Tuesday 23 February 2016

What are the Differences between Pipes and Tubes?

When thinking about pipe and tube fabrication, you may think that these two cylindrical structures are pretty much the same. However, this is not true. While these two components are similar in certain ways, they are completely different in other aspects. If you are looking at getting into pipe and tube fabrication, then this is one important difference you need to understand.

How to Differentiate between Pipes and Tubes

So what is the difference between pipes and tubes? Read the two points below to find out.
  • Pipes: A pipe is designed to provide transport gases or fluids. Common examples of fluids are water and oil. A pipe is determined by its inside diameter or ID. The ID helps determine the capacity of a pipe in an application. The ID is further determined by the pipe’s thickness or schedule. A pipe schedule and interior diameter differ greatly. For example, if you examined two schedule pipes of 2ʺ and 6ʺ, you would find the schedule of the 2ʺ pipe to be 154ʺ, while the schedule for the 6ʺ pipe would be 0.280ʺ.
  • Tubes: While pipes are used to transport fluids or gases, tubes are mainly used as structural pieces to construct different types of machines. Tubes are determined by their outside diameter or OD. According to ASTM, if the OD of a tube is 2ʺ, the accurate measurement would be 2.125ʺ, which is relatively close. Similar to pipes, the thickness of the tube determines its inner diameter. The thickness is referred to as gauge. For example, the wall thickness of 0.083ʺ of a 2ʺ pipe is gauge 14.

Secondary Differences between Pipes and Tubes Apart from these primary differences, there are some other aspects that are taken into consideration:
  • Generally, the tolerances of tubes are higher compared to pipes.
  • In terms of price, tubes are more expensive to produce than pipes.
These are the basic differences between pipes and tubes. Now you will be in a better position to choose the right structural product for your project. Happy fabricating!

Share This!


No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.