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Tube and Pipe Fabrication Tech Cell >
Tube and Pipe Fabrication Article List
Tube and pipe fabrication related articles
There are 157 articles related to tube and pipe fabrication.
Like all manufacturers, Woodsage Industries is always on the lookout for a better way to manufacture the many components it produces for OEMs. It recently devised a way to make one-piece external muffler shells for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
www.thefabricator.com, 9/15/09
Like all manufacturers, Woodsage Industries is always on the lookout for a better way to manufacture the many components it produces for OEMs. It recently devised a way to make one-piece external muffler shells for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
The FABRICATOR®, 9/1/09
ABSTRACT Using a mandrel is helpful for maintaining a tubes profile when
bending. Without a mandrel, bending forces tend to distort and flatten tubular
www.thefabricator.com, 9/1/09
While bending round tube and pipe involves many variables and
challenges, the difficulties in bending nonround shapes are more numerous and
complicated. Among the most common shapes are square, rectangular, and oval
(elliptical and flat-sided). None react to the bending force in the same way
...
By: Bob Want - The FABRICATOR®, 8/1/09
A tube laser spurs a shop to think about design and metal fabrication
in a new way.
By: Tim Heston - The FABRICATOR®, 8/1/09
Two forming methods can make a bead for an airtight seal on a metal tube: rotary (spin) forming and progressive ram forming. Each has advantages and disadvantages in bead profile, cycle time, amount of wall thinning, and so on.
By: John Schwochert - www.thefabricator.com, 7/20/09
Measuring the bends and straight sections of a bent tube can be tricky
and time-consuming, especially if the tube has a large number of bends in
several directions. Photogrammetry, also known as optical measurement, uses a
booth equipped with several digital cameras to make a digital image of ...
By: William Mongon - www.thefabricator.com, 6/29/09
Automated orbital welding technology has evolved to the point where one welding system can perform multiple processes and adapt welding parameters in real-time.
By: Bill Atkinson - The FABRICATOR®, 6/4/09
Two technologies improve the quality and decrease the cost of fabricating high-purity systems, such as those used in the food and beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor industries. These two techniques are mechanically formed T connections and orbital welding. A common question is this: ...
By: John Hodges - www.thefabricator.com, 6/3/09
Competition is tough and getting tougher. A critical strategy for
staying in business is automation. Putting together a flexible, automated
system with quick-change capability can help tube fabricators manufacture a
variety of parts, both for existing projects and future programs. A few key
...
By: Mike Bollheimer - www.thefabricator.com, 5/28/09
Did you know that if you perform a series of processes in some sort
of an assembly-line fashion, the final step of each process is to move
the workpiece along to the next station? If you didn't know that, fear
not: Every section of this article ends with verbiage to that effect.
By: Chad Rhodes - www.thefabricator.com, 4/1/09
Bending tube or pipe successfully is a matter of managing a handful of processes and variables and controlling the flow of the metal. The same principles apply to bending profiles, or rolled steel sections (RSS). However, because profiles aren’t closed, they are more prone to distortion than tube or...
By: Dawn Whims and John C. Miller Jr. - www.thefabricator.com, 4/1/09
"Cut costs, cut costs, cut costs" is a mantra that echoes from engineering cubicles to production floors in manufacturing companies far and wide.
By: Richard D. Sheffer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/9/09
Electricity demand grew an average of 15,000 megawatts per year from 1995 to 2006, and this trend will undoubtedly continue. The Energy Information Administration predicts that meeting future demands will require the equivalent of more than 20 new 500-MW power plants per year over the next 20 years ...
www.thefabricator.com, 3/9/09
Ranch Hand Truck Accessories was established in the area in 1986 to produce truck grille guards, a product that still comprises a majority of the company’s sales. A 25 percent increase in production of its grille guards and front bumper replacements led to the need for a faster, more efficient, and ...
The FABRICATOR®, 2/10/09
Extrusions can be tricky to bend and handle. Paying close attention to
bender selection, die design, programming, and material handling can help to ensure efficient and productive bending.
By: George Winton - www.thefabricator.com, 12/12/08
The tube and pipe bending process is full of variables and options, all of which you must understand and manage successfully to make the end product.
By: Steve Lowery - www.thefabricator.com, 12/4/08
Many seamless tube producers in North America use cross roll
piercing mills built in the 1950s that were based on designs from the
1930s. While it would be advantageous to replace such aged
equipment, that isn't always necessary. A minor equipment upgrade
can do wonders. Improving the bar steadi...
By: Albert Klimas - www.thefabricator.com, 12/2/08
Picking the best lubricant for a tube or pipe bending application isn’t a simple matter, but knowing how to go about it can make this a manageable task. Cost is just one consideration, and not nearly as important as health and safety issues, compatibility with the workpiece material, compatibility w...
By: Steve Lowery - www.thefabricator.com, 12/2/08
Bending serpentine profiles—successive 180-degree bends, which typically are used in refrigeration systems—can be a challenge. By their nature, they tend to cause interference among the various bend dies, and they can be difficult to handle. Good planning in selecting a bender, planning the process,...
