Why should we do flaring and flattening test?

Flaring and flattening test is a major way to verify the quality of weld seam of welded tube.

Welded tube is the basic element of diverse scaffolding system. The main part of components of disk-lock scaffolding, like standard, ledger and diagonal brace, are made of welded tube in different sizes.

Generally, flat strip steel will be firstly formed in tubular profile and then be welded to tubes. As a result, the weld seam is always the most weakness spot when the welded tube is used in heavy-loading construction projects.

Therefore, our quality requirement on weld seam is to have the same mechanical performance as the base metal during heavy-loading using.

The flaring and flattening test helps us to check whether our welded tube has met above requirements or not.

Flaring test is that either end of a sample is inserted by a tapered mandrel with 60° angle at speed of 20-50mm/min. Till the end’s outside diameter is expanded to the original 115% without cracks, the sample is qualified.

Flattening test has two ways. One is that the outside diameter of sample is pressed to the original 2/3 when the pressure’s direction is vertical with weld seam. The other is that the outside diameter of sample is pressed to the original 1/3 when the pressure’s direction is in a line with weld seam. The sample is qualified if it hasn’t cracked.

Welded tubes of each our ringlock scaffolding order will be sure to go through the above two items tests.

Ringlock scaffolding is widely used in heavy-loading projects, such as buildings, bridges, roads and etc. Our strict quality inspection eliminates those hidden dangers and ensures the project’s safety.