TPi January 2015

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January 2015 Tube Products International 51
Smal l diameter, high precision tubes
It began with
“the smallest tube ever made”. . .
From its founding in 1934, Superior Tube
has been working at the leading edge
of tubing technology, manufacturing
high-precision, small diameter tubes
for industries whose products have
changed the world.
In its first decade, the company became
a major producer of seamless, stainless
steel hypodermic needle tubing,
contributing to the development of
medical practice. It was also granted
its first US patent for the design of a
cathode component for the thermionic
valves on which the radios of the day
depended.
Superior Tube took advantage of
the 1939 New York World’s Fair to
demonstrate that it had the capability
to meet technological demands beyond
those its customers yet required. On
display was “the smallest tube ever
made” – a tube with a total diameter
of just 26/10,000th of an inch – which
Superior Tube had manufactured in
order to demonstrate its advanced
capabilities.
Since then, the company has been
involved in a series of world ‘firsts’ –
from the Manhattan Project, as a result
of which the energy of the atom was
first harnessed, to the USS Nautilus, the
first nuclear-powered submarine; from
the Bell X-1, in which Chuck Yeager
became the first man to break the sound
barrier, to the Apollo Project, which put
the first man on the moon.
As the company celebrates its 80th
anniversary and looks back on its
heritage, Superior Tube can also
look forward from its position as a
manufacturer of precision tubing for
safety critical applications across a
range of industries where the most
exacting performance and reliability
requirements are paramount.
With a long history of supporting the
development of aviation, Superior Tube
is involved in some of the largest and
most advanced projects in the industry
and is a qualified supplier to aerospace
companies for both commercial and
military aircraft. Applications for the
company’s tubing include aircraft
hydraulics, instrumentation and engine/
fuel lines.
The company’s association with the
nuclear industry goes back to the
1930s, when the company supplied the
Biochemical Research Foundation with
tubes for a cyclotron, a type of atomic
particle accelerator, used in early cancer
treatment experiments. Since then, the
company has been developing and
supplying the specialist tubing required
for an array of in-core components for
the nuclear power industry, including
heat exchanger tubes and nuclear
control rods.
Superior Tube is also a supplier of tubing
for the oil and gas industry around the
world, including for some of the most
hostile downhole conditions. Precision
products are manufactured for a range
of applications, from chemical injection
and hydraulic control lines, to undersea
umbilicals.
In the medical industry, where everything
from strength to weight ratios and
microbiological corrosion resistance to
fatigue life can be critical, Superior Tube
states that it has built up a reputation
for the performance of its tubes,
which are used for a wide range
of applications, including coronary
and peripheral stents, heart valve
frames and surgical implants.
To meet the increasingly stringent
requirements of these markets,
Superior Tube has developed the
capability to work with some of the
most advanced materials in stainless
steels, including corrosion resistant
austenitic, super austenitic stainless
steels as well as nickel, titanium and
zirconium alloys, in a range of sizes and
cross section shapes to meet specific
applications. Seamless and welded
products can be manufactured either
as straight lengths of tubing or in coils
in sizes ranging from under 0.25mm
to 38.1mm (0.01" to 1.5") outside
diameter. Finished wall thicknesses can
be produced from less than 0.05mm to
3.8mm (0.002" to 0.15").
The applications for Superior Tube’s
products have a critical nature
in common – in many cases failure
could cost lives. The company
attaches the highest importance to
maintaining and demonstrating its
commitment to quality; it is ISO 9001
and AS9100 certified, as well as being
accredited as NADCAP compliant,
and its quality system meets all of
the relevant industry-specific regulatory
standards.
Superior Tube Company, Inc – USA
Small diameter tubing made by Superior Tube
304 stainless small diameter tube