By: George Winton - www.thefabricator.com, 11/25/08
For many bending applications, it is common practice to determine the necessary length of tube, run a few samples, make some minor adjustments, and then start production runs. The problem is that the initial evaluation may have been based on safe, by-the-book estimates and calculations. Re-evaluatin...
By: Lonnie McGrew - The FABRICATOR®, 11/25/08
The best material for a tube bending tool is the most cost-effective in terms of the ratio of tool life to tool cost. A cost-effective tool tends to wear out rather than break at the end of its service life. This article addresses choosing the optimal material for a rotary die tube bending machine’s...
By: William Q. Tingley III - www.thefabricator.com, 9/30/08
Sculptor and fabricator Brett Richards of BR Sculpture, Chicago, got a contract to make a frame for an oval mirror—a length of square tubing bent to a perfect ellipse. Not knowing too much about the vagaries of bending tube, he figured he’d spend a few thousand dollars on a simple bender. After sear...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, The Tube & Pipe Journal® - The FABRICATOR®, 9/16/08
Motorcycle popularity has grown substantially in recent years, and many small shops that produce custom-made and limited-production motorcycles have sprung up. Two such shop owners, Brad Ruel of The Wrench and Mark Evans of Diablo Chop Shop, took it one step further and joined forces to combine thei...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 8/26/08
Pointing, sometimes called tagging or swaging, is a process that reduces a tube’s end to permit it to pass through a draw die for a drawing operation. After the tube end goes through the draw die, gripper jaws converge on the point to begin the draw operation. Push pointing is accomplished by grippi...
By: George A. Mitchell and Paul Russo - The FABRICATOR®, 8/12/08
Dynamic Structures has fabricated huge structures across North America. But this project--two ski jumps for the Vancouver 2010 games--was different.
By: Tim Heston, Senior Editor - The FABRICATOR®, 7/29/08
A pipe fabricator finds a new way to fabricate and assemble a bobsled run for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
By: Tim Heston, Senior Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 7/29/08
Verifying that tube was bent correctly is not as simple as it sounds. Bending specifications and tolerances aren’t cut-and-dried, but are open to interpretation. The fabricator, the end user, and the check fixture designer might have three different perspectives on specifications and tolerances. Ach...
By: Thomas Clark - www.thefabricator.com, 7/15/08
Conventional tube bending data, regardless of format, is entered manually and therefore susceptible to errors. A modern approach involves using a CAD system to generate a STEP file, which the CAD program exports directly to the bending machine. This method is fast and eliminates errors. The drawback...
By: George Winton - The FABRICATOR®, 7/15/08
Fabricators have two broad choices in the bend tooling they select: standard or custom. Using standardized tooling provides cost-effective versatility. A well developed tooling inventory can accommodate nearly any bending job. On the other hand, custom tooling is designed for speed and efficiency. C...
By: Seth Cook - The FABRICATOR®, 5/13/08
Embracing technology has given Microflex a firm foothold in the turbulent automotive marketplace.The Tier 2 supplier has garnered a reputation for advanced sheet metal forming, developing parts for exhaust, steering, and fuel system components. It has ISO 9001 and other quality certifications and ha...
By: Tim Heston, Senior Editor - The FABRICATOR®, 4/15/08
In celebration of its 50th anniversary in April 2005, McDonald’s® opened a 24,000-sq.-ft. restaurant in Chicago. The restaurant’s most eye-catching feature is a pair of parabolic arches that stand 60 ft. high. Constructed from 20-in. by 12-in. tubes, the arches were curved by Chicago Metal Rolled Pr...
By: Michael Bishop, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 4/15/08
Setting up the tooling for a tube or pipe bending machine isn’t as simple as it seems. Many variables are involved, making this a difficult task. A further complication is the tendency for many operators to adjust various pressure settings to compensate for poor tooling setup. The bend might turn ou...
By: William Q. Tingley III - www.thefabricator.com, 3/11/08
MG Products Inc., Elkhart, Ind., successfully made the transition from a machine shop to a full-scale tube fabricator thanks to the investment in a laser tube cutter.
By: Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief - The FABRICATOR®, 3/11/08
With the gap between new projects and available welders only expected to widen, welding companies have to make up the difference by utilizing machines that can compensate for the labor shortage and maximize the productivity of available welders. New developments in orbital welding technology are hel...
By: Michael Bishop, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 2/12/08
If you bend tube for a living, you have many choices when it comes to buying a new piece of bending equipment. Understanding how bending demands have changed over the decades and how bender manufacturers have responded are two key components in selecting the optimal bender for your particular applic...
By: Sabine Neff - www.thefabricator.com, 12/11/07
Successful end-forming requires much more than designing the tooling and selecting a machine. Fabricators have many choices in tooling (substrate, temper, and coating) and in the end forming machine design. Investigating all the options is necessary for creating an efficient setup.
By: Herb Friedrich - The FABRICATOR®, 11/6/07
Designing for the laser cutting process optimizes what tube fabricators can achieve.
By: Jeff Arendas - www.thefabricator.com, 10/23/07
In an effort to reduce the need for cleaning bent tube, fabricator R & B Wagner analyzed its operations and decided to change from manual lubricant application to an automated system. The result was that its lubricant consumption dropped 70 percent. So little lubricant was left on the bent parts tha...
