Custom stainless-steel tubing plays a critical role in many applications that require tight tolerances, good strength, and high safety standards for piping installations. The standard pipes cannot fulfill the requirements of the customers for the specialized systems. Therefore, custom stainless steel tubing is used in various industries.
The custom stainless steel tubing plays a crucial role in the food, medical, and manufacturing industries. The advanced fabrication process, such as bending, welding, and precise cutting, makes the custom stainless steel tubing products more reliable, corrosion-resistant, and aesthetically pleasing for the customers.
Types of Stainless Tubing
Various types of custom stainless steel tubing are installed in the industrial sector in different forms. The most common custom stainless steel tubing is given as:
Seamless custom stainless steel tubing
Custom seamless stainless steel tubing is fabricated without using a welded seam. It is fabricated using extrusion or piercing processes, which create a uniform structure of the tube wall throughout its length. This type of custom stainless steel tubing is used for industries where high-pressure tolerance and structural integrity are most important.
Seamless custom stainless steel tubing is used in various industries, from the oil industry to power generation, because it reduces the risk of structural failure and reduces the risk of leakage. This tubing is also corrosion-resistant and can withstand the high stress that makes it more suitable for extreme operating conditions.
Welded stainless steel tubing
Custom-welded stainless steel tubing is created by rolling the stainless steel sheets or strips into a tube and then joining or welding along the seam. The modern welding techniques produce more reliable, high-quality tubing for process lines, architectural supports, and HVAC systems.
Custom-welded tubing is more popular because it is more cost-effective compared to seamless tubing. The raw materials are also available in various shapes, sizes, and thicknesses to make custom-welded stainless-steel tubing.
Sanitary stainless steel tubing
Custom sanitary stainless steel tubing is designed to control contamination and clean the systems in the food, pharmaceutical, and dairy industries. These tubes are made of 304 or 316 stainless steel. The internal areas of the tubes are highly polished to maintain cleanliness and also have a very tight fit to prevent leakage.
Structural tubing
The custom structural stainless-steel tubing is fabricated to provide support in many infrastructures. Custom square and rectangular tubing is also used to resist the load in transport structures. The modern architectural features are made from this tubing to create a good aesthetic for the houses. The clean joints and good surface finishes are widely used for aesthetics as well as in the food industry.
Tubing Fabrication Processes
The good quality of custom stainless steel tubing depends on good fabrication processes. The accurate cutting, forming, and other mechanical processes amplify the surface finish and load-bearing capacity of custom stainless steel tubing. The most common fabrication processes to create custom stainless steel are given below:
Tube bending
Tube bending is the most common process to bend the stainless steel to make the required shape of the tube. The right bending method reduces the risk of leakage and improves the flow inside the tube. The most common types of tube bending are given below:
∙ Mandrel bending: In mandrel bending, the mandrel is inserted into the tube during the bending process to support the inside diameter, and then it is bent to the required design. This method reduces the potential risk of flattening or wrinkling. This is best suited for thin-wall tubing.
∙ Roll bending: This type of bending is used for larger diameter pipes. The bending is performed using multiple rollers. This bending process is suitable for frames, rails, and large process line pipes.
∙ Compression and rotary draw bending: This bending process is used for the standard radius and large-scale manufacturing. It is less used for the custom stainless steel tubing process.
Welding
Welding is one of the major joining processes to fabricate the custom stainless steel tubing. This process helps to join the multiple branches and provides support to the tubes during the fabrication process. The following are the most common types of welding used to create custom stainless steel tubing:
∙ TIG welding: This welding is a widely used method for joining thick-walled tubing, sanitary systems, and visible critical joints. This type of welding provides precise, high-quality, and clean welding.
∙ MIG welding: It is an efficient method to join branches for general-purpose stainless steel tubing applications. It provides more reliable joining for the custom tubing and also helps to produce a large quantity of tubes.
∙ Laser welding: This welding method is highly efficient and used for thin-wall tubing, which is usually used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Precision cutting
Custom stainless steel tubing needs precise cutting to align with the equipment without any errors. Precise cutting helps to achieve the controlled length of the tubing. The most common cutting processes involved in custom stainless steel tubing are given below:
∙ Saw cutting: The straight cuts in the custom stainless steel tubing are created using the band saw and circular saws. The high-quality blades and right feed rates help to produce a clean surface and edges on the custom tubing.
∙ Laser cutting: Laser cutting provides high-precision cutting for the thick profiles of custom stainless steel tubing. This process is useful for cutting complex profiles into the custom tubes.
∙ Waterjet cutting: This method is used to cut the stainless steel tuning without generating heat by using the high-pressure waterjet. This process helps to prevent the distortion of materials during the cutting process.
Advantages of custom stainless steel tubing
The custom stainless steel tubing has several advantages, including custom design, reduced assembly time, and reliability of the tubing. Custom design of tubing helps the designer to fabricate the required shapes of the tubing as per their needs. This tubing is optimized for strength and corrosion resistance. Fabricating the custom tubes reduces the additional modification on standard pipes during installation, which reduces the time and cost.
Industries that use the custom stainless steel tubing
Custom stainless steel tubes are widely used in several industries due to their high load resistance capacity, durability, and corrosion resistance. The industries where custom stainless steel tubing is mostly used:
∙ Food and beverage industries
Conclusion
Custom stainless steel tubing fabrication provides a complete overview of the design, types of tubing, fabrication process, and its applications. The proper selection of materials, design, and fabrication process creates perfectly fit, high-quality, reliable custom tubing.
The custom tubing has a wide range of applications from process lines to structural assemblies. The custom stainless steel tubing reduces the risk of failure due to its high strength and corrosion-resistant behavior. It also extends the equipment’s lifespan.
Choose Jianglin Steel for precision-engineered custom tubing that ensures long-term durability for your projects.
FAQs
- What is custom stainless steel tubing?
The stainless steel tubing is defined as the fabricated tubing per the requirements of the customer, rather than the standard tubes available in the market.
- When should I choose seamless vs welded stainless tubing?
If you need the more economical and general types of tubing suitable for normal uses, you can go for welded tubing. Otherwise, you can go for seamless stainless steel tubing to resist high-pressure and harsh environments.
- Why is stainless steel preferred for custom tubing?
Stainless steel has good corrosion and thermal resistance behavior, along with very high strength, which is suitable for various industrial applications. So stainless steel is preferred for custom tubing.
- Can I use custom stainless steel tubing to fabricate the complex shapes?
Yes, you can fabricate complex shapes by using stainless steel tubing using advanced bending and fabrication methods.
