Made of high-alloy steel 08X18N10 seamless stainless steel pipe is one of the standard representatives of the group of varieties of special-purpose ferrous rolled metal products. To obtain the raw material for the production of these products, a number of operations are carried out in several stages during the smelting process in order to improve any technical characteristics of the final product. The most important of these are:
- Thorough cleaning of the melt from excess carbon, as well as traces of sulfur and phosphorus. All of the listed non-metals, even in negligible quantities, increase the brittleness of the alloy, leading to the appearance of microcracks in parts under certain mechanical or thermal influences, which violate the integrity of the products, which entails their destruction or depressurization.
- To protect the metal from the effects of aggressive substances, about 18% of chromium is introduced into the composition, allowing a thin, dense film of its oxide to be obtained on the surface. It itself does not react with acids, alkalis, salts, hydrocarbons and the vast majority of other chemical compounds and forms an insurmountable barrier between them under normal conditions and iron, which is unable to resist their influence.
- Nickel, which is included in the composition in the amount of 10%, provides the alloy with high temperature stabilization of the crystal lattice, making it low susceptibility to thermal overloads both under strong heating and in conditions of extreme cold.
All the listed measures to improve individual qualities of seamless stainless steel pipes 08Х18Н10 require significant financial costs, so these products have a fairly high price. For this reason, their use for installation of heating, water supply and gas distillation general-purpose systems is not economically feasible, since the initial costs during the operating period are not recouped by the benefits obtained as a result. For this reason, this material is mainly used where cheaper analogs simply cannot be used. First of all, cryogenic steel is useful in the creation of various refrigeration equipmentor pipelines for pumping liquefied gases.
Analogues and substitutes for seamless stainless steel pipe 08Х18Н10
For the production of heat exchangers for boiler units, a more suitable material is seamless stainless steel pipe 10Х23Н18, for the production of which steel with an even higher content of nickel and chromium is used. Increasing their quantity allows more effective resistance to the impact of hot gases on the outer surface of the walls. During operation, they retain their inherent high strength and resistance to chemical reagents, so they do not deform under pressure and do not change their thickness. Due to the presence of the listed properties, in addition to boiler units, they are used to create synthesis columns, reactors and other components of equipment for chemical plants and laboratories.
To obtain a solid-drawn wall of seamless stainless steel pipes, during their formation on rolling mills, it is necessary to spend a lot of energy to create the necessary forces, as well as to spend resources on reprocessing the resulting waste. This circumstance also contributes to the growth of the cost price, therefore, when solving simpler problems, in order to save money, it is quite reasonable to replace this type of ferrous rolled metal with cheaper analogs.
Profile welded stainless steel pipe
It is very often used as a construction material for the creation of commercial, medical and food industry equipment welded stainless steel profile pipe. A much less expensive technology for its production, a reduction in the content of alloying elements, as well as a change in the geometric shape of the cross section make it cheaper and suitable for assembling frames, gratings, frames, trusses and other metal structures of various configurations.
Flat oval stainless steel pipe
It is widely used for the arrangement of recreation areas in park areas, public transport stops, sports and children's playgrounds, as well as for the manufacture of turnstiles and other devices used when people gather flat oval stainless steel pipe. Just like the round one, it has a smooth surface without corners, which helps prevent injuries from impacts, but the presence of two parallel flat areas provides it with sufficient rigidity in one of the transverse directions to effectively resist bending. Also, the latter feature can be useful in some methods of assembling the structure.