Innovative Applications for Square Tubing 

Among many uses in the manufacturing world, square tubing boasts several real advantages. The term "square tubing" is used to describe metal tubing with a square cross-sectional area instead of a round tube. It is used in several  construction and manufacturing applications requiring shape and structural stability . 

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At Alliance Tubular Products, we can make virtually any square and rectangle sizes between 1.5" - 5.0" (38mm - 127mm) sq. Alliance Tubular Products produces Electric Resistance Welded (ERW) products and steel HSS tubing. 

What is Square Tubing ? 

"Square tubing" refers to a type of metal tubing with a square cross-section rather than a round one. It's commonly used in construction, manufacturing, and other applications where structural integrity and shape are essential. 

Square tubing, often made from carbon steel, aluminum, or stainless steel, has different dimensions and thicknesses for different purposes and applications. It is utilized for its strength, durability, and versatility.

Benefits of Square Tubing:  

Some  key features accompanying square tubing are high torsional strength, versatility, and ease of fabrication. 

 
Strength and structural integrity: The formed corners of square shapes offer excellent resistance to torsion and bending. It is highly utilized to bear loads and provide structural support in many construction and engineering projects. Forming square sections allows for extra strength compared to analogous round tubes without adding additional weight or production cost. 

Versatility: Square tubing can be used in various applications, including frames, support structures, architectural designs, furniture, fencing, and more. 

Ease of Fabrication: Straight edges and uniform shapes make them easier to cut, weld, and manipulate than other materials, reducing the time and cost spent in fabrication. 
 

Common Applications for Square Tubing. 

With its distinct shape, square tubing finds a wide range of applications across various industries due to its structural integrity, versatility, and aesthetic appeal.  

Here are some typical applications: 

Construction: Extensively square tubing is employed to frame structures such as buildings, bridges, and shelters, among others. Its strength and rigidity make it suitable for load-bearing applications. 

Automotive and Agricultural Racking: Square tubes are one of the primary raw materials used to make  frames, racking, and other structural applications in automotive and agriculture. It gives stability and support with a relatively lighter weight. 

Architectural Design: The tubing is square and is  employed by architects and designers for various architectural elements like handrails, balustrades, pergolas, and ornamental features. The geometric shape gives a modern look to the interior and exterior spaces.  

Greenhouse and farm-related buildings: These buildings are economically reasonable in constructing greenhouses, agricultural buildings, trellises, or crates  that hold vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Square tubing is strong and resistant to corrosion, so it's perfect for outdoor exposure, which can be further improved when zinc coated. 

Fencing and Enclosures: For residences, commercial properties, and industries, square tubing is  used  in fencing and enclosures . It provides a  strong guard for security, privacy, or the holding of animals and equipment. 

Material Handling: In warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and logistics operations, square tubing fabricates material handling equipment such as carts, shelves, and conveyors due to its strength and versatility. 

Fitness Equipment: Gym equipment manufacturers often use square tubing to construct frames for exercise machines, weight racks, and workout benches. It offers stability and durability to withstand repetitive use. 

Display and Signage: Square tubing is a structural component in display stands, signage frames, and exhibition booths. Its sleek appearance and ability to support various materials make it suitable for showcasing products or conveying information. 

Creative and Innovative Uses of Square Tubing.

Square tubing's versatility benefits creative and unconventional applications across various industries.  

Here are some unique and lesser-known uses: 

Solar Panel Mounting Structures: These are made by using square tubing.  Its strength and corrosion resistance allows it to carry solar arrays under harsh weather conditions, including rooftop and open-field applications. 

Automation and Robotics: Square tubing is used in robotic systems, automation equipment framing, and chassis making. With stiff construction, it provides a good base for mounting motors, sensors, and other components involved in robotics. 

Aquarium Stands and Racks: Square tubing is well adapted for constructing heavy-duty stands and racks  for large aquariums. Its strength added to corrosion resistance, making the material appropriate for supporting the tank's weight and accessories with stability in a moist environment.

Off-road car adjustment: Many owners of off-road vehicles make their bumpers, roll cages, and roof racks with square tubing. This is because the tubing is strong and can absorb most of the impact, improving  durability and functionality in off-road vehicles. 

