Lifting plugs are safety-critical components designed to act as the junction between the rig elevator and the pipes. They are used on the rig’s surface to allow operators to handle and move long tubular products in a safe and secure manner. Get more news about Standard Hoisting Plug,you can vist our website!

Lifting plugs are traditionally made from forged thick-wall bars. Being a safety-critical component used on the surface, these parts require non-standard material with unique mechanical properties which result in long lead times. As lifting plugs connect with existing equipment, production of customized dimensions is sometimes needed to ensure the compatibility between all components which further extends lead times. In addition, keeping inventory of raw material in non-standard sizes is not cost effective and may generate waste if they end up never being used. All of this leads to urgent deadlines not being able to be met.

When Weatherford approached Vallourec with an urgent request for a VAM® TTR HW Riser Lifting Plug capable of 100T for a customer’s workover scope off the coast of Australia, Vallourec proposed a more economical and faster solution using Additive Manufacturing (AM) in order to meet the deadline.

The lifting plugs were re-designed with WAAM to include tailor-made non-standard diameters that were compatible with Weatherford’s existing equipment. The lifting plugs’ outside diameter (OD) was therefore increased by 15% as per the customer’s request. Leveraging WAAM’s flexibility, Vallourec was able to mitigate any weight increase by re-designing the component without impacting lifting performances.

These new lifting plugs were 3D-printed with the Vallourec WAAM robot located in Singapore, only a 6-hour flight away from the end-customer. The safety-critical components were delivered in just under 2 months instead of the usual 3 to 4 months.