By: Steven Rainwater - www.thefabricator.com, 9/11/07
Mechanized pipe GTAW was first introduced about 50 years ago for nuclear power plants, and then for steam-generation components and process piping. Orbital FCAW was developed to overcome the limitations of orbital GTAW for large-diameter, heavy-wall pipe. With orbital FCAW, deposition rates of 8 lbs...
By: John Emmerson - The FABRICATOR®, 8/8/07
While rotary draw bending is the mainstay of the tube bending industry, variable-radius bending is making some headway. Variable-radius bending offers many advantages, primarily more sophisticated bends and faster cycle times. However, it has limitations, too. A main one is that an initial bend must...
By: Sabine Neff - The FABRICATOR®, 7/10/07
Anodizing combines with nature to create one of the world’s best metal finishes. It is the process of electrochemically controlling, accelerating, and enhancing oxidation of an aluminum tube, creating a durable, scratch-resistant coating on the surface comparable to a sapphire. Architectural anodize...
By: Tammy Schroeder - www.thefabricator.com, 7/10/07
Successful end-forming requires much more than designing the tooling and selecting a machine. Fabricators have many choices in tooling (substrate, temper, and coating) and in the end forming machine design. Investigating all the options is necessary for creating an efficient setup.
By: Herb Friedrich - www.thefabricator.com, 7/10/07
As customers look for ways to add to their bottom-line performance, Harco Metal Products, Tempe, Ariz., has stepped forward with services that make the tube fabricator more valuable to its customer--and harder to replace.
By: Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief - The FABRICATOR®, 6/12/07
Following four specific guidelines for operating the rotary cutoff machine can help you avoid making simple mistakes in setup and operation that can cause downtime.
By: Susan DeJesus - www.thefabricator.com, 6/12/07
Stealth Manufacturing Inc., Savage, Minn., is a tube fabricator, and machine tool builder that automated its tube punching, laser cutting, and material handling to improve the efficiency of manufacturing its gas heater tubes and other tubular products.
By: Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief - www.thefabricator.com, 6/12/07
All-electric tube bending machines use electric, closed-loop servomotor axes to control the motion and speed of the bend tooling, providing programmable control over the range of each axis. Otherwise, all-electric tube bending machines are basically rotary draw benders—the design of which have not c...
By: Terry Pickering - www.thefabricator.com, 5/8/07
Senior Editor Eric Lundin traces the history of a machine shop-turned-fabricator. Founded in 1984 as Target Boring, the company changed from a machining shop to a fabrication shop when, in 1994, it purchased its first sheet and plate laser cutting system. Now named Target Laser & Machining Inc., it ...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - The FABRICATOR®, 4/10/07
Leading Edge Hydraulics improves tube cutting efficiencies with a high-speed cutter, plus integrated end forming for its fluid power tube manufacturing.
By: Kate Bachman, STAMPING Journal® Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 4/10/07
Tube benders require safeguarding around the perimeter of the machine and area in front of the machine, where the tube is bent, and in the back where the tube is fed. Laser scanning devices offers several advantageous features. Because laser scanning is a noncontact method, it minimizes inte...
By: Steve Aamodt - The FABRICATOR®, 2/13/07
Production Cutting Services was founded in 1985 as a machine shop to supply parts to agricultural equipment manufacturers in and around East Moline, Ill. It used saws and CNC machining centers to provide tubular parts, but later realized it needed to add more value. It purchased two lasers from Maza...
The FABRICATOR®, 11/7/06
Laser technology has a new, larger role in cutting tube and pipe. It's suitable not only for niche applications, but also for broader tube cutting applications such as cutoff.
By: Peter Beck - www.thefabricator.com, 10/10/06
CMI Enterprise is a 107-person fabricating shop located in the scenic region of Saint Sylvain D’Anjou, France, serving the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical industries. CMI began experiencing growing pains. For the process equipment and heat exchanger projects, CMI selected orbital welding equi...
By: Richard Herzfeld - www.thefabricator.com, 10/10/06
Hapco Aluminum Pole Products, Abingdon, Va., fabricates aluminum light posts that must be beautiful while standing up to wind, and the forces of nature.
By: Kate Bachman, STAMPING Journal® Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 10/10/06
A good design doesn't guarantee challenge-free fabrication in the bridge industry, as one fabricator found out. Despite material availability obstacles, stringent welding requirements, and massive pipe cutting needs, Stinger Welding and the design team it worked with pulled off a winning pip...
By: Stephanie Vaughan, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/12/06
Fabricators that need to do end forming have many choices. Even after narrowing the process down to using a ram or segmented tooling, choices abound-the tooling can form the ID, the OD, or both; and operation can be manual or CNC. Understanding the processes and their capabilities are the keys to ch...
By: Rob Dean, Aristo Machines - www.thefabricator.com, 9/12/06
CMI Enterprise is a 107-person fabricating shop located in the scenic region of Saint Sylvain D’Anjou, France, serving the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical industries. CMI began experiencing growing pains. For the process equipment and heat exchanger projects, CMI selected orbital welding equi...
