In conjunction with the United States Department of Energy, The Timken Company began the research and development of controlled thermo-mechanical processing (CTMP) technology in September 1999 to optimize the manufacture and performance of seamless tube and pipe. The total project cost of $11.8 million has been 70 percent funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE).

The system will combine metallurgical fundamental studies, models of the thermal and deformation processes, and product performance response relationships into an integrated model. The objective is to identify a target application, and hence the desired microstructure, and have the model prescribe the process parameters or ‘recipe’ required to produce it.

This enhanced manufacturing process will:

• Greatly improve quality and significantly reduce product variability for steel tubing customers.
• Further reduce energy consumption and waste emissions associated with manufacturing and rework.
• Provide significant savings to steel producers industry-wide through elimination of unnecessary process steps.
• Provide significant savings to the customer in the processing and application of steel tubes.
• Provide economic value to the overall domestic steel industry projected to exceed US$400 million annually.

In addition to The DoE, Timken will work in conjunction with a major automotive manufacturer, U.S. and international laboratories and numerous other groups to develop the new technology. During the first two years of the project, the models have been built and preliminary verification studies have been conducted leading to the development of the first recipes. A proposal to continue the CTMP project into a third year has recently been submitted for review by the DoE.

Steel tube manufacturing process path