Tube & Pipe Fabrication

Tube and pipe fabrication produces cut, bent, and formed tubular components with controlled fit-up and repeatability, supporting lightweight structures and routed fluid or air paths.

Overview

Tube & pipe fabrication builds parts from round, square, or rectangular tubing by cutting to length, bending to shape, and forming ends or features for joining and function. Typical operations include tube cutting (saw, laser, abrasive, or CNC cut-to-length), tube bending (rotary draw, roll, compression), and tube forming (end forming, notching, swaging, beading, flaring). Assemblies often add welding, brazing, or mechanical joining plus secondary finishing.

Choose it when your part is fundamentally tubular: you need continuous flow paths, high stiffness-to-weight, or consistent routed geometry across builds. It fits prototyping through production, especially when standard tube sizes can be used.

Tradeoffs: bend radii, ovality, springback, and end-fit tolerances drive cost and risk; tight positional tolerances usually require good fixturing and clear datums. Complexity in multi-plane bends, difficult alloys, and heavy wall thickness increases lead time and scrap sensitivity.

Common Materials

  • Mild steel
  • Stainless steel 304
  • Stainless steel 316
  • Aluminum 6061
  • Copper
  • Titanium Grade 2

Tolerances

±0.010" to ±0.030" (cut length), ±0.5° to ±1.0° (bend angle), ±0.030" to ±0.060" (bend location/true position; depends on length and bend count)

Applications

  • Hydraulic hard lines
  • Exhaust and intake tubing
  • Handrails and guardrails
  • Roll cages and chassis tubes
  • Heat exchanger coils
  • Conduit and protective frames

When to Choose Tube & Pipe Fabrication

Pick tube & pipe fabrication when the functional geometry is a tube: routed lines, structural frames, or passages that need strength with low weight. It’s a strong fit when you can design around standard tube sizes and bend radii and want repeatable formed parts from simple stock. Works well from low-volume prototypes to higher-volume runs once bend programs and fixtures are proven.

vs CNC machining

Choose tube & pipe fabrication when the part can be made from standard tube stock with bends and end features instead of being milled from solid. You’ll usually reduce material cost and cycle time while keeping weight down, at the expense of tighter prismatic tolerances and flat datum surfaces.

vs Welded sheet metal fabrication

Choose tube & pipe fabrication when you need closed-section stiffness, clean routed geometry, or internal flow paths without seam welding. Tube also reduces part count for frames that would otherwise be multiple sheet components, but limits you to available tube profiles and bend constraints.

vs Metal casting

Choose tube & pipe fabrication when you need hollow flow geometry or lightweight structural members without tooling investment. It supports faster iteration and easier late-stage changes, while casting is better for thick, complex near-net shapes when dedicated tooling is justified.

vs Metal 3D printing (DMLS/SLM)

Choose tube & pipe fabrication for long, simple tubular geometry where standard sizes and bends can hit requirements economically. Additive makes sense for compact manifolds, internal lattices, or highly integrated fittings; tube fabrication wins on cost and throughput for conventional routed tubes.

vs Extrusion (aluminum)

Choose tube & pipe fabrication when you can buy existing tube and need cut/bent/formed features rather than a custom cross-section. Extrusion is better when the profile itself is unique and volumes support die cost; tube fabrication is better for shape changes along length and multi-plane routing.

Design Considerations

  • Specify tube OD/ID, wall thickness, and material grade using standard sizes; nonstandard tube drives lead time and cost
  • Call out bend radii and allowable ovality/wrinkle limits; tight cosmetic or flow requirements may need mandrel bending
  • Define a clear datum scheme for bend location and end orientation (clocking); avoid ambiguous ‘overall shape’ callouts
  • Minimize multi-plane bends and tight bend-to-bend spacing; they increase setup complexity and collision risk
  • Design end forms and notches around standard tooling and realistic straight lengths near ends for clamping
  • Provide a 3D model with centerline, cut lengths, and bend table (angle, radius, rotation, order) to quote accurately