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Seamless Tubing

 

Utilizing Swagelok Seamless Tubing Solutions can Dramatically Improve Your Productivity

Utilizing Swagelok® seamless tubing solutions can dramatically improve your productivity. Tubing systems are fast to install, and bending tubing, rather than installing elbow fittings, can improve performance and reduce the number of connections in a system. Further, Swagelok® tube fittings are remakeable, which reduces the time required to maintain or modify systems. This means you can install more systems in less time, and re-allocate saved resources to other areas of your plant. If you are an engineer, manager, pipe fitter, or contractor who is feeling the squeeze of tight budgets, short staff, and increasing workloads, we have three words for you: simpler, safer, faster.

  • Simpler: In minutes, anyone in your facility can learn to assemble and install Swagelok tube fittings correctly the first time. Swagelok seamless tubing solutions eliminate the oils, sealants, dies, complicated equipment, fire boxes, air tests, and threaded alignment issues. Properly installed Swagelok tube fittings can eliminate leakage. This means rework and clean up are minimized.
  • Safer: Swagelok tube fittings will provide vibration-tolerant, leak tight seals to the working pressure of the tubing. Because seamless tubing systems use no heat or weld gases and are so simple and fast to install, they are well suited for installation in hazardous areas and confined spaces.
  • Faster: Using Swagelok seamless tubing solutions can dramatically improve productivity. Tube fittings are fast to install. Bending tubing reduces the number of connections in the system. Remakeable Swagelok fittings reduce the time to maintain or modify systems. This means you can install more systems in less time.

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Top Benefits of Swagelok Tubing

  • You need a fluid delivery component now: Our tubing is available and ready to ship in 10 and 20’ lengths.
  • Your system uses Swagelok tube fittings.
  • You store tubing on site: Custom stocking programs are available. Ask us about volume/bulk order discounts.
  • You want to minimize weight and cost. Since tubing is bendable, it can greatly reduce the number of mechanical connections.
  • You’re charged with simplifying plant maintenance: Seamless tubing systems can be assembled and disassembled quickly and easily. 
  • You require reliable performance even with high vibration and temperature swings.

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How Does Tubing Improve Performance of Tube Fittings? 

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You can create an engineered fluid system with reliable tubing and fittings. Swagelok tube fittings have a grip-type design that uses a unique “hinging and colleting” action to achieve optimal performance in three key areas:

  • Tube grip: Hinging colleting action provides more direct tube contact/gripping support.
  • Gas seal: Burnishing/polishing action of the front ferrule creates concentrated zones of contact on the tube and on the body bevel for a stronger seal.
  • Vibration resistance: The colleting region better isolates stress risers at the tube grip to resist bending, deflection, and vibration.

Other Key Components to Your Fluid System

Tubing and Swagelok Tube Fittings: Easy Installation Process

Quick assembly and reassembly using only standard wrenches make our fittings easy to install. Our expert training equips your workforce with essential skills for installing fittings across all your applications.

Swagelok tube fittings 1 in./25 mm and smaller can be installed quickly, easily, and reliably with simple hand tools. Over 1 in./25 mm sizes require use of a hydraulic swaging unit to swage the ferrules onto the tubing. The tube fitting instructions below are for illustrative purposes only. For complete installation instructions, including instructions when using a hydraulic swaging unit, please reference the Gaugeable Tube Fittings and Adapter Fitters catalog on swagelok.com.

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Step 1

Fully insert the tube into the fitting and against the shoulder; rotate the nut finger-tight.

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Step 2

Mark the nut at the 6 o’clock position.

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Step 3

While holding the fitting body steady, tighten the nut one and one-quarter turns to the 9 o’clock position.

The Advantages of Bendable Tubing for Your Fluid System

 

  • Fewer connections: Fewer individual components means a lighter system and a lower installation cost.

  • Time savings: Tube bends can save operators time by eliminating the need to cut, deburr, and install a new fitting for every simple directional change.

  • Less turbulence: Bends allow fluids to flow more easily than through a series of multiple fittings.

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One reason to choose tubing is because of its bendability and routing capabilities, which can help operators achieve more intricate and efficient fluid system design with fewer connection points.

Tubed systems are generally much more reliable than piped systems and significantly easier to maintain. Quality tube fittings consistently outperform threaded connections and are much easier to service when necessary. Tubed systems can utilize bends to reduce the number of connections. Fewer connections means fewer potential leak points and also reduces component costs. Tubing bends also create less pressure drop than pipe elbows. Less pressure drop and fewer leaks equals better system performance.  

Now that you're ready to add seamless tubing to your fluid system, look to Swagelok Minnesota | North Dakota | Appleton to fill all of your tubing needs. We offer:

  • 316 / 316L, 304 / 304L and other stainless steel alloys
  • Standard instrumentation tubing
  • 1/8 to 2 in. and 3 to 25 mm sizes
  • Ultrahigh-purity and high-purity tubing, chemically cleaned and passivated tubing, thermocouple-cleaned tubing
  • Marked to indicate size, material, specifications, and heat code

Tubing vs Piping

Many facilities depend on fluid delivery sent through piping systems. Unfortunately, cutting, welding, and threading hard pipe is not a quick process. It is both slow and labor intensive. A better alternative may be seamless tubing. Seamless tubing, instead of hard pipe, can greatly simplify installation and plant maintenance.

Seamless tubing has fewer connections, which equals fewer potential leak points. In addition, tubing is very adaptable and can be bent around many obstructions. Sharp bends and discontinuities of piping systems are not present in the gradual bends of a tubed system. 

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Better Strength to Weight Ratio

Full wall thickness of tubing is used in containing pressure since no threading is necessary. Threading reduces effective wall thickness in piping. The lighter weight of the tubing provides many benefits. Tubing is less expensive to transport, is easier to assemble, requires less support, and occupies less space.

In the tube illustration below, notice:  (1) Full wall thickness of tubing is used to contain pressure.
In the pipe illustration, however, notice: (2) Wall thickness needed to contain pressure; (3) Wall thickness of pipe that must be used; (4) Extra pipe wall thickness required for threading. 

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Lower Total Installed Cost

Seamless tubing can offer a significant reduction in time and labor. In fact, 74% of the overall installation costs can be saved by using tubing.* Consider this example, which illustrates how tubing can be more cost effective even with greater up front material costs:

 

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Additional Resources