By: Dick Herzfeld - The FABRICATOR®, 8/8/06
Medalist Laserfab Inc., Oshkosh, Wis., is building a custom motorcycle for the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association Intl.® (FMA) Foundation’s charitable auction, which will help the Foundation encourage young people to pursue careers in manufacturing. This article explains how you can view the pr...
By: Terrence Egan, CFRE - The FABRICATOR®, 8/8/06
Interviews with several tube-bending equipment-makers reveal that tube bending is becoming more complex every day, for a number of reasons. Manufacturers try to decrease material usage and go to stronger, difficult-to-bend materials with thinner walls; many manufactured items are smaller than ever b...
By: Eric Lundin, Senior Editor, and Amanda Carlson, News Editor - The FABRICATOR®, 7/11/06
Today metal tube sawing technology is light-years ahead of where it was just five years ago. Sawing machine and saw blade advancements—Special-purpose CNC tube-sawing machines, Dynamic ball-screw feed systems, Automatic Blade-changing, Carbide-tipped blades, blade coatings, Thin-kerf Blades, segment...
www.thefabricator.com, 7/11/06
The mechanical aspects of rotary draw tube bending haven't changed since modern tooling was developed 50 years ago. Likewise, the role of the tooling (mandrel, pressure die, bend die, and wiper die) hasn't changed. However, tube fabricators these days have many choices in regard to the tooling, espe...
By: William Tingley - www.thefabricator.com, 6/13/06
After years of working in fabricating and machining, Shawn McFadden struck out on his own to start a fabrication shop, which later evolved into a custom motorcycle shop. He doesn’t use the latest CNC machines with digital readouts and other state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment. He uses man...
By: Eric Lundin, Senior Editor, and Amanda Carlson, News Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 6/13/06
Rust, wear, and dirt cost tube fabricators and producers millions of dollars annually, and they can be the bane of tube processes. Analyzing the criteria for selecting the lubricant, cleaner, and rust preventative can help provide maximum protection.
By: Mike Pelham - www.thefabricator.com, 6/13/06
Fabricating and repairing pipe in the oil-rich tar sands of Alberta, Canada, is an enormous, ongoing project that requires specialized equipment to meet a variety of challenges. John Page is a consultant in Canada who has been working on several of these projects and has learned what's needed to get...
By: Stephanie Vaughan, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 5/9/06
Have you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
By: Tony Granelli - www.thefabricator.com, 4/11/06
Rust, wear, and dirt cost tube fabricators and producers millions of dollars annually, and they can be the bane of tube processes. Analyzing the criteria for selecting the lubricant, cleaner, and rust preventative can help provide maximum protection.
By: Mike Pelham - www.thefabricator.com, 4/11/06
The global economic upswing that started in 2002 was still going strong in 2005 and most indicators suggest it will continue. Manufacturing output in Germany in November 2005 was 5.8 percent higher than 12 months before, and the business climate, which is based on surveys, was nearly 100 at the en...
www.thefabricator.com, 3/7/06
Have you ever started with what you thought was a good tube, ended with a bad bend, and wondered where you took a wrong turn? Correcting for defects requires some detective work, and an understanding of the bending process. This article examines tube defects and offers fixes.
By: Tony Granelli - www.thefabricator.com, 3/7/06
Although capillary action basically is the magic behind ensuring proper filler metal distribution into a joint, six basic steps also are necessary to make sure that the design and engineering of the joint helps lead to a good brazed joint.
By: Gary DeVries and Creed Darling - www.thefabricator.com, 3/7/06
Innovations and new developments in rotary tube and pipe cutting, such as high-speed cutting, minimal heat generation, special holding collets, and automatic loading, trim and sorting have reduced or eliminated time required for secondary operation, improved efficiency, and reduced costs.
By: Joe Mashione - www.thefabricator.com, 3/7/06
BCI Burke, Fond du Lac, Wis., is the oldest playground and park and recreation equipment manufacturer in the country. As the company grew and its product offerings and colors multiplied, it found it needed to address problems with long leadtimes. Burke looked at every possibility for improvement, in...
By: Kate Bachman, STAMPING Journal® Editor - The FABRICATOR®, 2/7/06
Today's architects develop designs and concepts that push past the boundaries of yesterday. Fabricators are faced with a sometimes daunting challenge to make unusual components to assist architects in completing unusual buildings, to the extent that they sometimes have to rely on themselves to devel...
By: Mark King - www.thefabricator.com, 12/13/05
Planning an offline band sawing system can be complicated because it can affect, and is affected by, many interrelated factors. Breaking it down to infeed, sawing, and outfeed helps to frame the planning by breaking it down to three subprocesses. Furthermore, answering 15 pertinent questions can h...
By: Doug Harris - www.thefabricator.com, 12/13/05
Wiper dies are a fundamental requirement in modern tube bending applications in which tubes are bent at increasingly tight bend radii with increasingly thinner wall thicknesses. The design of the wiper die plays a key role in its performance and durability, as does its manufacturing method and the m...
