TPi September 2014

Plastic & composite tubes

What tube makers prize most in plastics is the quality for which that family of materials is named: plasticity. Mouldability. Formability. Bendability. In a sense, they ask twice as much of composites, which enable them to offer tubes for applications calling for two sets of properties, to serve double purposes. And those purposes – as equal and opposite as boilers and coolers – are as broad as the range of alloys capable of being metallurgically bonded for thermal transfer. Yet a third category – multilayer composite tubes, which join the best characteristics of metals (temperature and pressure resistance) and plastics (corrosion resistance) in customisable combinations – extends the range exponentially. Considering that all this is achievable at no sacrifice in bendability, it is hardly surprising that, to countless numbers of manufacturers, plastic and composite tubes represent virtually limitless potential.