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About Tube Fabrication
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About Tube Fabrication
Tube fabricating services consist of both the initial
creation of the metal tubing and the subsequent bending or shaping of
the tubing itself. Tube fabricating can be done using both cold and hot
working processes, which employ pipe bending and tube benders, and also
alter the mechanical properties of the original material. Metal tubing
is typically manufactured by roll-forming a strip of sheet metal, although
it can also be extruded or drawn. Once manufactured, metal tubing can
be formed into a finished part by a variety of processes, including hydro-forming,
welding and bending. Some materials used in tube fabricating include
aluminum, brass, copper and nickel alloys.
The fundamental specifications of a tube are outside diameter, wall thickness
and material used. The most common material used in tube fabricating
is stainless
steel. Plastic is another medium used in the tube fabricating,
but because of the way it is formed and the way it is used in industries,
it is very different from metal tubing and piping. A common way of referring
to metal tubing is piping. All pipes are essentially tubes and are mostly
distinguished by the manner of their specifications in which standardized
values are used, instead of actual measurements, to identify the outside
diameters and wall thicknesses.
A tube fabricator provides a wide range of services. Many are capable
of tube bending, tube welding, hydro-forming, tube spinning, tube flaring,
tube expanding, tube swaging, tube deburring, precision tube cutting,
tube cleaning, tube polishing and tube assembling. Custom tubing shapes
are also available, such as oval and rectangular tubing. Components,
which require the tubing to be attached to another piece of metal, can
also be shaped and formed at most shops as well. The tube forming itself
is done often by shops that specialize in only that, not the subsequent
tube bending or custom welding.
Tube bending is a widely available specialized service. It is either
done by automated machines or manually. One such machine uses mandrels,
which bend the tubing as it is being formed. Another takes pre-made tubing
and bends the tubing through a series of triangulated rollers in order
to achieve the right bend radius. The method often varies according to
the industry. The agricultural, construction, aerospace, automotive,
electrical and medical industries rely on various lengths and strengths
of tubing in everyday operations and manufacturing of their products.
Therefore, tube fabricators play a crucial role in many different industries.
Featured
Articles
http://www.tubenet.org.uk/technical/hydroforming.html
http://www.devicelink.com/mddi/archive/03/01/001.html
Types of Tube Fabrication
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bends tubes and pipes using computer-controlled
machines that ensure the quality and efficiency of a product. Today’s
modern CNC technology has made it possible to produce high volume, close
tolerance, tubular metal parts quickly and economically.
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is a metal fabrication method of forming tubular metal parts within
a die cavity. This high-pressure method forces fluids inside the die
so that the part expands into its final shape.
- is a process that uses computerized machines to bend pipes.
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(http://www.rollformedparts.com)
is the tube fabrication process that is most common, although it is
not used for thicker metal tubing. It involves rolling a strip of sheet
metal and curing it.
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employs mandrels and various dies to manage and control metal flow during
the bending process. In this process, a precision mandrel is positioned
inside the tube, while a pressure die, wiper die, bend die and clamp
dies surround the outside of the tube.
- uses computerized machines to bend tubes.
- is a process that uses computerized machines to cut pipes and tubes.
- uses high pressure to shape tubes.
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