By: Barry Rooney - The FABRICATOR®, 11/8/05
The welding process and ambient temperature affect the structure and mechanical properties of welded joints in large-diameter (1,420 mm) pipes of manganese low-alloy steels, which are used commonly in oil and gas pipelines. Pulsed welding can improve the homogeneity of the structure and reduce the g...
By: Yu.N. Saraev, V.P. Bezborodov, I.M. Poletika, A.V. Tyutev,
I.V. Nikonova, N.V. Kirilova, and S.P. Sevastianov - www.thefabricator.com, 10/12/05
One way to avoid dimpling and deburring while making holes in tube and pipe is use annular cutters. Because annular cutters are hollow, there is no dead-zone resistance to overcome. Knowing how to use an annular cutter and what to watch for can help avoid problems and extend tool wear.
By: Darwyn Jones - www.thefabricator.com, 9/13/05
Evidence that stainless steel has potential as a material for automotive components—for its high strength-to-weight ratio for overall weight reduction, good dent performance, corrosion resistance, and formability—was presented by ISSF members at the SAE International™ 2004 SAE World Congress, in Det...
By: Kate Bachman, STAMPING Journal® Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 9/13/05
In the 1990s, Polaris Industries Inc. realized it needed to rethink the way tube fabricating was done at its Osceola, Wis., facility. Laser tube cutting proved to be the answer.
By: Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief - The FABRICATOR®, 8/9/05
Like welding of other metals, welding zirconium successfully depends on correct application of electrical characteristics, wire feed, interpass cleaning, preheating, and heat input. Understanding the resulting surface color is key in knowing whether the weld was performed successfully or if it requi...
By: Richard Sutherlin - www.thefabricator.com, 4/11/05
Editor's Note: This article is adapted from a conference presentation made by the author at a previous TPJ Symposium.
By: Tony Granelli - www.thefabricator.com, 3/8/05
Zirconium can be welded successfully to other refractory and reactive metals such as titanium, vanadium, niobium, hafnuim, tantalum, and other zirconium alloys. Understanding the characteristics of these metals provides some guidance as to proper welding technique and the need for stress relieving.
By: Richard Sutherlin - www.thefabricator.com, 1/10/05
Tube fabricators use a variety of methods—sawing, lathe cutting, rotary cutting, supported shear cutting, dual-blade shear cutting, and laser cutting—to cut tubing from mill lengths into shorter pieces for use in final fabrication. No single method is optimal for cutting the broad range of tubular m...
By: Alec Banish, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 11/9/04
Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of a three-part series on welding zirconium. Part I addresses metallurgy, weld preparation, and shielding techniques. Part II, which will appear in the October/November issue, will cover welding technique. Part III, which will appear in the December issue...
By: Richard Sutherlin, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 10/12/04
Ron Stange looks back on his 50 years in the tube-bending industry and provides his insight on the one thing tube bender operators must know to be successful: Ironclad rules for successful bending do not exist. Tube bender operators must start with guidelines and incorporate their own experience to ...
By: Ronald R. Stange, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/14/04
Products change, and so do manufacturing methods used to make products. In the tube and pipe industry, however, manufacturing changes have been few and infrequent over the past few decades.
By: James P. Rutt, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/14/04
The increasing use of advanced equipment and applications (such as orbital welding for high-purity systems) requires better weld preparation. A thorough understanding of equipment, tool bits, and materials—including advanced alloys—helps to achieve better end prep.
By: Bill Sandford and Bill Atkinson, Conributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 8/10/04
Bending tube or pipe so the finished product conforms to one of two bending standards can help to reduce rejects and improve relations between fabricators and their customers. The standards can facilitate the use of bending terms, and promote an understanding of bending tolerances and acceptable def...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - The FABRICATOR®, 7/13/04
Welding technology has changed dramatically over the last few decades. Although skilled welders always will be needed in manufacturing, mechanical welding devices can provide improvements over manual welding in terms of repeatability and throughput.
By: Helmut Hahn, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/11/04
Orbital welding first was developed in the late 1960s by a group of engineers from McDonnell Douglas to join aerospace tubes. These engineers were aware of the problems associated with producing repeatable welds for their critical applications.
By: Steve Purnell, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/11/04
Weld inspection, weld logging, and weld recordkeeping always have been a part of quality assurance (QA) procedures for certain industries, particularly aerospace, nuclear power, semiconductor, and pharmaceutical.
By: Barbara K. Henon, Ph.D., Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 2/12/04
Your company’s first robot may cause more trouble than expected. This doesn’t mean that the robot will not work, but it is a piece of
By: Michael Passmore, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 1/29/04
You can achieve nearly trouble-free bending by being aware of the causes of typical compression bending problems and by correctly operating and maintaining the compression bender.
By: Marsha Blasengame, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 1/13/04
Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash., is known for its strong science programs. “Flying Bridge,” a structure designed by artist and sculptor Ed Carpenter, physically and metaphorically spans the biology and chemistry departments in the university’s new Dean Science Bu...
www.thefabricator.com, 1/13/04
For the company that broke the world record for building the tallest freestanding structure with a 320-foot scaffolding (the Statue of Liberty restoration project in 1984, see Sidebar at bottom of page)designing and constructing the scaffolding for the Washington Monument restoration project was jus...
