Designation: A 106/A 106M – 08 Used in USDOE-NE standards
Standard Specification for
Seamless Carbon Steel Pipe for High-Temperature Service1
This standard is issued under the fixed designation A 106/A 106M; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year
of original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.
A superscript epsilon (´) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.
This standard has been approved for use by agencies of the Department of Defense.
1. Scope*
1.1 This specification2 covers seamless carbon steel pipe for
high-temperature service (Note 1) in NPS 1⁄8 to NPS 48 [DN 6
to DN 1200] (Note 2) inclusive, with nominal (average) wall
thickness as given in ASME B 36.10M. It shall be permissible
to furnish pipe having other dimensions provided such pipe
complies with all other requirements of this specification. Pipe
ordered under this specification shall be suitable for bending,
flanging, and similar forming operations, and for welding.
When the steel is to be welded, it is presupposed that a welding
procedure suitable to the grade of steel and intended use or
service will be utilized.
NOTE 1—It is suggested, consideration be given to possible graphitiza-
tion.
NOTE 2—The dimensionless designator NPS (nominal pipe size) [DN
(diameter nominal)] has been substituted in this standard for such
traditional terms as “nominal diameter,” “size,” and “nominal size.”
1.2 Supplementary requirements of an optional nature are
provided for seamless pipe intended for use in applications
where a superior grade of pipe is required. These supplemen-
tary requirements call for additional tests to be made and when
desired shall be so stated in the order.
1.3 The values stated in either SI units or inch-pound units
are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in
each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each
system shall be used independently of the other. Combining
values from the two systems may result in non-conformance
with the standard.
1.4 The following precautionary caveat pertains only to the
test method portion, Sections 11, 12, and 13 of this specifica-
tion: This standard does not purport to address all of the safety
concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility
of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and
health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory
limitations prior to use.
2. Referenced Documents
2.1 ASTM Standards: 3
A 530/A 530M Specification for General Requirements for
Specialized Carbon and Alloy Steel Pipe
E 213 Practice for Ultrasonic Examination of Metal Pipe
and Tubing
E 309 Practice for Eddy-Current Examination of Steel Tu-
bular Products Using Magnetic Saturation
E 381 Method of Macroetch Testing Steel Bars, Billets,
Blooms, and Forgings
E 570 Practice for Flux Leakage Examination of Ferromag-
netic Steel Tubular Products
2.2 ASME Standard:
ASME B 36.10M Welded and Seamless Wrought Steel
Pipe4
2.3 Military Standards:
MIL-STD-129 Marking for Shipment and Storage5
MIL-STD-163 Steel Mill Products, Preparation for Ship-
ment and Storage5
2.4 Federal Standard:
Fed. Std. No. 123 Marking for Shipments (Civil Agencies)5
Fed. Std. No. 183 Continuous Identification Marking of Iron
and Steel Products5
2.5 Other Standards:
SSPC-SP 6 Surface Preparation Specification No. 66
3. Ordering Information
3.1 The inclusion of the following, as required will describe
the desired material adequately, when ordered under this
specification:
3.1.1 Quantity (feet, metres, or number of lengths),
3.1.2 Name of material (seamless carbon steel pipe),
3.1.3 Grade (Table 1),
1 This specification is under the jurisdiction of Committee A01 on Steel,
Stainless Steel and Related Alloys and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee
A01.09 on Carbon Steel Tubular Products.
Current edition approved July 15, 2008. Published August 2008. Originally
approved in 1926. Last previous edition in 2006 as A 106/A 106M – 06a.
2 For ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code applications see related Specifi-
cations SA-106 in Section II of that Code.
3 For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or
contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For Annual Book of ASTM
Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on
the ASTM website.
4 Available from American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), ASME
International Headquarters, Three Park Ave., New York, NY 10016-5990, http://
www.asme.org.
5 Available from Standardization Documents Order Desk, DODSSP, Bldg. 4,
Section D, 700 Robbins Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19111-5098.
6 Available from Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC), 40 24th St., 6th Floor,
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-4656, http://www.sspc.org.
1
*A Summary of Changes section appears at the end of this standard.
Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.
3.1.4 Manufacture (hot-finished or cold-drawn),
3.1.5 Size (NPS [DN] and weight class or schedule number,
or both; outside diameter and nominal wall thickness; or inside
diameter and nominal wall thickness),
3.1.6 Special outside diameter tolerance pipe (16.2.2),
3.1.7 Inside diameter tolerance pipe, over 10 in. [250 mm]
ID (16.2.3),
3.1.8 Length (specific or random, Section 17),
3.1.9 Optional requirements (Section 9 and S1 to S8),
3.1.10 Test report required (Section on Certification of
Specification A 530/A 530M),
3.1.11 Specification designation (A 106 or A 106M, includ-
ing year-date),
3.1.12 End use of material,
3.1.13 Hydrostatic test in accordance with Specification
A 530/A 530M or 13.3 of this specification, or NDE in
accordance with Section 14 of this specification.