Customized Bike Frames: Some bicycle enthusiasts and manufacturers experiment with square tubing to create custom bike frames. Square tubing allows for unique frame designs while maintaining structural integrity and durability on the road or trail. 

Roller Coaster Tracks: Some  engineering within amusement parks uses square steel tubing to manufacture roller coaster tracks. It certainly has a uniform shape and can withstand high stress and pressure, making it suitable to hold the weights of coaster trains with smooth ride experiences. 

Music Instrument Stands: The square tubing steel can  create sturdy stands for instruments such as guitars, violins, and keyboards. These stands offer stability and support that are most stylish for the instruments. 

About Alliance Tubular Products: 

As an extension of Alliance, Alliance Tubular Products is the only steel tube mill in the country that can produce your specialty sections and metric shapes without the expense and lead times associated with new tooling. 

Alliance Tubular Products offers a range of value-added services for steel tubing that sets us apart from the competition. Our mill is direct from quality, and we ensure that every product meets rigorous standards for performance and reliability. 

Using our universal tooling rolling technology, Alliance Tubular can produce virtually any ERW square between 1.5" - 5.0" (38mm - 127mm) sq and any rectangle between 1.5" x 2.0" - 4.0" x 6.0" (102mm x 152mm). 

Great wall equipment supply professional and honest service.

From master coil to tubular products, Alliance Tubular Products offers an extensive selection of tubular products crafted to meet each customer's specific needs. 

Visit us online at AllianceTubularProducts.net. 

Pipe mills help to produce pipes and tubing with different diameters and shapes for various types of purposes, such as decoration or construction. They work by feeding in a sheet of material and rolling it continuously until the ends of the material are aligned with each other. At this point, the welding process joins the two ends together to form a pipe of the length required for each customer’s demands and requirements.
The main components of this type of machinery are usually the uncoiler, straightener, shear, forming section, fin pass section, welder, ID and/or OD scarfing, sizing section, cut-off, and stacker or runout table.

Each of the steps involved in the welding and pipe forming process is made possible by the upper and lower shaft that contains roller die tooling which forms the steel strip gradually into a round shape or square if it is a form square/weld square type of mill.

This process is known as the “flower arrangement”. At Piecsa, we can offer you a wide variety of machinery and consumables for your steel pipe production regardless of the needs and specifications you require.

A tube mill will consist of the following components:

• Forming section (Entry guides, Breakdown passes, Fin passes)
• Welding section
• Sizing section
• Cut-off section

How do I know if I need a new or refurbished Tube Mill?

We always receive this question, since at Piecsa we handle the best quality machinery, both new and refurbished, and sometimes our customers come with specific needs for their steel pipe productions.
We can help you to solve this doubt by asking you the following questions, which will help you to better understand your final decision when looking to buy a Tube Mill.

What is your budget?

• How fast do you need to get the new machinery?
• Do you need a specific warranty period?
• In what condition do you expect to receive your machinery?
• How long do you plan to use your equipment?
• How demanding are your company’s productions?

These questions are commonly asked when one of our customers is unsure of what decision to make when purchasing new equipment for their steel pipe production industry. If you also find yourself in this situation, do not hesitate to contact us, our specialists are ready to help you decide on the best option for your industry.

Today’s metal forming companies are transforming their productions in incredible ways with the new technologies that exist within the world of machines for formed steel and steel pipe productions. Steel pipes have very high strength capacity, as well as very high structural strength and exceptional integrity. Steel pipes help to reduce secondary operations in the processes and fields in which they are used, such as decoration and construction of residences and buildings. While there are benefits, there are also costs, which typically involve an investment in capital equipment and skilled people who know how to use the technology.

In the last image, we can appreciate what we call a “flower arrangement”. This is the typical way in which the tube mills shape the steel sheets in the rolling process. There are different machines for the different finishes that may be needed according to the specifications of their use, which are generally given by the customer who requests them.