By: Kate Bachman, STAMPING Journal® Editor - www.thefabricator.com, 12/11/03
Early power supplies for contact and induction welding for tube production, which were introduced in the 1950s, operated at 300 to 400 kHz. Modern power supplied, introduced in the 1990s, are variable from 200 to 400 kHz. While using any frequency in this range can produce acceptable welds for most ...
By: Paul Scott, Ph.D., Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 12/11/03
The engine roars to life, and Bruce Van Sant inches the motorcycle forward, stopping about 25 feet from the starting line. Alan Geetings, crew member of the Van Sant racing team, sprays the asphalt with water. Bruce revs up the engine. The engine’s torque breaks the rear tire’s grip on the asphalt a...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - www.thefabricator.com, 11/20/03
...
By: Keith M. Karbum, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 10/23/03
Roll forming is a common method for producing steel tubes. It is a continuous process in which a strip is guided through several sets of rolls that form the strip into the desired shape. After the final shape is achieved, tube edges are welded together to form a closed section. After the welding ope...
By: Karan Shah, Yingyot Aue-u-lan, and Taylan Altan, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 10/9/03
To reduce weight and cost for all types of products, design engineers often specify tubes and pipes with thinner walls instead of the previously used heavier-walled tubes and pipes. Shorter tube or pipe lengths also achieve the same objectives, but usually they require sharper or more complex bends....
By: Charles C. Gaver Jr., Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/25/03
A wiper die is a piece of tooling used in tube bending that helps keep the bend from wrinkling. While there are many reasons and ways to use a wiper die in a tube bending maching, you should also know what types are available, their differences, and how to choose the right one for your application.
By: Teresa Fisher, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/25/03
The hand is one of the most complex parts of your body. It enables you to execute simple or complex jobs that cannot be performed by any other part of the body. Without your hands, it would be extremely difficult to do even those routine tasks that we take for granted every day.
By: Ashok Shah, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/25/03
The main component in any off-road sport vehicle is the frame. Frames for mass-produced vehicles usually are stamped and welded. These are suitable for most drivers' needs, but for intense off-road driving and competitions, a sturdier frame is necessary.
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - www.thefabricator.com, 8/28/03
Tube and pipe can be notched with a variety of tools and machines, from saws to plasma cutters. For the hobbyist, the job shop, and the manufacturer, the most common machine tools used for making weld joints are the hole saw, the abrasive-belt notcher, and the end mill notcher.
By: Chris Rusch and Ed Holmes, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 8/14/03
The phrase obstructed view is probably most connected with older sports stadiums. For example, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, depending on where your seat is, watching Sammy Sosa in action in right field might be replaced by a view of a rusting steel girder.
By: Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief - www.thefabricator.com, 6/26/03
Who cares about scarfing tools? There are more important things in life. When the beauty pageant contestant is asked what problem she would like to solve, she’s more likely to answer “I’d like to establish world peace” than “I wish I could find ways to help scarfing too...
By: W.B. "Bud" Graham, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 6/26/03
Any manufacturing process that goes awry can result in waste in many forms, both obvious and hidden. A simple project in which tube is cut, bent, formed, and welded can result in large amounts of wasted money and time if one of the processes goes wrong.
By: Dave Petrack, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 6/12/03
The roar of the crowd, the shouts of the umpire, the crack of the bat hitting the ball—these are the unmistakable sounds of a baseball game. Over the last few decades, however, one of those sounds has changed; now the bat tends to make a ping that resonates when it hits the ball. It’s the sound of a...
By: Kevin Cole and Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - The FABRICATOR®, 5/29/03
Torch brazing copper tubing is one of the most common–but widely misunderstood–joining processes. It's possible to make sound joints that are just as strong as the copper tube, easier to braze, and less expensive to produce. But first you have to know basic brazing concepts, including joint design, ...
By: Walter J. Sperko, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 5/15/03
Need to put a hole in a tube? This article provides an overview of tube punching and tube piercing, exploring the different variations of each method and comparing the two methods on cost, safety, and flexibility.
By: Todd Bryson, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 5/15/03
Many manufacturers are familiar with using eddy current systems to inspect their sheet and tubular products. Eddy current testing (ECT) is a nondestructive electromagnetic test that offers a rapid examination to detect surface-breaking flaws or cracks. It can be applied easily to straight sections o...
By: Dan DeVries and Jim Cox, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 5/15/03
It drives right over nearly every obstacle in its path and splits nearly every eardrum in its vicinity. It's supercharged, oversized, and extraordinary. It stands more than 10 feet tall, develops more than 1,500 horsepower, and can leap over a 727 jet airliner in a single bound.
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - www.thefabricator.com, 4/24/03
Tube fabricators all over the country are starting to see some major benefits from new coating technology. Many coatings-both those that are time-proven and new ones just hitting the market-can provide many benefits for many tube fabrication processes, including extended tooling life, better finishe...
By: Dave Petrack, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/24/03
Hundreds of types of machined end connectors are used to transmit fluid in fabricated tube and hose assemblies. In recent years manufacturers and end users of these connectors have been developing new methods and processes that eliminate machined connectors and the associated joining operation. Elim...
