Longitudinally welded stainless tubes for heavy-duty service

With these tubes, the customer will get products with the same hardness specifications but at about 50 percent lower costs. The first such tubes are scheduled to be delivered in early 2014 within the framework of long-term supply agreement.

Recently, Schoeller Werk 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 significantly lower and lead times much shorter, the customer will change to welded tubulars as transmission pipes in braking systems.

Schoeller Werk had conducted comprehensive tests on five kilometers of sample tubes at the customer’s facilities. In these tests, Schoeller Werk 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 meets these specifications without exception.

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 28 mm. Schoeller Werk is one of very few manufacturers capable of making the complete size range in its own production plant. All products the customer needs will come from a single supplier – and be “made in Germany”.

Stefan Brilling, Manager Industrial Sales at Schoeller Werk, sees clear cost advantages for his customers: “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.“

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Schoeller Werk at Tube 2014 in Düsseldorf, Germany:
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