Seamless tubes

Superior quality steel forms the base

Ovako is a fully integrated steel producer. We control the wholechain of production, from melting the steel to the finish rolling oftubes as well as cold-working and production of pre-components.

A fundamental requirement of a special steel producer is that thesteel’s properties are consistent from delivery to delivery.

The basis of consistent quality is in the production process itself.A strong indicator of superior quality is the oxygen content of thesteel. This directly reflects the amount of oxide particles containedin the steel and the lower the oxygen content, the cleaner thesteel. The low levels of oxygen content attained by Ovako areunique. No producer makes cleaner steel than we do,consistently from heat to heat.

Another equally important criterion for quality is that the steelis made to close composition tolerances to obtain consistentproperties and good reproducibility.

Our objective is to be a true partner with our customers,from both a technical and business point of view.

Our technical specialists are dedicated to working closely withour customers’ technical specialists. This allows us to optimisethe use of steel both from a product and a productionperspective. We can develop new and better steels,tailor-make products and improve machinabilityand heat treatment responses.

Experience and modern technologysecure the finishOvako is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of seamlesstubes for the bearing industry. Furthermore we are an importantsupplier of tubes to the engineering and automotive industries.

Tubes are available in hot-rolled or cold-worked condition. Cold-worked tubes are either cold-rolled or cold-drawn. We also supplyhot-rolled peeled tubes, as well as cold-rolled or drawn centerlessground tubes. A large number of our customers have alreadyseen the advantage in having tubes cut to their part length,by us. This cutting is achieved using cost efficient high speedcutting units.

To satisfy the requirements and expectations of the industry, ourtubes have very well-defined properties resulting from our steelmaking and modern precision rolling techniques. A comprehen-sive quality system combined with the competence and wideexperience of our employees contribute to the high quality ofour products.

We aim to achieve zero defects in our production. We have in-vested in modern inspection equipment that is integrated intoour processes to reduce human error to a minimum.

Examples of such investments are laser equipment for measuringof the outer diameter of the tubes, and gamma ray equipmentfor continuously measuring the tube wall thickness. Ultrasoniccontrol of wall thickness and eddy current testing for detectionof surface cracks are other examples.

To supplement the automatic inspection facilities,our operatives also carry out manual checks andfollow-up operations using numerical techniquesand tools such as Statistical Process Control (SPC)and Measurement System Analysis (MSA).

Outer diameter and wall tolerance

Execution Size range OD tolerance Wall tolerance

Hot-rolled OD ≤ 80 mm ± 0.4 mmtube OD > 80 mm ± 0.5 % of OD

Wall < 12 mm ± 0.7 mmWall ≥ 12 mm ± (5 % x wall

thickness + 0.1 mm)

Hot-rolled All sizes + 0.25/– 0 mmpeeled tube Wall < 12 mm ± 0.8 mm

Wall ≥ 12 mm ± (5 % x wallthickness + 0.2 mm)

Cold-worked OD < 40 mm + 0.30/– 0 mm*tube OD 40 – (80) mm + 0.35/– 0 mm*cold-rolled or OD 80 – + 0.40/– 0 mm*cold-drawn) Wall < 6 mm ± 0.30 mm

Wall 6 – (8) mm ± 0.35 mmWall 8 – ± 0.40 mm

* Heat treatment after cold-working alters these tolerances.

Machining allowanceIn most cases we sell a tube for a specific application.To support this all tubes are delivered with a guaran-teed finish machined size. The entire size range isdesigned to give a minimum of machining allowancesso as to enable clean cylindrical ring dimensions in asingle cut, whether with inner or outer centering,on a maximum ring length of 2,5 x OD.

TolerancesThe level of a machining allowance is calculated fromthe tube tolerances.

To support our small machining allowance Ovako havevery tight tolerances across the entire size range,both with regard to outer diameter and wall thickness,as well as other parameters such as straightness andovality.

In practice, this means less machining and better yieldfor the user, and by that lower component productioncosts.

OD/Wall toleranceAs shown in the table to the right.

StraightnessThe maximum deviation from the straight line is1 mm on a gauge length of 1000 mm.

OvalityThe maximum out-of-roundness is 65% of the totalouter diameter tolerance.

LengthsTubes can be delivered with random manufacturinglength or to fix length with tight tolerances.

Delivery executions

Tube endsAll tubes are supplied with clean, square cut ends.Deburring and/or chamfering can be carried out onrequest.

