TPi May 2014

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26 Tube Products International May 2014
products & developments
Longitudinally welded stainless steel tubes
for heavy-duty service
Welded tubesmanufacturedbySchoeller
Werk have passed approval tests as
transmission in railway applications.
With these tubes, the customer will
get products with the same hardness
specifications but at around 50 per
cent lower costs, according to the
manufacturer.
The company has received the first
order for longitudinally welded tubes to
be used as transmission in trains. In the
past, only seamless tubes were used
for this application. As prices are lower
and lead times shorter, the customer
will change to welded tubulars as
transmission pipes in braking systems.
Schoeller Werk had conducted
comprehensive tests on 5km of sample
tubes at the customer’s facilities. In
these tests, the company proved that
longitudinally welded tubes are equal to
seamless tubes in terms of mechanical
properties and surface quality. The
result is a multi-year supply agreement.
Brake lines are safety-critical
equipment. Therefore, the customer had
defined exacting specifications for the
mechanical and chemical properties,
the tolerances and the surface quality.
Schoeller Werk met these specifications.
The new tubes are made of the same
material as those used in the past: grade
1.4301 with an elevated nickel content.
With a weld strength reduction factor
of 1.0, the Schoeller tubes feature the
same strength value as seamless tubes
of identical dimensions. The contract
provides for the supply of ten different
sizes with outside diameters between
6 and 28mm. Schoeller Werk is able to
make the complete size range in its own
production plant.
Stefan Brilling, manager industrial sales
at Schoeller Werk, commented, “Many
engineers still consider seamless tubes
as ‘sacred cows’. Yet, our longitudinally
welded tubes have already proved to
be successful in many applications,
including highly demanding and safety-
critical ones. But this recent order
speaks for itself. Featuring a weld
strength reduction factor of 1.0, our
tubes can be installed without having
to make any changes to the design.
Tubes of the same dimensions provide
the same strength but cost much less.”
Schoeller Werk GmbH & Co KG –
Germany
Large diameter seamless pipes
Interpipe has begun production of large
diameter seamless pipes according to
GOST and EN standards. The pipes are
developed at Interpipe NTRP, where the
previous maximum range was limited to
377mm.
In October 2012 experimental pipes
of 426mm in diameter with 10mm wall
thickness were produced for Belorussian
consumers. In January 2013 a new
size of 406.4mm in diameter with wall
thicknesses of 50 and 68mm was made
according to GOST standard for the
32XA steel grade. These were developed
for Polish consumers. Finally, in the third
quarter of 2013 Interpipe produced and
delivered to German consumers pipes
of 406.4mm in diameter with 10 to
70mm wall thickness in accordance
with European standards EN 10210-
1, 2 and EN 10297-1 in steel grades
S355J2H/E355.
Ivan Mazanka, regional sales director for
Europe at Interpipe, said, “Big diameter
seamless pipes are currently in high
demand globally; however, the number
of suppliers for these products is limited.
For this reason manufacturing pipes
with diameters of 406.4 and 426mm
is a very good opportunity for us to
meet these needs by delivering high
quality products in accordance with our
European customers’ requirements.”
Interpipe – Ukraine
Stainless steel tubes on their way to the heat treatment section