3.1.14 Special requirements.
4. Process
4.1 The steel shall be killed steel, with the primary melting
process being open-hearth, basic-oxygen, or electric-furnace,
possibly combined with separate degassing or refining. If
secondary melting, using electroslag remelting or vacuum-arc
remelting is subsequently employed, the heat shall be defined
as all of the ingots remelted from a single primary heat.
4.2 Steel cast in ingots or strand cast is permissible. When
steels of different grades are sequentially strand cast, identifi-
cation of the resultant transition material is required. The
producer shall remove the transition material by any estab-
lished procedure that positively separates the grades.
4.3 For pipe NPS 11⁄2 [DN 40] and under, it shall be
permissible to furnish hot finished or cold drawn.
4.4 Unless otherwise specified, pipe NPS 2 [DN 50] and
over shall be furnished hot finished. When agreed upon
between the manufacturer and the purchaser, it is permissible
to furnish cold-drawn pipe.
5. Heat Treatment
5.1 Hot-finished pipe need not be heat treated. Cold-drawn
pipe shall be heat treated after the final cold draw pass at a
temperature of 1200 °F (650 °C) or higher.
6. General Requirements
6.1 Material furnished to this specification shall conform to
the applicable requirements of the current edition of Specifi-
cation A 530/A 530M unless otherwise provided herein.
7. Chemical Composition
7.1 The steel shall conform to the requirements as to
chemical composition prescribed in Table 1.
8. Heat Analysis
8.1 An analysis of each heat of steel shall be made by the
steel manufacturer to determine the percentages of the ele-
ments specified in Section 7. If the secondary melting pro-
cesses of 5.1 are employed, the heat analysis shall be obtained
from one remelted ingot or the product of one remelted ingot
of each primary melt. The chemical composition thus deter-
mined, or that determined from a product analysis made by the
manufacturer, if the latter has not manufactured the steel, shall
be reported to the purchaser or the purchaser’s representative,
and shall conform to the requirements specified in Section 7.
9. Product Analysis
9.1 At the request of the purchaser, analyses of two pipes
from each lot (see 20.1) shall be made by the manufacturer
from the finished pipe. The results of these analyses shall be
reported to the purchaser or the purchaser’s representative and
shall conform to the requirements specified in Section 7.
9.2 If the analysis of one of the tests specified in 9.1 does
not conform to the requirements specified in Section 7,
analyses shall be made on additional pipes of double the
original number from the same lot, each of which shall
conform to requirements specified.
10. Tensile Requirements
10.1 The material shall conform to the requirements as to
tensile properties given in Table 2.
11. Bending Requirements
11.1 For pipe NPS 2 [DN 50] and under, a sufficient length
of pipe shall stand being bent cold through 90° around a
cylindrical mandrel, the diameter of which is twelve times the
outside diameter (as shown in ASME B 36.10M) of the pipe,
without developing cracks. When ordered for close coiling, the
pipe shall stand being bent cold through 180° around a
cylindrical mandrel, the diameter of which is eight times the
outside diameter (as shown in ASME B 36.10M) of the pipe,
without failure.
11.2 For pipe whose diameter exceeds 25 in. [635 mm] and
whose diameter to wall thickness ratio, where the diameter to
wall thickness ratio is the specified outside diameter divided by
the nominal wall thickness, is 7.0 or less, the bend test shall be
conducted. The bend test specimens shall be bent at room
temperature through 180° with the inside diameter of the bend
being 1 in. [25 mm] without cracking on the outside portion of
the bent portion.
Example: For 28 in. [711 mm] diameter 5.000 in. [127 mm]
thick pipe the diameter to wall thickness ratio = 28/5 = 5.6
[711/127 = 5.6].
TABLE 1 Chemical Requirements
Composition, %
Grade A Grade B Grade C
Carbon, maxA 0.25 0.30 0.35
Manganese 0.27–0.93 0.29–1.06 0.29–1.06
Phosphorus, max 0.035 0.035 0.035
Sulfur, max 0.035 0.035 0.035
Silicon, min 0.10 0.10 0.10
Chrome, maxB 0.40 0.40 0.40
Copper, maxB 0.40 0.40 0.40
Molybdenum, maxB 0.15 0.15 0.15
Nickel, maxB 0.40 0.40 0.40
Vanadium, maxB 0.08 0.08 0.08
A For each reduction of 0.01 % below the specified carbon maximum, an
increase of 0.06 % manganese above the specified maximum will be permitted up
to a maximum of 1.35 %.
