Testing Requirements of API 5CRA - Rev2
Testing Requirements of API 5CRA - Rev2
Testing Requirements of API 5CRA - Rev2
API 5CRA provides detailed testing requirements for satisfaction of the specification. The testing requirements
vary by group, or alloy family. This article summarizes the testing requirements for Groups 2, 3 and 4 (duplex,
super duplex, austenitic & nickel base alloys). API 5CRA Checklists have also been provided as a reference.
CHEMISTRY
For each heat, the chemical analysis representing the melt must be reported in addition to the analysis of the
product. Alloys that are not ESR or VAR re-melted are required to have two product analysis reported. The
chemistry is reported as the percentage of each element by mass. The required percentages are listed in the
attached API 5CRA checklists. For Group 2 alloys, the PREN must also be reported. This is easily calculated from
the analysis using the PREN calculator on our website.
TENSILE PROPERTIES
A minimum of one room temperature longitudinal tensile test must be performed on each heat. The test report
needs to include the yield strength at .2% offset, ultimate tensile strength, percentage elongation, diameter of
the specimen and gage length. The gage length should be 4X the specimen diameter. For example, a .250”
diameter specimen will have a 1” gage length. The requirements depend upon the minimum specified yield
strength, and these can be found in the API 5CRA checklists provided. Tensile properties are commonly reported
in thousands of pounds per square inch (KSI), rounded to the nearest whole number. API 5CRA also requires the
tensile strength be at least 10ksi greater than the specified minimum yield, or a minimum of 5ksi greater than the
yield strength.
MICROSTRUCTURE
One microstructural evaluation is required to be performed on each heat. For all alloys, the microstructure needs
to be free of continuous grain boundary precipitates. Inter-metallic phases, nitrides and carbides cannot exceed
1.0% in total and sigma phase cannot exceed 0.5%. For Group 2 alloys, ferrite content must be measured and
reported per ASTM E562. Duplex alloys should have ferrite in the range of 40-60%, while super duplex alloys
should have a ferrite content 35-55%.
*API 5CRA Checklists for Group 2 and Groups 3 and 4 follow below.