Computational analysis of the process for manufacturing seamless tubes

A computer simulation of the transient three-dimensional heat transfer process occurring during the manufacturing of seamless tubes carried out by TAMSA, Tubos de Acero de Mexico, is reported. The work was performed by a team which combines Canadian and Mexican researchers and comprises both experimental and computational aspects. The Mexican team concentrated its efforts on experimentally investigating the metallurgical pattern of the mandrel, while the Canadian team devoted its time to the computer simulation and analysis of heat transfer and flow processes. In this paper, only the latter part is presented. The numerical simulation uses the Star-CD commercial CFD software package which is based on the finite volume methodology. The results show the importance of the cooling water channel configuration in relation to the mandrel temperature distribution and resulting metallurgical structure.