Tube surfaceTubes are supplied normally without anti-corrosivetreatment, but anti-corrosive treatment is availableand is carried out on request.

Hot-rolled Hot-rolled Cold-workedpeeled (incl. ground)

Lengths 4-9 m 1.8-9 m 1.8-6 m

Hot-rolled tubes, cold-worked tubes

Size ranges

54

50

46

42

38

34

30

26

22

18

14

10

6

225 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

Wal

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ickn

ess

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Outer diameter (mm)

PackagingTubes are bundled as standard, with steel straps intohexagonal bundles with one end flush.

Length sorting can be carried out on request. Tubes canalso be bundled in multiples. Bundle weights are adjustedas requested by the customer. Each bundle contains tubesfrom a single cast/heat only.

MarkingEach tube is marked with tube type, heat number, steelgrade and size. Information is repeated along thewhole length of the tube. Other markings, such asstamping, can be made on request.

Bundles are also labeled with a tag having info bothalphanumeric and by bar code.

Standard length tolerances*

Component length (mm) OD 30-100 mm OD 100-254 mm

10-100 + 1.0/– 0 + 2.0/– 0100-600 + 2.0/– 0 + 3.0/– 0600-1200 + 3.0/– 0 + 4.0/– 0

1200-5000 + 5.0/– 0 + 6.0/– 0

* Tighter tolerances are available in special machines

Pre-components

An ever-increasing trend in industry is to buy pre-machined or completely finished components. Ovakohas recognised this and invested in the resources re-quired to manufacture components, in particular thesupply of cut blanks, and pre-components such aschamfered blanks and sleeves.

Our production systems are designed to respond toboth short lead times and product optimisation tosatisfy our customers requirements. The equipmentis flexible and able to handle small quantity shortruns as well as long-run mass-production batches.

With wide experience of different types of applications,and a thorough knowledge of our products, Ovako isuniquely able to find an alternative solution best suitedto meet every individual requirement.

Production programmeThe diameter, tolerances and surface finish ofcomponent are the same as those stated for thefull length tube.

Outer diameter: 30-254 mm

Lengths: 10-5000 mm

Cut rings can be delivered shot blasted on request.

Chamfering can be done at fixed lengths, max length350 mm, max OD 130 mm and max weight 3.5 kg.

Deviations from square cut are within the toleranceabove, albeit limited to the following values:

Deviations from square cut are to be maximum 1.0%of OD. Deviations from square cut determine thetolerance when the deviation exceed the tolerance.

Delivery execution

PackingThe components are supplied, packed in collaredpallets, arranged randomly or stacked, either un-protected or wrapped in waxed paper or plasticshrink-wrapped, depending on the method oftransport. Customer specific packing specificationscan also be met.

Labelling & MarkingMaterial delivered direct from our mill is labeled inaccordance with automotive standard, ie with bothalphanumeric and bar code information. Customerspecific data can be added on request.

Quality, service and material

QualityTo support our daily work to maintain and improve ourquality and environment we have a number of formalquality system approvals. These are, for our generalquality assurance ISO 9000 and ISO/TS 16949 specifi-cally for automotive industry requirements.

To support our internal and external Environmental,Health and Safety (EHS) work we are approvedaccording to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

Copies of our certificates may be found and downloaded on our website.

Standard items and stock programmeIn production we have some requirements on mini-mum batch size and lead time. As a service to ourcustomers we have standard tube programmesoffering smaller order quantities and shorter leadtime than what we require on a production batch.

A minimum quantity of a standard item is 1 ton,delivered on a lead time much shorter thanproduction lead time.

Ovako has two such standard programmes, bothhave the tubes stocked at our mill as well as at someof our sales companies and appointed distributors.

One standard programme is in bearing steel grades,covering roughly 350 tube sizes from OD 30to 205 mm. Will be increased to OD 250 mm.

The other programme is a carbon holllow barprogramme, in grade Ovako 280. Based on thestandard EN 10294. We keep roughly 250dimensions in stock from OD 30 to 250 mm.

Both the bearing steel tube and the hollow bar"Ovako 280" programme is based on the tightmachining allowances. For each item we showa guaranteed finished turned size for either inneror outer chucking

More detailed information on our standard stockprogrammes is available on our websitewww.ovako.com

Steel grades and heat treatmentWe are not only supplying a piece of steel in a tubularshape, but also supporting the need of materialproperties in your application. To make this possiblewe have a number of steel grades in our productionprogramme. And a menu of heat treatment processesto get the most out of each steel grade.

