Tube Expander Design & Usage
Erica Dzomba2023-06-06T16:00:26-05:00Choosing the right expander to suit your needs.
Choosing the right expander to suit your needs.
Tube Expanding is the art of reducing a tube wall by compressing the O.D. of the tube against a fixed container, such as rolling tubes into tube sheets, drums, ferrules or flanges. To assure a proper tube joint, the tube wall must be reduced by a predetermined percentage.
"Elliott’s 24 Series Tube Expanders have incredible tool life. Elliott’s 24 Series is saving me over a thousand dollars per month."
When installing heat exchanger tubes, it can be difficult to guide them through the support sheets or baffle holes. The best way to overcome this challenge is to use Elliott Tube Pilots.
For tube expanding it is desirable to roll the tube quickly as it prevents work hardening of the tube and less frictional heat is generated. The limiting factors in this balance of speed vs. power are voltage or pneumatic pressure. These either limit the speed or power being produced.
Tube rolling occurs when the tube rotates due to inadequate friction between the tube OD and the hole in the tube sheet. This can cause increased expansion times and decrease the efficiency of the operator. Increasing the friction between the tube and tube sheet and or collar the tube will not rotate within the tube sheet. Increasing the friction can be done using several different methods:
Learn how to quickly change out roll sets to avoid drops in productivity.
In order to obtain the best results and improve tool life, proper lubrication is necessary. There are many different types of lubricants designed to suit specific applications and operator preferences.
3 roll expanders often cover the widest range of tube sizes and work well in many different applications. However, there are circumstances where the 5-roll expander is the best option for the job.
Provided in the Elliott Tube Gauge kit is a setting ring, screw driver, and wrench. Indicated on the setting ring is the proper calibration diameter for the gauge.