes to withstand pressures and stresses in oil and gas pipelines. The study includes finite element simulations and experimental validation. Numerical models were developed first to optimize the mandrel profile for various pipe sizes and materials, followed by finite element simulations. The simulation process consisted of three steps. The first step involves the use of a mandrel to enlarge the pipe to a certain depth. The second step simulates the insertion process of the pipe. The last step simulates the loading of the pipe axially to determine the pull-out force. Experimental results were obtained using digital image correlation (DIC) on dog-bone samples and pressure testing on assembled pipes. The results revealed that the fitted pipes will sustain a pressure up to 490 bar and loads in the range 370–430 KN (that is 30% more than the yield pressure and almost 200% of the design pressure). This technology is recommended for future sustainability requirements in different industrial applications.