ERW tubing comes in handy for a multitude of jobs. As a result, you’ll want to make sure you have ones that are up to standard. By working with us, you can work with confidence knowing you have suitable products at your fingertips. After all, we’ve spent years supplying clients with the top ERW steel tubes West Midlands has to offer.
Are you questioning why your tubes are corroding from the outside? There are actually many reasons why it can occur. Some factors include environmental conditions, poor installation, and tubing material. To understand what causes the issue, please continue reading.
Weather damage
Earthquakes, hot temperatures, or rainstorms can break your tubes. Apart from these conditions, the weather plays a part in causing external corrosion too. It can occur particularly when you have tubing systems installed outside. It’s true that this does happen over a long period of time. Yet, things can speed up without proper care or maintenance.
Atmospheric corrosion happens thanks to the humidity, rain, dew, or fog in the environment. The air pressure and temperature in the encircling area can influence it as well. The hotter the air, the more materials can corrode. To defend your tubes, figure out ways to stop condensation. You can also use protective coatings or inhibitors.
Environmental conditions
The environment you install your tubes in is a vital factor in exterior tube corrosion. This issue often manifests when you position the tubing in seawater, soil, and local marine settings. For instance, tubes in or near the sea come in contact with saltwater. It can harm the exterior part of the tube, slowly eating the metal and weakening it.
Thankfully, coating technologies exist that can protect tube from corrosion. So, let us know if you need the greatest ERW steel tubes West Midlands has. They can include galvanisation to help protect the metal.
Stray currents
Tubes installed underground can become corroded as well. This is if there is a stray current flowing in the soil. What it does is influence the safety and service life of the tubing systems. Additionally, it can corrode other metallic structures that you bury. Think storage tanks and tunnels. Stray current sources include grounded DC electrical sources and electric welding machines.
To halt the corrosion, you firstly need to pinpoint the source. Examine and preserve insulation and electrical connections to stop the leakage of the current.
Insulation problems
Insulating can offer an efficient barrier to defend tubes against issues like moisture. But, improper materials can fail. The result will be condensed area humidity that leads to exterior tube corrosion. Since it’s hidden from view, the problem can endure for years and wreck the entire system.
If you realise your insulation is wet, it’s a sign there is something wrong with the tubing. When you find this issue early, you can still rectify the degradation. Replace your insulation with materials capable of supplying superior moisture protection.
Contact with other metals
Galvanic corrosion happens when two kinds of metals are immersed in a corrosive solution. One metal corrodes rapidly while the other remains unaffected or protected. This can happen when using a connector or valve that is a different metal to the main tube.
To stop it, opt for metals that have similar corrosion potentials. You can also break the connection by adding insulation on the tubes or using a spacer. Consider applying coatings on the tube as well.
Microorganisms
Things like fungi and bacteria can result in corrosion with tubes. Even though they don’t directly cause the damage, they can hasten and change mechanisms. Their by-products can lead to under-deposit, crevice corroding, or pitting in metals. The effect is usually seen in tube in soils, sewage, seawater, process chemicals, freshwater, and crude oils. Due to these, there are many industries that experience microbiologically influenced corrosion.
You can mitigate the issue via maintenance, exterior coatings, and chemical treatment. Material selection is also critical here. Some aren’t vulnerable to it.
Order quality ERW steel tubes in the West Midlands quickly
At Union Steel Tubes, we provide quality merchandise and we get it to you quickly. Stock items normally get delivered the next day. As for urgent orders, we can offer same-day delivery. There is so much range and scope on offer here too that you won’t want to go anywhere else for tube.
So, if you need the foremost ERW steel tubes West Midlands has, please let us know. We’ll give you great products for even better prices.
