Comparisons of different stainless steel tubes should take into account a few aspects. As we have seen, seamless tubes differ from welded tubes in a variety of ways. During the forming process, the end product acquires unique characteristics not found in other metal goods. Various requirements, including strength, corrosion resistance, speed of production, and cost, can be met with welded and seamless joints.
Welded tubing: The process of making welded tubing includes rolling stainless steel strips into a tube and then welding along its length. After welding, the weld seam can be improved by cold rolling and forging procedures.
The surface of a cold-shaped product is smoother and the tolerance is tighter. To improve the weld seam and polish of Stainless Steel Welded Tubes, they can also be drawn similarly to seamless tubing. The walls of welded tubes are usually thinner than those of seamless tubes with larger diameters. Due to its simple processing, seamless tubing is often more expensive and often faster to manufacture than welded tubing.
Features of welding tubes:
- Timeliness improvements
- It is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain tolerances.
- Cheaper
- Applications with thinner walls and larger diameters
- It is also available in longer lengths.
- A more constant degree of concentricity
Seamless tubing:
A seamless pipe is first created as a hollow tube, the first stage of creating seamless tubing. A thick die is used to press billets starting with solid round stock. A hole is drilled through the stock, heated, and a thin die is pressed through it. Mandrels, or long rods, support the center of hollow tubes during this process. Once the mother tube passes through a Pilger mill, it is ready for production. Using two rolling dies and a second mandrel, this machine extends and shrinks tubes to their desired sizes.
Seamless tubing can withstand higher pressures because it lacks the immense stress concentration points found in welded tubing. In addition, seamless tubes usually have a better surface finish, which makes them less susceptible to corrosion. Making seamless tubes, however, requires some additional procedures. This means that seamless takes more time and can be more expensive to construct than welded.
Features of seamless tubes:
- A corrosion-resistant product
- High-pressure ratings and durability
- A greater degree of purity
- It is not necessary to perform additional testing.
- Applications that require mission-critical performance.