Tube expanders are of various types, which are manufactured by experienced engineers. Actually, tube expander is used for fixing and moulding tube sheets, such as; boilers and condensers.
What are the various parts of tube expander? And what are their uses?
- Roller: The prime work of roller is to facilitate plastic deformation in the tube. The roller is ‘tapered’ shape, and its tip has R-shaped chamfer. The R-shape at the tip of the tube helps in treatment and precision grinding.
- Mandrel: This specific part of tube expander tools is utilized in rotating the roller through contact friction. It is also ‘Tapered’ shape and needs to be pressure and abrasion resistant.
- Frame: Frame prevents falling, and provides feed angle to the groove.
- Bearing collar: the Bearing collar is also attached with Tube expander. It helps in achieving the effective length of the roller.
What are the various types of tube expansion?
Tube expansion is categorized into two types. “Parallel tube expansion” and “Flare tube expansion”.
- Parallel tube expansion: It is generally used for the expansion of heat exchangers, boilers, steam condenser etc. It uses the MB-type, CB-type, and HB-type of tube expander.
- Flare tube expansion: It expands tube and gives a flat shape to the end of the tube. And it uses the BK-type (BKC type) of Tube expanders.
Generally, most of the Tube expander tools are built from alloy steel and are heat treated.
Explain the construction of tube expander in details.
Most of the Tube expanders are generally feeding and parallel rolling types. And rolls generally do have a radius on both the side and helps in avoiding rigidity inside the tube.
The tube can be of various size, and the term tube O.D means the outside diameter of a tube. Tube Gauge is made up of B.W.G (Birmingham wire gauge), which is of the same thickness as a tube.
You can buy tube expander online as there are many tube expander manufacturers in India being available online. One such online site of India is
Tube Expanders provide best tube expander tools, bolting tools, spring tools etc at a reasonable rate. You can also buy impact sockets, bundle extractors from this online firm.
You can also buy them from nearby stores. After buying tube expander, you need to take extra care of them to prevent rust. Tube expanders need a reasonable amount of care for the long, durable and trouble-free suggestion.
- You should always remove rust and other dust, and foreign particles from both inside and outside of the tube
- Always wash the expander in the commercial solvent, before using it. It would help you remove dirt and grease.
- You should always apply a lubricant such as; TECO ‘Lube-a-tube’. It is a water-soluble lubricant and helps in tube rolling. TECO ‘Lube-a-tube’ can also be mixed with water to the desired consistency.
- Never leave a residue of light on the inside of tube expander tools which would help you prevent pressure tight joint.
- After using tube expander do not forget to wash them thoroughly with a commercial solvent, and light oil.