B These five elements combined shall not exceed 1 %.
A 106/A 106M – 08
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12. Flattening Tests
12.1 Although testing is not required, pipe shall be capable
of meeting the flattening test requirements of Supplementary
Requirement S3, if tested.
13. Hydrostatic Test
13.1 Except as allowed by 13.2, 13.3, and 13.4, each length
of pipe shall be subjected to the hydrostatic test without
leakage through the pipe wall.
13.2 As an alternative to the hydrostatic test at the option of
the manufacturer or where specified in the purchase order, it
shall be permissible for the full body of each pipe to be tested
with a nondestructive electric test described in Section 14.
13.3 Where specified in the purchase order, it shall be
permissible for pipe to be furnished without the hydrostatic test
and without the nondestructive electric test in Section 14; in
this case, each length so furnished shall include the mandatory
marking of the letters “NH.” It shall be permissible for pipe
meeting the requirements of 13.1 or 13.2 to be furnished where
pipe without either the hydrostatic or nondestructive electric
test has been specified in the purchase order; in this case, such
pipe need not be marked with the letters “NH.” Pipe that has
failed either the hydrostatic test of 13.1 or the nondestructive
electric test of 13.2 shall not be furnished as “NH” pipe.
13.4 Where the hydrostatic test and the nondestructive
electric test are omitted and the lengths marked with the letters
“NH,” the certification, where required, shall clearly state “Not
Hydrostatically Tested,” and the letters “NH” shall be ap-
pended to the product specification number and material grade
shown on the certification.
14. Nondestructive Electric Test
14.1 As an alternative to the hydrostatic test at the option of
the manufacturer or where specified in the purchase order as an
alternative or addition to the hydrostatic test, the full body of
each pipe shall be tested with a nondestructive electric test in
accordance with Practice E 213, E 309, or E 570. In such cases,
the marking of each length of pipe so furnished shall include
the letters “NDE.” It is the intent of this nondestructive electric
test to reject pipe with imperfections that produce test signals
equal to or greater than that produced by the applicable
calibration standard.
14.2 Where the nondestructive electric test is performed, the
lengths shall be marked with the letters “NDE.” The certifica-
tion, where required, shall state “Nondestructive Electric
Tested” and shall indicate which of the tests was applied. Also,
the letters “NDE” shall be appended to the product specifica-
tion number and material grade shown on the certification.
14.3 The following information is for the benefit of the user
of this specification:
14.3.1 The reference standards defined in 14.4 through 14.6
are convenient standards for calibration of nondestructive
testing equipment. The dimensions of such standards are not to
be construed as the minimum sizes of imperfections detectable
by such equipment.
14.3.2 The ultrasonic testing referred to in this specification
is capable of detecting the presence and location of significant
longitudinally or circumferentially oriented imperfections:
however, different techniques need to be employed for the
detection of such differently oriented imperfections. Ultrasonic
testing is not necessarily capable of detecting short, deep
imperfections.
TABLE 2 Tensile Requirements
Grade A Grade B Grade C
Tensile strength, min, psi [MPa]
Yield strength, min, psi [MPa]
48 000 [330]
30 000 [205]
60 000 [415]
35 000 [240]
70 000 [485]
40 000 [275]
Longitu-
dinal
Transverse Longitu-
dinal
Transverse Longitu-
dinal
Transverse
Elongation in 2 in. [50 mm], min, %:
Basic minimum elongation transverse strip tests, and for all small
sizes tested in full section
35 25 30 16.5 30 16.5
When standard round 2-in. [50-mm] gage length test specimen is
used
28 20 22 12 20 12
For longitudinal strip tests A A A
For transverse strip tests, a deduction for each 1⁄32-in. [0.8-mm]
decrease in wall thickness below 5⁄16 in. [7.9 mm] from the basic
minimum elongation of the following percentage shall be made
1.25 1.00 1.00
A The minimum elongation in 2 in. [50 mm] shall be determined by the following equation:
e 5 625 000A0.2 / U 0.9
for inch-pound units, and
e 5 1 940A0.2 / U 0.9
for SI units,
where:
e = minimum elongation in 2 in. [50 mm], %, rounded to the nearest 0.5 %,
A = cross-sectional area of the tension test specimen, in.2 [mm2], based upon specified outside diameter or nominal specimen width and specified wall thickness,
rounded to the nearest 0.01 in. 2 [1 mm2]. (If the area thus calculated is equal to or greater than 0.75 in. 2 [500 mm2], then the value 0.75 in.2 [500 mm2] shall
be used.), and
U = specified tensile strength, psi [MPa].
