Process of producing an austenitic stainless steel tube

1. A process of producing an austenitic stainless steel tube, comprising:

a) producing an ingot or a continuous casted billet of the austenitic stainless steel, wherein said austenitic stainless steel has a composition (in weight %),

C

   0-0.3;

Cr

  26-28;

Cu

 0.6-1.4;

Mn

   0-2.5;

Mo

   3-4.4;

N

   0-0.1;

Ni

29.5-34;

Si

   0-1.0;

balance Fe and unavoidable impurities;

b) determining a value for degree of hot reduction (Rh), a value for degree of cold reduction (Rc), and a value of Q based on the composition of the austenitic stainless steel and a target yield strength such that formula (1) is satisfied;

c) hot extruding the ingot or the billet obtained from step a) into a tube, wherein hot extruding includes:

selecting hot reduction parameters of a cross section of the ingot or the billet before hot extruding (a0) and a cross section area of the tube after hot extruding (a1), where

Rh

=

1

-

a

⁢

⁢

1

a

⁢

⁢

0

 and the value for degree of hot reduction (Rh) is that obtained from step b), and

actively hot reducing the ingot or the billet from the cross section a0 to form the tube having the cross section area a1; and

d) cold rolling the tube obtained from step c) to a final dimension thereof, wherein cold rolling includes:

selecting cold reduction parameters of a cross section area of the tube before cold rolling (A0) and a cross section area of the tube after cold rolling (A1), where

Rc

=

1

-

A

⁢

⁢

1

A

⁢

⁢

0

 and the value for degree of cold reduction (Rc) is that obtained from step b), and

actively cold rolling the tube from the cross section area A0 to the cross section area A1,

wherein the outer diameter D of the cold rolled tube is 70-250 mm and the thickness t thereof is 6-25 mm, and

wherein formula (1) is:

(2.5× Rc +1.85 ×Rh −17.7 ×Q )=( Rp 0.2target+49.3−1073×C−21×Cr−7.17×Mo−833.3×N)±Z  (1)

where

Q is (W0−W1)×(OD0−W0)/W0((OD0−W0)−(OD1−W1)), wherein W1 is tube wall thickness after cold rolling, W0 is tube wall thickness before cold rolling, OD1 is outer diameter of tube after cold rolling, and OD0 is outer diameter of tube before cold rolling,

Rp0.2target is the target yield strength and is 750≤R p0.2target ≤1000 MPa,

30%≤Rc≤75%,

50%≤Rh≤90%,

1≤Q≤3.6, and

Z is 65, and

C, Cr, Mo and N are the contents (in weight %) of each respective element.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 50≤Rc≤75%.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 30%≤Rc≤68%.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 60%≤Rh≤90%.

5. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 50%≤Rh≤80%.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 1.5≤Q≤3.6.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 1≤Q≤3.2.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the austenitic stainless steel has the composition:

C

0.006-0.019;

Cr

26.4-27.2;

Cu

0.83-1.19;

Mn

1.51-1.97;

Mo

3.27-4.40;

N

0.03-0.09;

Ni

30.3-31.3;

Si

0.3-0.5;

balance Fe and unavoidable impurities.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein 50%≤Rc≤68%, wherein 60%≤Rh≤80%, and wherein 1.5≤Q≤3.2.

10. The process according to claim 9 , wherein the austenitic stainless steel has the composition:

C

0.006-0.019;

Cr

26.4-27.2;

Cu

0.83-1.19;

Mn

1.51-1.97;

Mo

3.27-4.40;

N

0.03-0.09;

Ni

30.3-31.3;

Si

0.3-0.5;

balance Fe and unavoidable impurities.

11. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the cold rolling step is a single cold rolling step.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the cold rolling step is performed in a pilger mill.

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein determining the value for degree of hot reduction (Rh), the value for degree of cold reduction (Rc), and the value of Q is done iteratively.

14. The process according to claim 1 , wherein a yield strength of the cold rolled tube is within 65 MPa of the target yield strength.