Steel pipes are ubiquitous and can be found underground and within residential walls, laboratories, and commercial and industrial structures. The pipes transport fluids including water, natural gas, waste and air. Three manufacturing methods exist to produce steel pipes. Seamless steel pipes are produced using an extrusion mold. Welded steel pipes are produced by rolling a sheet of steel into a tube and welding the seam.

The seamless steel pipe manufacturing process starts with a solid, round steel billet. This billet is then heated to great temperatures and stretched and pulled over a form until it takes the shape of a hollow tube. As other steel pipe suppliers will tell you, there are three great advantages to making a pipe in this way.

Increased Pressure Ratings

The greatest advantage of seamless steel pipes is their increased ability to withstand pressure. The weakest point in a welded steel pipe is the welded seam. But because a seamless steel pipe has not been welded, it doesn’t have that seam, making it equally strong around the entire circumference of the pipe.

It is also much easier to determine pressure calculations without being required to take weld quality into consideration.

Although seamless pipe can sometimes be more expensive than welded pipe, this increased ability to withstand pressure allows you to use pipes that are thinner and lighter, which can help cut down on expenses.

Uniformity of Shape

Because welded seam pipe is wrapped around another form before it is welded, and because welding adds heat, stress and other extraneous variables to the forming process, it can never be as round as seamless steel pipe.

Seamless steel pipe is a continuous extrusion of the alloy, meaning that it will have a round cross section that you can count on, which is helpful when you’re installing pipes or adding fittings.