I got a call from a contractor a few years ago that was in deep do-do.
They were driving pipe piles on the order of 100 to 120 feet long. The third party inspector didn't care for what he saw and called in the state's inspector. They called for UT to check the butt joints between the lengths of 12 inch pipe (it could have been 14 inch, I can't remember). Long story short, the welds were essentially one or two passes around the pipe with little to no bevel.
The contractor called me in to help him qualify the welding procedure and the welders. My task was to witness the welding and do the paperwork. They were the experts, so they selected the welding process, electrode, etc. A little research revealed the pipe was "out of spec." line pipe. All I could do is get the chemistry with no mechanicals. The chemistry was similar to a 4140. We welded the pipe in the horizontal position using a CJP butt joint with a 45 bevel and 1/4 root opening. It took the full day to weld the joint versus the 1-hour the contractor expected. I did convince the welders that preheat was really needed, but they fought using it and skimped on the maintenance of interpass temperature. I just recorded what they did.
Wimper, tears, wimper some more, the contractor was crying he would loose his shirt if it took his welders a full day per joint. And preheat? "They never had to preheat before!"
I predicted the material was hardenable and it wasn't the best choice for the application. The contractor said it met the piling spec. which only specified a minimum tensile strength. This pipe had twice the tensile strength, but the ductility and toughness was in the basement.
The contractor said they use miles of this material because it is "strong" and "cheap." Cheap is the key word here. The pipe mill essentially sold the out of spec pipe for scrap steel prices.
I told him he would be better off if he ordered A53 pipe that had good weldability. "Are you crazy! Do you know how much that would cost me?" he wimpered.
The fun came when the impact tests came back with single digit values. To say the contractor and the state were unhappy campers would be an understatement. I reminded him that he told me he didn't need any advice from me. Of course his position was that they never had this problem before. I told him that was only because he never tried to qualify the procedure before. What happen once I did my song and dance? I have no idea. I sent his invoice to the collection company and let them take care of the SOB. I moved on to better things.
You cannot cure stupid.
Best regards - Al