The steel bending business is heating up this summer at Chicago Metal Rolled Products. In an effort to continue supplying exceptional quality steel bending services to our customers with a strong focus on diversity of bending capabilities, we have expanded to include induction bending for a number of steel products. Offering heated induction bending as well as our traditional cold bending products enables CMRP to provide even more options to match our customers’ bent steel needs.
One particular area of improvement is with tight radial bends on larger pipe and tube sizes. 90 degree elbow bends are a frequent need for many industries. An issue that can come up with this type of elbow bend is deformation of the cross section, particularly when the wall thickness is thin. Round pipe or tube can suffer from increased ovality or a rippled look. Induction bending allows for reducing the deformation issues of that cross-section by heating the material at the bending point until it reaches a more pliable consistency before beginning the bending process. As it is bent, the material is immediately cooled with jets of water which helps lock-in the newly bent profile.
Traditional cold-bending to a similar radius would often require custom tooling for the pipe size and radius desired. Induction bending allows for some increased flexibility and interchangeability of tooling. This is helping CMRP to reduce costs and improve turnaround time on many jobs for their customers. In some cases, we are able to offer expediting or next-day service on induction bending depending on the dimensions of product needed.
Availability of induction bending is possible for most sizes and bends up to 12” pipe and square tube for 3D and 5D bends. For example, CMRP can bend 10” sch40 pipe to a 30” centerline radius for use in large pipe bollards. If you have a particular product need that might require induction bending, speak with an estimator who can answer questions regarding capabilities of this new service.
