ERW pipes

ERW stands for resistance welding. Resistance welding has the characteristics of high production efficiency, low cost, material saving, and easy automation. Therefore, it is widely used in aviation, aerospace, energy, electronics, automotive, light industry and other industrial sectors. It is one of the important welding processes.
Conclusion: modern ERW-HFI welded pipes are absolutely a valid alternative to seamless pipes and help end-users reduce prices and lead times between 20 and 25%.

Pipes are, with valve, the most impactful piping cost element in plant construction (as a rule of thumb, piping covers 5-7% of the total plant cost, and pipes represent circa 60 to 70% of this cost, valves 15 to 25%). These figures are average values that refer to the oil & gas industry and refer to carbon steel materials (theweight of piping may be higher for stainless steel, duplex, and nickel-alloys piping classes).
 

ERW PIPE PROS AND CONS

• Welded pipes are cheaper than seamless (ERW HFI type), as they are manufactured using steel coils as feedstock in less complex manufacturing plants
• Welded pipes have shorter lead times than seamless pipes, as the manufacturing base is larger
• Welded pipes have a consistent wall thickness, as they are manufactured using coils (ERW) or plates (LSAW), both subject to tight tolerance control
• The major “defect” attributed to welded pipes is that the presence of a weld seam constitutes a weakness factor. Whereas this may have been true in the past, this is becoming less and less true with the advances of the welding technologies in the last ten years.