Difference Between Seamless and Welded Stainless Steel Pipe
Stainless steel is widely used in various fields due to its excellent overall usage characteristics and appearance features. The same is true for stainless steel pipe, which is a kind of steel with a hollow cross-section and is mainly divided into welded steel pipe and seamless steel pipe. These two types of steel pipe differ in manufacturing process, appearance and performance, the specific differences are as follows:
Manufacturing process differences:
Stainless steel welded pipe is made of steel strip or steel plate that is crimped by a unit and mold, and then welded, and there is usually a weld inside the pipe.
While seamless stainless steel pipe is made from round billet, after piercing, it is produced by cold rolling, cold drawing or hot extrusion, and the whole pipe does not contain welded joints.
Difference in steel pipe appearance:
The wall thickness tolerance of welded steel pipe is small and the wall thickness is uniform throughout the circumference. It has high precision, high internal and external surface finish of the pipe, and can be customized in size, suitable for making thin-walled pipes.
Seamless pipes are relatively less accurate than welded pipes, the wall thickness may be uneven, the internal and external surface finish is lower, the cost of customized sizes is higher, and there may be pockmarks or black spots on its surface. As a result, common seamless pipes usually have larger wall thicknesses.
Performance and Price Differences:
Seamless pipes significantly outperform welded pipes in areas such as corrosion resistance, pressure bearing and high temperature resistance. However, with the advancement of welded pipe production technology, it is gradually approaching the seamless pipe in mechanical and mechanical properties. In terms of price, because the manufacturing process of seamless pipe is more complex, its price is usually higher than that of welded pipe.