In industries where there is a need to use materials that are hard and strong, heavy wall stainless steel tubing is common. Due to its durability and ability to withstand corrosive environments, it is the most suitable for use in various industries such as oil and gas, chemical processing industries, power industries, aerospace industries among others. Not only is heavy wall tubing strong, but it is designed to handle high pressure and temperature applications, which makes it ideal for use in a number of industries.
What is Heavy Wall Stainless Steel Tubing?
The heavy wall stainless steel tubing is defined by the fact that the thickness of the wall is relatively large in comparison with the outer diameter of the pipe. The term “heavy wall” generally means tubing with walls heavier than the standard thickness of stainless steel tubing. This additional wall thickness enhances the tubing pressure capacity to withstand force and stress without the possibility of the tubing collapsing, deforming or bursting.
Heavy wall stainless steel tubing is usually offered in a number of grades such as austenitic, ferritic, nickel based and duplex stainless steels. These different alloys provide various characteristics that suit particular uses, for instance, excellent resistance to corrosion in marine environments or high strength at high temperatures. In selecting heavy wall tubing, the type of alloy to be used is very important in order to determine whether the material will be suitable for a certain operating condition.
Advantages of Heavy Wall Stainless Steel Tubing
- Exceptional Durability and Strength:
Compared to thin-walled stainless steel tubing, heavy wall stainless steel tubing has much thicker walls and thus much greater strength. It is intended to be non-deformable and to retain its shape in high pressure conditions, thus providing long term durability in mechanically demanding applications.
- Corrosion Resistance:
Stainless steel is, by definition, a material that is very resistant to corrosion. When used in the production of heavy wall tubing, this resistance is taken to areas that are unforgiving to other materials and they degrade fast. Stainless steel does not rust, corrode or tarnish and is therefore suitable for use in industries involving chemicals, sea water, acidic or alkaline solutions.
- High Temperature Resilience:
In many cases, heavy wall tubing is used in applications where the temperature is either very high or very low. Most of the grades of stainless steel can be used in cryogenic services as well as high temperature services without any problem of corrosion and structural failure thus making them suitable for heat exchangers, furnaces and reactors.
- Versatility Across Applications:
Reputed heavy wall stainless steel tubing supplier, offers the best quality stainless steel tubing and is characterized by high strength, durability and resistance to stress, and is used in hydraulic and pneumatic systems, structural applications, high pressure piping and for the transport of fluids and gases under pressure.
Selecting the Proper Heavy Wall Stainless Steel Tubing
The kind of heavy wall stainless steel tubing that should be used depends on the application, the amount of strength needed, the temperature and the conditions under which the tubing will be operating. Since there are many grades and specifications of heavy wall tubing, one can benefit a lot from working with a supplier who stocks many of the product. Such suppliers are in a better position to advise on the most appropriate tubing for the intended use in industries, to meet the material requirements for sensitive uses.
Thick walled stainless steel tubing continues to be a useful product in industries where products with high mechanical properties are required. It remains the material of choice for applications that require high strength and durability because it meets the required standards and is also capable of performing under demanding conditions.
Featured Image Source: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/10/07/21/19/metal-4533751_1280.jpg