Rectangular and square tube manipulation is fairly common, but can be wrought with many challenges. The structure of the tubing being hollow makes it more likely to create distortion problems like shrinkage, growth, and oil canning.

Bending and manipulating square tubes is more difficult than bending round ones. Rounded tube can be more easily fully encapsulated with the bending dies than square ones. This remains true for whatever machine used. It is vital that the parts to be oriented are communicated exactly with the roller/bender and fabricator. This is especially important for tubes being used in construction as there are health and safety regulations to follow.

There are preventative measures that can be taken which to help reduce the risk of oil concavity and canning, including increasing the tube wall thickness. For carrying this out you must take into consideration the weight increase, and how it will affect your application.

It is just as important to project expectations when the tube or pipe is being used as a component for equipment and machinery. So for example, a few original equipment manufacturers prefer to make the inside radius of a bent part concave. Using this design actually makes the steel part stronger in this instance.

If information and expectations are communicated clearly, many problems can be prevented. Any expected issues that can be resolved ahead of time will make projects better timed, more cost effective, and less frustrating.

Sharing the necessary technical information with Multiform Tubes, such as radius, arc length, orientation, and end use will make expectations go a long way. You can be assured that our methods and services will produce high quality finished products; we are extremely knowledgeable about tube manipulation after-all.

If you require our services for finishing square or rectangular tubing, please get in contact with us today. We can cater for a variety of applications and always focus on delivering outstanding accuracy.