Pipes
A seamless pipe, as the name suggests, is a pipe without a seam or a weld joint. Seamless pipes are thought to be able to withstand higher pressure, higher temperatures, higher mechanical stress and a corrosive atmosphere.
Seamless pipes are manufactured using a variety of different methods. The method used is dependent on what diameter, or what ratio of the diameter to the thickness of the wall, is required by the application it is being put into.
Generally speaking, seamless pipe is made by raw steel first being cast into a more workable format – a hot solid billet. This is then ‘stretched’ and then pushed or pulled over a moulding form. This results in the creation of a hollow pipe. This hollow pipe is then ‘extruded’ and forced through a die and mandrel in order to achieve the desired diameters of the inside and outside walls.
To guarantee that seamless pipe meets certain standards, it has to be heat-treated in specific ways to ensure that the metallurgic properties are in accordance with the necessary requirements.
