Which steel pipe is best?

08 Apr.,2024

 

With the rapid development of construction work in recent days, new manufacturing procedure is also evolving accordingly. Steel pipe is a vital thing for site work. Pipe pile suppliers in OKC are facing the most extensive demand due to their durability and versatility. On top of that, steel pipe doesn’t need sharp edges that is a plus point.

Now, we will straightly move into the steel pipe types. You will get valuable insights from this that may be beneficial for you sooner or later.

  • Carbon steel pipes

When carbon is added to iron, steel is created. A recent study claims, carbon is the best additive to any ferrous material. However, you can find good alloying elements in piping products. Carbon pipes include 1.65 manganese, 0.60 percent copper, and 0.60 percent silicon. Pipe pile suppliers prefer carbon steel pipe for most of the construction work.

It is tensile and durable. However, it is relatively expensive than any other pipe type.

  • Stainless Steel

Stainless steel includes chromium, manganese, nickel, silicon, and molybdenum. These alloys bind altogether to interact with oxygen to form a thin yet strong film. It prevents the steel from further corrosion.

Generally, stainless steel pipe is used in industries where corrosion protection is of utmost importance. It is suited for providing extreme service and impacting resistance. On top of that, its aesthetic appeal is the cherry on the cake top.

  • Alloy steel

Alloy steel pipes have the elements like nickel, molybdenum, manganese, silicon, and copper. Generally, high alloy steels are mostly preferred in the piping industry. A combination of proper heat treating helps to yield a robust ductile pipe. This type of pipe is also used in the oil & gas industries due to its toughness.

  • Tool steel

Tool steel is tough, strong, ductile, and corrosion-resistant. Besides, they can retain cutting edges to maintain the shape in high temperatures. This type of steel is softer compared to the others.

Now, let’s take a look at the benefit of steel.

Effective and practical

Steel is used as it is durable and safe. Besides, steel does not need an add-on like pesticides, preservatives. Being non-combustible in nature, steel can be used for various types of structures. Inclement nature conditions cannot do any harm to steel frame buildings.

Cost-effective

Due to the strength of steel piping, longevity increases followed by reducing the replacement need. On top of that, the versatility of the pipe makes it cost-effective.

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Are you looking for pipe pile suppliers? Your search ends here. At International Pipe Pile & Suppliers, you will get pipe pile as per your requirement. You can also call us to place your order. For all the latest updates, visit our official website.

As industrial applications have evolved and grown more complex, the piping products and systems that serve them have had to keep pace.

While many pipe manufacturing methods exist, the most prominent discussion in the industry compares electric resistance welded (ERW) vs. seamless (SMLS) steel pipe.

Both ERW and seamless steel pipe manufacturing methods have been in use for decades; over time, the methods used to produce each have advanced. So which is better?

Manufacturing welded pipe

Welded pipe starts out as a long, coiled ribbon of steel called a skelp. The skelp is cut to the desired length, resulting in a flat rectangular sheet. The width of that sheet’s shorter ends will become the pipe’s outside circumference, a value that can be used to calculate its eventual outside diameter.

The rectangular sheets are fed through a rolling machine that curls the longer sides up toward one another, forming a cylinder. In the ERW process, high-frequency electrical current is passed between the edges, causing them to melt and fuse together.

An advantage of ERW pipe is that no fusion metals are used and the weld seam cannot be seen or felt. That’s opposed to double submerged arc welding (DSAW), which leaves behind an obvious weld bead that must then be eliminated depending on the application.

Welded pipe manufacturing techniques have improved over the years. Perhaps the most important advancement has been the switch to high-frequency electric currents for welding. Prior to the 1970s, low-frequency current was used. Weld seams produced from low-frequency ERW were more prone to corrosion and seam failure.

Most welded pipe types require heat treatment after manufacture.

Manufacturing seamless pipe

Seamless piping begins as a solid cylindrical hunk of steel called a billet. While still hot, billets are pierced through the center with a mandrel. The next step is rolling and stretching the hollow billet. The billet is precisely rolled and stretched until it meets the length, diameter and wall thickness as specified by the customer order.

Some seamless pipe types harden as they’re manufactured, so heat treatment after manufacturing is not required. Others do require heat treatment. Consult the specification of the seamless pipe type you’re considering to learn whether it will require heat treatment.

Historical perspectives and use cases for welded vs. seamless steel pipe

ERW and seamless steel piping exist as alternatives today largely due to historical perceptions.

Generally, welded pipe was considered inherently weaker because it included a weld seam. Seamless pipe lacked this perceived structural flaw and was considered safer. While it’s true that welded pipe does include a seam that makes it theoretically weaker, manufacturing techniques and quality assurance regimens each have improved to the extent that welded pipe will perform as desired when its tolerances aren’t exceeded. While the apparent advantage is clear, a critique of seamless piping is that the rolling and stretching process produces an inconsistent wall thickness compared to the more precise thickness of steel sheets destined for welding.

The industry standards that govern the manufacture and specification of ERW and seamless steel pipe still reflect those perceptions. For example, seamless piping is required for many high-pressure, high-temperature applications in the oil & gas, power generation and pharmaceutical industries. Welded piping (which is generally cheaper to produce and is more widely available) is specified across all industries as long as the temperature, pressure and other service variables do not exceed parameters noted in the applicable standard.

In structural applications, there’s no difference in performance between ERW and seamless steel pipe. While the two can be specified interchangeably, it wouldn’t make sense to specify for seamless when cheaper welded pipe works equally well.

Good purchasing practice for welded and seamless steel pipe

An important note to make as piping products are specified for a project is that the specification books (such as those provided by ASTM, ASME, ANSI and API, among others) that engineers use to guide the specs they write only list pipe grades without referencing whether they’re produced via ERW or seamless pipe manufacturing. Not all grades can be produced by both means.

For example, a potential mix-up can occur if an engineer specifies welded pipe with a large outside diameter and wall thickness without knowing it would be impossible to manufacture it. This error would likely go unnoticed until a purchase order is placed, at which time a pipe supplier would notify the customer that the order couldn’t be fulfilled as written.

Also, a good grasp of industry standards could lead to cost savings. The A106 and A53 carbon steel pipe standards are a good example. In this article, we discuss how pipe complying with the former must be seamless while pipe complying with the latter can either be seamless or welded. For example, if an engineer must follow the A53 standard on a given project, he or she may still have the flexibility to choose which type to specify based on the specifics of the application.

Show us your specs, request a quote and get your pipe fast

American Piping Products stays fully-stocked with the best inventory of welded and seamless steel piping products in the industry. We source our stock from mills around the world, ensuring buyers get the pipe the need faster regardless of any applicable statutory restrictions.

In our steel pipe buyer’s guide, we’ll help you navigate the piping procurement process from start to finish to ensure you get what you need as quickly as possible when it’s time to buy. If a piping purchase is in your near future, request a quote. We’ll provide one that gets you exactly the products you need—fast.

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Which steel pipe is best?

Welded vs. seamless steel pipe