TPi July 2016

products & developments

Breakthrough for SSAB cold-formed tubes in Sweden

Peter Sverin, regional sales manager at distributor and seller Tibnor. “The end result gives both significant cost savings and a better environmental choice.” Technical development manager Jan Österholm and account manager Magnus Johansson have worked with the Swedish construction market to promote the use of cold-formed tubes. The material is more common in Finland thanks to earlier establishment on the market with Ruukki, and there is now a possibility of converting all Nordic countries to using cold-formed tubes.

from a single 125kg hollow, with zero welds. The new production technique – a combination of pilgering, precision drawing and proprietary processes – is expected to be beneficial for the oil and gas and other industries. “No matter how skilled you are at welding, there is always a risk of cracking or corrosion,” said Christofer Hedvall, managing director of the high-precision tubing unit. “With our new production method, we take risk completely out of the equation.” Mr Hedvall noted that rig crews, well completion teams and other professionals working in challenging environments are looking for safe, time-saving methods supported by a continuous supply of weld-free material. While the initial order was from the oil and gas sector, Sandvik anticipates that other industries could also find the extended-length technology to be useful. “This is the result of an ongoing innovation journey that started some years back,” said Mr Hedvall, noting that the company is now introducing Structures made of SSAB’s cold-formed steel tubes were recently selected for a steel construction of tube bridges at Södra Cell in Värö, Sweden. The company Hjalmarsson in Sölvesborg used approximately 700 tons of cold- formed tubes and manufactured the pipe bridges that were delivered to Värö. Thanks to the material choice, environmental impact was reduced, as cold-formed tubes are manufactured with a production process that requires less energy. “As structures for buildings, the cold-formed tubes have the same characteristics and meet the same demands as hot-rolled tubes,” said

SSAB AB – Sweden info@ssab.com www.ssab.com

Exploring the benefits of cold-formed tube structures

Weld-free coiled tubing in lengths over 1,000m

nickel alloy tube Alloy 625 (Sanicro 60) and Alloy C276 (Sanicro 56), and has received ISO 50001 certification (a major part of the Green Factory approach), NORSOK approval and DIN EN 9100 qualification. “We’re striving to provide complete ‘precision performance’ solutions to the aerospace, oil and gas, medical and other industries. Our customers want more choice and flexibility both in terms of materials and formats.” The Werther operation, which produced its first stainless steel tubes in 1957, specialises in thick-walled tubing (1-70mm OD), extreme pressures (10,153 to 160,000 psi), exacting tolerances, low defects (50µm max) and extreme temperature. Many of these requirements for high-precision tubing are becoming increasingly acute as industry heads into the era of Industry 4.0, with higher needs for interconnected control. Sandvik Materials Technology – Sweden www.smt.sandvik.com

Sandvik’s first 1,010m coiled tube reel has been delivered to an offshore oil and gas customer. To meet a growing need for coiled tubing in very long lengths, Sandvik’s high-precision tubing unit in Werther, Germany, has developed a method that enables the production of stainless tubing in lengths exceeding 1,000m Sandvik can produce stainless tubing over 1,000m in length from a single 125kg hollow, with zero welds

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Tube Products International July 2016

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