Since 2004, we have been working hard to bring the best ERW tubing to the market. Today, we are the top ERW steel tube supplier West Midlands has. With over 200 sizes, and several shapes available, it is easy to find the right products when you do business with us. In addition, we provide rapid delivery for all orders.
Metal tubing and hollow bar are useful for a massive collection of structural applications. They come with a cost advantage if you compare to solid metal bar stock. At the same time, they don’t weigh as much as solid bars that are of the same size and material. Despite this, they are still strong.
Hollow bar and tubing can have similar shapes, but they have differences that you need to know about. Below we will be looking at these distinctions closely.
How are the two manufactured?
The first area the two differ in is the manufacturing processes. You create tubes by taking slit coils of a base metal. Next, you run it through a tube mill. This is a collection of dies that form your slit coil into the shape of a tube. For example, it will either be rectangular, square, or round. Once you form it into the necessary shape, you join the edges together via a weld. The welding process can differ depending on preference and material thickness. Normally, electric resistance and high frequency welding are the chosen methods.
When you make hollow bar, you don’t use welding. You can use two particular methods to make it. Drilling is the first option. Here you send a drill through a solid bar stock of material. Such a procedure can create extremely accurate part dimensions for essential applications.
Centrifugal casting is the second method. Here, you use a round mould and rotate it at extreme speeds, as you pour molten metal into it. Due to the force created by the spinning mould, the molten material is forced to the inside mould wall. It is here where it hardens and cools. Contact us if you need the foremost ERW steel tube supplier West Midlands has.
Material differences
The products can differ in terms of materials as well. With welded tubing, you can use an impressive collection of substances. If your material conducts electricity, you are free to use electric resistance welding to create the tube. If not, you can choose another method as long as the metal doesn’t have very high heat resistance.
You can use several different materials with hollow bar too. The difference here though is that with stronger and harder materials, they can be too troublesome to extrude. Thus, you would be better off using the piercing method.
Top offerings from the best ERW steel tube supplier in the West Midlands
At Union Steel Tubes we can offer you oval, round, square, and rectangular tube. In addition, we have other options like seamless and pre-galvanised. We manufacture everything carefully and do testing to make sure all tubing will meet our standards.
So, please get in touch if you wish to work with the leading ERW steel tube supplier West Midlands has. You can even speak to us if you want us to recommend products.