By: Eric Patty, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/10/03
You can successfully roll-form a profile more than one way. In fact, many roll form designers take different approaches to design and development. Also, because the roll forming process has a seeming limitless capacity to produce complex profiles with just as many variables, many roll form designs a...
By: Chuck Summerhill, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/27/03
The widespread use of autogenous (fusion) orbital gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) in the high-purity semiconductor and biopharmaceutical industries, combined with modern steel refining technology, has made it both desirable and practical to supply type 316L stainless steel with a restricted range of...
By: Barbara K. Henon, Ph.D., Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/27/03
Precision abrasive wheel cutting is a small but important niche in the abrasive cutting field. It can be used to cut many types of parts, including metal rods, tubes, extruded shapes, and even wire. It is most useful in operations characterized by small parts, hard-to-cut materials, and tight tolera...
By: Jordon Jablons, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/13/03
In the power piping industry, turnaround time on a boiler pipe project typically is from 20 to 36 weeks. But J.F. Ahern Co. (JFA), Fond du Lac, Wis., a company ranked as one of the Midwest's top 10 mechanical contractors according to the May 2002 Contractor magazine, isn't typical. Neither were the ...
By: Mike Roth, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/13/03
In the 1980s, when CNC machinery evolved, tube fabricators made the transition from manually forming each part to allowing a machine to form the parts unassisted. Now in the age of Windows®-based computers and brushless electric servo drives, these machines can seem like relics. But don't take them ...
By: Kent Horn, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 2/27/03
The level of technology used these days in the tube and pipe fabrication industry varies quite a bit in terms of age. Some of it is a bit antiquated, to put it kindly. Many tube fabrication shops use equipment that is more than 50 years old.
By: Dave Petrack, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 2/27/03
Of all the materials used for high-temperature steam piping, X20 (12 percent chromium, 1 percent molybdenum, 1/4 percent vanadium) and P91 (9 percent chromium, 1 percent molybdenum, 1/4 percent vanadium) stand out because of their very high creep rupture properties, even at elevated temperatures.
By: P.K. Saha, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 1/16/03
Orbital welding's advantages in productivity, quality, consistency, tracability, and skill level required are the driving factors behind its growth. Advances such as oxygen analyzers that prevent the weld cycle from starting until oxygen is properly purged, combined with its ability to generate a wr...
By: Steve Purnell, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 12/12/02
Bending tube and pipe has become increasingly popular throughout the metal fabrication industry. Bending inherently saves money over other fabrication methods, such as the cutting and welding of standard fittings or the use of cast elbows. However, fabricators can reduce costs further by following s...
By: Brad Frank, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 11/21/02
State-of-the-art laser technology for cutting metal tubes includes capabilities for cutoff, beveling, and cutting an infinite variety of shapes such as holes, slots, and notches. In this article, manufacturers of laser cutting equipment discuss the state of advancements such as automated loading and...
By: Eric Lundin, Editor, TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal® - www.thefabricator.com, 11/7/02
Changes taking place in tube and pipe producing and fabricating may require you to review your lubrication strategies. One of these changes is the increased use of aluminum, aluminized steel, and stainless steel tubing.
By: Joseph Ivaska Jr., Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 11/7/02
Digging into reports that publicly held companies must produce for the government allows a glimpse of their perspective on their own situation and how they see the economy's recovery pattern.
By: Michael McConnell, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 10/10/02
Switching from an oil-based lubricant to a water-based gel lubricant helped an exhaust-system components manufacturer, Zeuna Starker, reduce costs and cycle time. After studying several types of lubricants, the company chose a water-based gel that was less prone to spilling onto the floor and did no...
By: Brad Jeffery, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/12/02
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By: Steve Purnell, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/12/02
If you need to cut production time, you might glean a few tips from a little job shop in Ohio that has made the most of its software.
By: Jack Thornton, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 8/29/02
Coatings for tube and pipe can serve as a primer for subsequent paiinting or they can provide corrosion protection…
By: Mark Diaz and William R. Skowronek, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 8/15/02
New power plants are in high demand and several hundred can be expected to be built over the next decade. Chromium-molybdenum steel pipe (P91) is a major construction material in these plants and there are particular methods for welding it properly to insure it will hold up. Preheat and postweld hea...
By: Mike Roth, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 7/11/02
As tube mill speeds increase, tube end cut quality suffers. Meanwhile, customer requirements for end cut quality continually increase. Tube producers are turning to dedimpling and deburring machines to enhance tube cut quality and improve worker safety.
By: Rick Costello, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 7/11/02
Expandable-casing pipe is being used by some aggressive OCTG players, causing oil companies to look at deep water and land based wells in a whole new light.
By: Lincoln Brunner, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 6/27/02
This article describes different ways to contain tube and pipe welding fabrication costs, focusing on the option of using particular weld prep equipment. It outlines specific applications in thin-wall tube and pipe fabrication and installation and pipe with a heavier wall thickness.
By: Darrell Whittenberg, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 6/27/02
This article discusses several aspects of rotary draw tube bending…
By: Jim Regan, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 6/13/02
This article discusses using punching and forming plates within a stamping press as an alternative to tube bending and end forming machinery.
