In the past, welded tubing had a bad reputation. There were lots of concerns about the quality of the products because of poor workmanship. Issues with welding techniques, filler materials, preparation, and more could cause flaws. As a result, the tube could suffer premature failure. However, there have been several big improvements. As the top providers of ERW steel tubes in the West Midlands, we want to look at five factors that mean today’s quality is far superior.
Desulfurisation
Firstly, there have been massive advances in technology to remove sulfur from materials. It is typically an undesired impurity, especially in steel. Removing it can provide a number of benefits. For one thing, it can improve impact toughness. Most importantly with ERW tubes, it can massively boost the welding quality.
Vacuum degassing
Another big advance is the development of vacuum degassing technology. It can reduce and sometimes eliminate dissolved gases in the steel. It can also reduce the amount of carbon. There is an additional benefit with stainless steel too because it encourages oxidation of carbon rather than chromium.
The degassing is fantastic as it improves the purity of the steel. In turn that means the material will have fewer imperfections and inclusions. This also leads to better weld quality. It can help us to offer the best ERW steel tubes in the West Midlands.
Alloying
One of the most impressive things about steel today is there are so many different alloys. There has been a lot of development here to create materials to suit various needs. The inclusion of things like vanadium, titanium, niobium can reduce the carbon content. That can improve the strength and toughness of the products.
Hot rolling technology
A big issue with welded tubes in the past was they could have big deviations in the dimensions. It could cause lots of issues, such as leaks in pipelines. However, modern hot rolling technology means the dimensional accuracy can be far better. The tubes can thankfully be more accurate.
Quality inspection
Finally, there have been several notable advances when it comes to testing. Experts can test the steel and tubing in a number of ways to ensure it is high quality. For example, there are non-destructive methods like ultrasonic (UT) and dye penetration (DPI).
Talk to us to order ERW steel tubes in the West Midlands
At Union Steel Tubes we always focus on quality. Our goal is to deliver ERW tubing that is as close as possible to seamless tube. As a result, it can be a more cost effective option for a number of applications.
Our range of products is incredibly broad too. It includes a series of shapes, diameters, wall thicknesses, and weights. On top of this, we can cut to almost any length. We even have a number of options for finishing.
So, if you want to buy the best ERW steel tubes in the West Midlands, come to us. We can help you to choose the right tubing.
