Orbital Welding Stainless Steel Pipe

Typically only 316l stainless steel tubing not pipe and fittings are used for automatic orbital gta welding and are obtained from a number of specialty manufacturers.

Orbital welding stainless steel pipe. In most cases the tubes are made of austenitic stainless steel but nickel alloys as well as titanium and its alloys can also be found. Stainless steel is the best material considering life cycle cost sanitation and physical properties such as strength for the water system operator. I know nothing about orbital welding other than it costs a lot for the equipment. They exhibit the excellence that german machines are famed for including high precision robust designs powerful drives and ease of operation.

The weld quality depends upon having a reasonably clean source of argon for backing and shielding gas. Each unit has 7 6 pipe welds 25 4 pipe welds and 19 3 pipe welds. The term orbital is based on the latin word orbis which means to circle. Orbital welding equipment to weld regular and multilayer high chromium steel for power generation boilers stainless steel for nuclear power generation equipment inconel alloy and other high alloy steels and thick wall stationary pipes.

Successful orbital welding is also dependent upon using high quality tubing material. The pipe is sch 10 316 stainless steel. The combination of orbital and welding refers to a process by which the welding arc travels circumferentially orbiting around a stationary workpiece typically a stainless steel tube or pipe. 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 elemental sulfur.

The job that has prompted this inquiry has the potential for 2 units a month for the foreseeable future. As a result the company decided to integrate stainless steel into its systems and use orbital welding equipment wherever possible.