Seabed Temperature and Sulfide Stress Cracking Resistance of Weldable Martensitic 13% Chromium Stainless Steel

摘要

Weldable martensitic 13% chromium stainless steels (WMSS) are used for mildly sour flowlines in the oil and gas industry. For most material selection and qualification programs for sour applications, the material is tested at the maximum design temperature and at ambient temperature. WMSS may be more susceptible to sulfide stress cracking below ambient temperature and current information in the literature is limited. Consequently, testing may show acceptable results, but in-service cracking could occur from exposure to temperatures below ambient. For subsea pipelines, the typical seabed temperature is ～5 ℃.