Whether it is pipes or pies, good quality defines all! However, when choosing seamless steel pipe, you should be vigilant about choosing the right manufacturer. They provide quality and customized products, very crucial for the successful completion of critical applications. Seamless tubes are used in various crucial applications like oil and gas transfer, railways, automobile construction, shipping containers, water sewage projects, nuclear plants, etc.
Quality testing is an essential step of the manufacturing procedure. The product you use must meet international standards, alongside customized requirements.
The types of quality tests that a product goes through are:
Flaring and flattening test
The flaring test is a crucial way to validate the forming comportments of pipes and tubes. They are flattened, expanded, and flared to some degree with respect to the outside diameter. For instance, a tube of pipe of 3-meter length shall be flattened by cold drawn technique between two parallel plates in more than one step. The first step involves checking the ductility. While flattening, there should be no breaks or cracks on the internal walls. In the second step, soundness test is conducted to determine the breaking point. The process continues until the sample breaks or flattens from the round shape.
Tensile or tension test
It is one of the most fundamental and widespread mechanical testing. The tensile test is carried out to determine the ductility and strength of the seamless steel pipes and tubes. In short, it measures the product’s response to stress.
Hardness test
A hardness test, as the name implies, is performed to determine the hardness of a product. It is found out by measuring the indent depth of the product or by measuring the side of the indenter’s impression. Products from every batch are continuously heat-treated and tested to make sure they are hard enough within specified limits.
Hydrostatic Pressure Test
Hydrostatic test is mainly conducted for pipes and tubes used in oil and gas transfer and water sewage projects, and the plumbing industry. Hydrostatic pressure test determines the leaks and seepage in a tube. The test is performed by filling out the pipe with water and pressuring the system to certain limits. The seamless steel pipes and tube also go through third party inspections for meeting global standards.
These are some crucial testing procedures that most manufacturers perform to ensure good quality of products. Damaged and worn-out pipes are also repaired through such tests.
