White paper highlights the potential result of tube fitting decisions made on cost alone
Barnstaple, UK, November 23, 2007 --- Globalisation has led to significant new competition from low-cost producers in high volume product categories that can be copied easily. Industrial tube fittings are no exception. The leading tube fitting designer and manufacturer Parker Instrumentation has published a white paper that details tests made on products from an example 'low cost producer'.
As many fittings end up being used on plants processing harsh media, or in environments that are corrosive, users need to be aware of the potential implications of choosing parts based mainly on cost criteria.
In conjunction with the University of Plymouth, Parker Instrumentation subjected an example low cost producer's tube fittings to a test program involving optical, scanning electron microscope and laser microscopy observation, plus traditional mechanical performance measurements and corrosion tests.
The results clearly demonstrate that the producer's use of poor quality steel - containing lots of inclusions and impurities - and the subsequent processing treatments, resulted in poor end products with little resistance to corrosion. The test results show for example, the onset of corrosion after only 24 hours' exposure to salt spray - a common problem in offshore environments.
"Buying goods on price alone can be an extremely poor decision. Tube fitting failure can have disastrous consequences in a large proportion of common applications. Parker views it as no less than critical that users carefully consider a fitting's design and production process before making a purchasing decision," says Parker Instrumentation's R&D director Spencer Nicholson. "Copying a design and producing a 'look alike' part is easy, but that does not make it fit for purpose. The material for our own tube fittings comes exclusively from high quality European sources, and is subjected to an independent intergranular corrosion test before product manufacturing even begins. This is followed by a number of unique processing stages aimed at optimising reliability and corrosion resistance."
The white paper can be downloaded from: http://www.wordsun.com/ParkerWP.pdf
Parker Instrumentation, Riverside Road, Barnstaple EX31 1NP, UK Tel: +44 (0)1271 313131;
Parker Instrumentation Products Division, 1005 A Cleaner Way, Huntsville, Alabama 35805-6708, USA. Tel: 256 881-2040;
Parker Hannifin Middle East, PO Box 46451, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Tel: +971 2 6788587;