By: Keith Chappell, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 5/16/02
This article discusses titanium—how it is processed; the types and grades of pure titanium and alloys that are available; and applications for titanium tube and pipe. Discusses manufacturing and testing titanium tube and pipe to ASTM standards for specific applications.
By: R.L. Porter and C.P. Clancy, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 5/16/02
This article discusses some of the similarities and differences between bending round tube versus square and rectangular tube. Explores the characteristics of square and rectangular sections and the bending challenges associated with these characteristics.
By: Bill Smith and Mark King, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 5/16/02
This article describes the flash-butt welding process as used to weld pipes externally and internally. The authors describe the process, how it's used, how its technology is employed, advances in the process, materials that can be welded, and equipment used.
By: Sergei Kuchuk-Yotsenko, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/15/02
End formed tubes are used increasingly in industries as diverse as automotive, furniture, appliance, sporting goods, construction equipment, and temporary buildings. With recent developments in new forming techniques to produce accurate, finished parts at high volumes without scrap, end formed parts...
By: Joe Dean, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/15/02
The two most common methods of applying zinc metal to steel handrail tubing are batch hot-dip galvanizing and inline, continuous galvanizing. The batch hot-dip method provides a coating thickness approximately 3 times that of the inline method, and a coating that lasts approximately 3 times as long....
By: Philip G. Rahrig, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/11/02
Tube Specialties of Tempe, Ariz., wanted to get off the paper trail to streamline its production, accounting and inventory processes. This article looks at the reasons for the change, obstacles to the change and its benefits.
By: Andrew Pratico, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 3/14/02
The pitfalls of building a beverage processing facility can be many. Poor welds involving tubing, fittings, and valves provide opportunities for bacteria to grow, creating health concerns and the potential for ruined product. Orbital welding -- which provides higher-quality, consistent welds compare...
By: Ken Grossman and Todd Barnum, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 2/28/02
This discussion explains the basic differences between the flash and butt welding processes and discusses their use of AC or DC secondary currents with single-phase or three-phase primary input power.
By: Larry E. Moss, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 2/28/02
This article discusses bending with mandrels. It illustrates six major types of mandrel and the most appropriate use for each. It also describes common bending problems and the most likely solutions.
By: Teresa Fisher, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 1/31/02
Many factors are involved in choosing a particular method or technology for cutting tube or pipe.
By: Leonard Eaton, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 1/24/02
This article discusses the ins and outs of all-electric tube bending machines, discussing the challenges, performance characteristics, and typical options of all-electric benders.
By: Jeff Tapper, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 12/13/01
Adaptive bending allows press brake operators to measure a bend angle during the forming process and feed the information to the numerical control. The article discusses springback and how to determine it and the fact that when air bending, 90 percent of problems result during initial setup, and onl...
By: Wim Serruys, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 11/15/01
This piece, which originally appeared in TPJ-The Tube & Pipe Journal in 1997, explains how to decide whether to cut tubing on the production line or cut it later in a recut operation. Discusses various types of recutting equipment and focuses on the dual-blade shear cutting method.
By: Klaus Schonfeld, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 10/25/01
Tube used in production processes that form a part by expanding or bending the tube…
By: Frank Fenton, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 9/18/01
The quenching and tempering of tubes include a number of variables that can have a profound effect on the process and the finished product.
By: Robert Nichols, Contributing Writer - The FABRICATOR®, 7/29/01
A review of how magnetic pulse welding works, in what applications it can be used, and what considerations users must take to perform it properly.
By: Ben-Tzion Spitz and Victor Shribman, Contributing Writers - www.thefabricator.com, 7/26/01
Although orbital tube welding has been used in aerospace, semiconductor, and other high-purity applications for a long time, general industrial markets just now are beginning to view it as a viable and economical option for joining stainless steel tubing.
By: William J. Wuertz, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 7/12/01
Tube and pipe manufacturers should consider carefully environmental laws, cost, quality, and the cost of a coating line before deciding on a temporary coating for their products.
By: David McKruit, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 4/24/01
Efficiency, productivity, and quality are focal points for end forming operations, and many manufacturers are looking to automation to improve those dimensions of their businesses.
By: Dale Miller, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 2/19/01
Welding applications in the aerospace industries demand high precision, a quality that can be entirely as low as possible. Automatic orbital welding is being used to help meet these requirements.
By: Mike Serafin, Contributing Writer - www.thefabricator.com, 2/19/01
The rotary cutting process rotates a tube or pipe and cuts it with a rotating blade. The blades are beveled to various angles and produce a chamfered end on the workpiece. Selecting the right bevel angle is the key in getting an optimal combination of end finish and production rate. Proper alignme...
By: Susan DeJesus - The FABRICATOR®, 5/1/99
The rotary cutting process rotates a tube or pipe and cuts it with a rotating blade. Because it is a chipless cutting method, it does not waste any material and reduces or eliminates subsequent deburring and cleaning operations. Although it can be used on any metal, it is not suitable for every appl...
By: S.A. DeJesus - www.thefabricator.com, 4/7/99
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