In the table to the right you find a variety of steel gradeswe can produce. The specific heat treatments we have inhouse are:

• Normalising

• Soft /Spheroidize annealing

• Stress relieve annealing

• Isothermal /Step annealing

• Controlled cooling for case hardening steels

• Quench and tempering

A comment to the Quench & Tempering is that it ismade in an induction heating unit giving very little scaleand other surface problems. The OD and wall toleranceare from both the as rolled tolerance and the inductiveprocess very tight. Please see the table below. It isfurthermore giving better mechanical properties thanconventional batch process with quenching in oil baths.And from environmental view we also avoid all theproblems with such oils.

OD tolerance ± 7.5% of ODHot-rolled Q&T tubes ( minimum ± 0.6 mm)

Wall tolerance ± 7.5% of WallHot-rolled Q&T tubes ( minimum ± 0.8 mm)

Straightness Hot-rolled Q&T tubesStandard: max 2 mm deviation from straight linemeasured over 1 m length.

Special: max 1 mm deviation from straight linemeasured over 1 m length.

Standard steel grades (examples)

EN BS SAE DIN W.Stoff AFNOR SS

Through hardening bearing steelsOvako 803 100Cr6 534A99 52100 100Cr6 1.305 100C6 2258Ovako 824 100CrMo7 100CrMo7 100CD6

High strength low alloyed steelsOvako 280 E 470 17MnV6 20MV6Ovako 281 E 470 20MnV6 20MV6

Case hardening steelsOvako 146 18NiCr5-4 637M17 18NiCr-4 20NC6 2512Ovako 152 20NiCrMo4 805M20 8620 21NiCrMo2 1.6523 15NCD2 2506Ovako 234 16MnCr5 16MnCr5 1.7131 16MC5 2127

Hardening and tempering steelsOvako 047 C45E 080M46 1045 Ck45 1.1191 XC45 1672Ovako 322 25CrMo4 4130 25CrMo4 1.7218 25CD4 2225Ovako 323 34CrMo4 708A37 4135 34CrMo4 1.7220 35CD4 2234Ovako 326/327 42CrMo4 709M40 4140 42CrMo4 1.7225 42CD4 2244Ovako 356 34CrNiMo6 817M40 4337 34CrNiMo6 1.6582 35NCD6 2541

In this chart you will find the steel designations ofOvako, and equivalent international designations.An exact comparison is often difficult to make, theexamples shown should therefore be considered asa guideline only.

For further info about our steel grades and their pro-perties please also see the STEEL NAVIGATOR on ourwebsite www.ovako.com

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vako

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www.ovako.com

Ovako is a leading producer of special long steel

products for the heavy vehicle, automotive and

engineering industries. Production covers low-alloy

steels and carbon steels in the form of bars, wire rod,

tubes, rings and pre-components. The company has

15 production sites and several sales companies in

Europe and the USA. Net sales is EUR 1.7 billion and

the company employs 4000 people. Total steel

production is at 1.8 million ton.

SALES OFFICES:

France:Ovako France S.A.S.14, rue de MirandeFR-21000 DijonTel: +33 (0)3 80 54 15 15Fax: +33 (0)3 80 50 14 67

Germany/Austria/CzechRep/ Slovakia/Hungary:Ovako GmbHPostfach 1255D-40672 ErkrathTel: +49 (0)211-2504-0Fax: +49 (0)211-2504-244

Poland:Ovako Polska Sp. z.o.o.15 Jana Pawla II Avenue00-828 WarsawTel: +48 (0)22 697 6464Fax: +48 (0)22 697 6467

Russia:OOO OvakoBusiness centre “Zeleniy Grad”office 1812Savelkinskiy proezd, 4124482, ZelenogradMoscowTel: +7 (495) 228 07 80Fax: +7 (495) 228 07 81

United Kingdom:Ovako LimitedUnit 2 York’s ParkBlowers Green RoadDudley DY2 8ULTel: +44 (0)1384 213940Fax: +44 (0)1384 243662

USA/Canada/Mexico:Ovako North America, Inc.1096 Assembly DriveSuite 312Fort Mill, SC 29708Tel: + 1-803 1802 1500Fax: + 1-803 1802 1501

Other countries:Ovako Tube & Ring ABSE-813 82 HOFORSTel: +46 (0)290 250 00Fax: +46 (0)290 250 25

PRODUCTION:

Sweden:Ovako Tube & Ring ABSE-813 82 HOFORSTel: +46 (0)290 250 00Fax: +46 (0)290 250 25