Stainless Steel Slotted Tube | Special Metal Alloys

Special Metal Alloys has been a leading supplier of the widest variety of special metal alloy products including stainless steel slotted tube.

Our products are designed to suit your every need, whatever the industry or application, and we’ve been supplying them for more than three decades.

Together with our many stainless steel and mill partners around the world, the inventory includes the highest-quality stainless steel tubes and pipes in a comprehensive selection of surface finishes, slot configurations, sizes, thicknesses, and lengths, custom cut by laser to your specifications.

Our range of sizes of stainless steel slotted tube has been developed and manufactured to precision, using the best materials and the latest technology and equipment.

We can supply any quantity anywhere in the world with the shortest lead times and will handle all your logistics, up to on-site delivery.

What is a stainless steel slotted tube?

Stainless steel slotted tube is manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, featuring different arrangements and shapes of slots or grooves pressed or cut along the length of the same, stainless steel tube, for diverse applications in virtually all industries.

Depending on their purpose and application, the slots serve to improve structural integrity, allow for air, gas, and water flow, facilitate the creation of architectural and decorative railings and screens, and construct filtration systems.

Stainless steel slotted tubing has far greater durability; resistance to corrosion; structural, load bearing, tensile, and compression strength; and aesthetic appeal than traditional steel or galvanised iron tubes, making it highly suitable for harsh conditions and pleasing design purposes.

How are stainless steel slotted tubes manufactured?

Slots of different shapes and sizes are pressed into the surface, along the length, of either seamless or welded stainless steel tubes, in different arrangements, using a cold-rolled process.

Starting with either coils or straight sections of stainless steel tube or pipe, the central axis is straightened by pulling, whereafter the grooves are pressed into the surface employing extrusion in the desired mould configuration and cut to the desired lengths. As a last step, the surface will be refined to the appropriate finish.

Properties of stainless steel slotted tube

Stainless and stainless steel slotted tubes have become vital in almost any industrial and commercial application thanks to their outstanding properties, which include

· Excellent resistance to pitting, crevice corrosion, stress corrosion, and surface corrosion,

· Outstanding, structural, tensile and compressive strength,

· Ability to endure extreme temperatures.

· Resistance to chemicals and harsh conditions,

· Ease of installation,

· Versatility,

· Diverse slot shapes, patterns, sizes, and arrangement

Which industries use stainless steel slotted tubes?

Although not the most common item, almost every industry uses stainless steel slotted tubes in some form or fashion in specialist applications, requiring outstanding precision and the ability to resist heat, pressure, corrosion, compression, loads, and destructive elements like chemicals, acids, or salt.

Stainless steel slotted tubes have a much larger surface than other shapes of tube or pipe, which is important in heat dispersion. The slots are used for transporting and/or filtering liquids, gas, oil, and chemicals in specialised conditions. They are much stronger and more efficient than ordinary tubes or pipes and even have a larger section strength coefficient than solid parts of the same bulk, saving on weight and cost in machinery, building structures, missiles, airframes, and a myriad of other specialised applications.

Here are some examples of how stainless steel slotted tube is used in various industries

Modern Architecture and decoration for frameless channel systems, spigot systems, glass handrails, balustrades, heavy-duty curtain frames, lighting fixtures, furniture, and interior and exterior decorative works.
Petroleum oil & gas industries use them to line drilled oil wells, as sieves for particles, and they are also used for sand control and hydraulic fracturing screens.
Electronics where weight-to-strength ratios and heat dispersion are important.
Advanced construction for structural strength, diffusers, ventilation, facades, and partition screens.
Chemical Industries for processing filters, separator screens and special-purpose pipelines.
Plumbing for specialist pipelines.
Aeronautical and space industry for airframe structures and aircraft parts.
Food and beverage processing for HVAC ducts, filtration, drainage
Pharmaceuticals industry for transporting liquids, solvents, and process liquids; to interconnect process equipment such as reactors, mixers, sterilisers, and storage vessels.
Power plants for heat exchangers, and oil and gas pipelines.
The water supply industry uses them for filters, drainage, water well screens, and sewerage treatment.
Defence industry for fittings, fasteners, and structural components.

Types and shapes of stainless steel slotted tube

The stainless steel slotted tubing is available in round, rectangular, square and oval shapes, in either coils or straight sections, mainly from tubes created in type 304 and type 316 grade stainless steel.

The slots in tubes are available in a large variety of sizes and shapes precisely formed, including square, round, oval, trapezoidal, and even curved. They can be cut in various sizes and depths along the length of the tube in longitudinal, spiral, straight, or staggered slots. Slots in tubes can also be cut perpendicular, with the cross-section either parallel or trapezoidal. The tubes can have a variety of slot arrangements, from a single slot to different patterns of any number of slots required for a specialist application.

Benefits of using stainless steel slotted tube

Some of the main benefits of using stainless steel slotted pipe include the following:

· The exceptional precision of its dimensions.

· Its versatility.

· Its corrosion and chemical resistance make it highly durable and long-lasting in unforgiving environments.

· Its enhanced heat and fire resistance makes it possible to withstand high temperatures without losing its structural integrity or shape.

· It is relatively easy to install accurately, reducing installation time and labour costs.

· Its tensile, compressive, yield and shear strength are considerably higher than almost any other material that can be used for the same purpose.

· Its aesthetics is unmatched by other alloys or metals.

· It can be used internally, externally, underground, under the sea, in machinery, and almost anywhere else you can conceive.

To get the full benefit of using stainless steel slotted pipe, it is imperative that you meticulously consider factors such as the material, size, thickness, shape, type and size of the seam, slot size and shape, and the pattern or configuration of the slots.

Finishes

Depending on its application, a stainless steel slotted tube can be finished with a satin, mirror polish, hairline, matte, mill finish, or brushed appearance.

Accessories

A large variety of accessories and fittings are available, including a swivel joiner, adjustable angle bend, rail-to-rail joiner, wall flange, end cap, 90-degree bend, and rubber gasket.

Contact Us

Special Metal Alloys are leading metal tube suppliers and we are globally renowned for our extensive knowledge and unprecedented contacts. We provide professional solutions to the aerospace, nuclear engineering, chemical, petroleum, architectural, construction and heat-treating materials industries.

Contact us for a quote online, call +44 (0)161 278 2386 or email sales@specialmetalalloys.co.uk