A 106/A 106M – 08
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14.3.3 The eddy current examination referenced in this
specification has the capability of detecting significant imper-
fections, especially of the short abrupt type.
14.3.4 The flux leakage examination referred to in this
specification is capable of detecting the presence and location
of significant longitudinally or transversely oriented imperfec-
tions: however, different techniques need to be employed for
the detection of such differently oriented imperfections.
14.3.5 The hydrostatic test referred to in Section 13 has the
capability of finding defects of a size permitting the test fluid
to leak through the tube wall and may be either visually seen
or detected by a loss of pressure. Hydrostatic testing is not
necessarily capable of detecting very tight, through-the-wall
imperfections or imperfections that extend an appreciable
distance into the wall without complete penetration.
14.3.6 A purchaser interested in ascertaining the nature
(type, size, location, and orientation) of discontinuities that can
be detected in the specific applications of these examinations is
directed to discuss this with the manufacturer of the tubular
product.
14.4 For ultrasonic testing, the calibration reference notches
shall be, at the option of the producer, any one of the three
common notch shapes shown in Practice E 213. The depth of
notch shall not exceed 121⁄2 % of the specified wall thickness
of the pipe or 0.004 in. [0.1 mm], whichever is greater.
14.5 For eddy current testing, the calibration pipe shall
contain, at the option of the producer, any one of the following
discontinuities to establish a minimum sensitivity level for
rejection:
14.5.1 Drilled Hole—The calibration pipe shall contain
depending upon the pipe diameter three holes spaced 120°
apart or four holes spaced 90° apart and sufficiently separated
longitudinally to ensure separately distinguishable responses.
The holes shall be drilled radially and completely through the
pipe wall, care being taken to avoid distortion of the pipe while
drilling. Depending upon the pipe diameter the calibration pipe
shall contain the following hole:
NPS DN
Diameter of
Drilled Hole
# 1⁄2 # 15 0.039 in. [1 mm]
> 1⁄2 # 11⁄4 > 15 # 32 0.055 in. [1.4
mm]
> 11⁄4 # 2 > 32 # 50 0.071 in. [1.8
mm]
> 2 # 5 > 50 # 125 0.087 in. [2.2
mm]
>5 > 125 0.106 in. [2.7
mm]
14.5.2 Transverse Tangential Notch—Using a round tool or
file with a 1⁄4-in. [6-mm] diameter, a notch shall be filed or
milled tangential to the surface and transverse to the longitu-
dinal axis of the pipe. The notch shall have a depth not
exceeding 12 1⁄2 % of the specified wall thickness of the pipe
or 0.004 in. [0.1 mm], whichever is greater.
14.5.3 Longitudinal Notch—A notch 0.031 in. [0.8 mm] or
less in width shall be machined in a radial plane parallel to the
tube axis on the outside surface of the pipe, to have a depth not
exceeding 12 1⁄2 % of the specified wall thickness of the tube
or 0.004 in. [0.1 mm], whichever is greater. The length of the
notch shall be compatible with the testing method.
14.5.4 Compatibility—The discontinuity in the calibration
pipe shall be compatible with the testing equipment and the
method being used.
14.6 For flux leakage testing, the longitudinal calibration
reference notches shall be straight-sided notches machined in a
radial plane parallel to the pipe axis. For wall thicknesses under
1⁄2 in. [12.7 mm], outside and inside notches shall be used; for
wall thicknesses equal to and above 1⁄2 in. [12.7 mm], only an
outside notch shall be used. Notch depth shall not exceed 121⁄2
% of the specified wall thickness, or 0.004 in. [0.1 mm],
whichever is greater. Notch length shall not exceed 1 in. [25
mm], and the width shall not exceed the depth. Outside
diameter and inside diameter notches shall be located suffi-
ciently apart to allow separation and identification of the
signals.
14.7 Pipe containing one or more imperfections that pro-
duce a signal equal to or greater than the signal produced by the
A 106/A 106M – 08
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calibration standard shall be rejected or the area producing the
signal shall be reexamined.
14.7.1 Test signals produced by imperfections which cannot
be identified, or produced by cracks or crack-like imperfections
shall result in rejection of the pipe, unless it is repaired and
retested. To be accepted, the pipe must pass the same specifi-
cation test to which it was originally subjected, provided that
the remaining wall thickness is not decreased below