WELDED STEEL PIPE WITH EXCELLENT WELDING HEAT-AFFECTED ZONE TOUGHNESS, AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING SAME

摘要

The purpose of the present invention is to supply a welded steel pipe having excellent welding heat-affected zone toughness, while attaining excellent productivity and without sacrificing the quality of the inner part of the weld. The welded steel pipe having excellent welding heat-affected zone toughness has two butt-welded portions respectively for the inner and outer surfaces, the butt-welded portions having been formed in such a manner that either the inner or the outer surface is welded earlier than the other. The welded steel pipe is characterized in that the welding heat-affected zones have a metallographic structure which has an island martensite (MA) content of 4% or lower in terms of areal proportion and has an average prior austenite grain diameter of 400 µm or smaller, and that the following and others are taken into account: the average prior austenite grain diameters in the welding heat-affected zones formed by the preceding welding and the succeeding welding; the width of each of the weld beads formed by the preceding welding and the succeeding welding, the width being measured at the position 5 mm apart from the bead toe; and the inclination angles of the melt lines of the weld beads formed by the preceding welding and the succeeding welding.