When working with pipes that will not be circular, the rolling system used on them usually makes the desired shape before the welding process. Some people call this process “near-net-shape forming” and some others call it the “square-weld square process”. Once the shape has been formed on the pipe and welded, it is recommended to give the same pipe another pass to ensure that the desired shape has been well rolled, thus avoiding later problems with its durability and strength under pressure and use of the pipe.

Pass Configurations

Tube mills tend to have alternating driven forming pass and idle side pass patterns. These patterns tend to help alleviate springback from the previous forming pass.

This specialty pass progression has led tube mill builders to design systems with a given diameter range to have between five and nine driven forming passes, with their sister idle side passes. The actual pass count often is a function of the ratio of the workpiece diameter to the material thickness, material yield strength, as well as the minimum to maximum range for both material OD and thickness.

Welded roll forming mills tend to have mostly driven passes, though using idle side passes is becoming more common. Many factors come into play when determining the most robust pass count for stable welding. Pass counts depend not only on material wall thickness and yield strength, but also on the overall complexity of the shape to be formed. The pass count also depends on material movement during the process, as well as the experience of the roll tooling designer.

Which machine is better?

In the world of formed metal, there are many production possibilities, and these depend on the needs of each customer. Every day we face different requests depending on the use that will be given to steel pipes since they are one of the most requested materials in the world, used in thousands of architectural and construction projects.

We could say that for circular pipes, a simple pipe mill is the best option, the complicated part comes when our customers ask us for other solutions. What if you need to make a square or rectangular pipe? What if it needs pre-cut holes?

To find the ideal machinery for our productions, we must consider the key positive points and their areas of opportunity. Tube mills usually specialize in straightforward shapes, such as the simple round pipes we already know, but similar machines can do that job and even those that require rectangular, oval, or square shapes.

If you need pipes with shapes not as common as round, then a tube mill may not be the best option according to the needs of your productions since forming different shapes like the ones mentioned above will not be possible. However, with a welded roll forming mill you will be able to obtain these specific results satisfactorily.

Also, the outer radius of the shapes must be considered. In some cases, tube mills can reduce the thickness of the steel sheets up to two times, although it is not very common to happen.

Welded roll forming mills can have different tooling configurations that allow the radii of the pipes to be maintained at the required number. This has a lot to do with the way the machinery treats the material.

Consideration should be given to the consistency of the corner radius by measuring it from corner to corner on the roll-formed product.
Male and female roll engagement in welded roll form systems has another benefit: It helps produce consistent flat sides or features, with no crowning or other reshaping. Because tooling on a tube mill gives the workpiece no inside support, flat sides or features tend to reshape during the process and emerge from the tube mill with a crown.

Also take into account any pre-punching operations that a job might benefit from or require. Punching typically is not recommended on tube mills. This is because of inconsistencies with so-called round-to-shape material movement. It can be very difficult to “lock” the hole location in a round shape and then reshape it into a square, hoping the hole ends up in the correct position. Moreover, punched holes may warp during the reshaping phase.

Pre-punching in welded roll forming is usually better because it allows you to accurately locate hole features. The punched holes also tend to hold their shape during forming, if those holes are put in the right location. If the hole is near a corner, however, the hole shape still can change.

Finally, consider processing speed. This hinges mainly on pre-punching operations. Since pre-punching is not normally performed on tube mills, these mills have been designed to run up to 750 feet per minute (FPM), depending on the product OD and wall thickness. If a pre-punching job is running on a welded roll forming mill, processing speeds typically are 100 FPM or less, though they can be improved with special tooling like a rotary pierce tool, which looks like a roll with punches sticking out of it. These punch or pierce the material as the roll rotates. (Rotary piercing does have limits and may not work in some applications.)

If pre-punching is not required, then a welded roll forming system can process at the same speeds as a tube mill. To achieve and maintain these speeds, however, a welded roll form system needs some tube mill specialty equipment added, such as an accumulator and high-performance cutoff.

Now that you know more about this type of machine, you are ready to start choosing the right one for your steel pipe production. At Piecsa, we have everything your metal forming industry needs, from new and pre-owned machinery to consumables for those you have in stock or purchase from us.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit square tube mill manufacturer.