China hollow section tubes used in structural applications today

In the world, China hollow section tubes are often preferred by architects for structures with visible steel elements and competitive advantages in applications. The applications of China hollow section tubes nearly cover all fields in the modern times. In the modern times, China hollow section tubes are also used in some special applications such as petrol stations, sound barriers, traffic information gantries, guard rails, parapets and sign posts. Furthermore, excellent application examples are found in radio telescopes, in mechanical engineering, cranes and roller coasters. For the one thing, China hollow section tubes have the beauty of distinctive shapes and express lightness, while in other cases their geometrical properties determine their applications in projects.

In buildings and halls, China hollow section tubes are mainly used for columns and lattice girders or space frames for roof. Especially, in construction projects, square steel pipe and round steel pipe are widely used for building frames today. In addition, there are a few aspects which make China hollow section tubes increasingly suitable for hydraulic structures, such as barriers. Due to environmental restrictions, the maintenance of hydraulic structures requires severe precautions, making durability an important issue in use. Structures of hollow sections are less susceptible to corrosion due to the rounded corners. Furthermore, especially round steel pipe has lower drag coefficients, leading to lower forces due to wave loading. China hollow section tubes are used in jackets, towers, the legs and diagonals in topside structures, cranes, microwave towers, flare supports, bridges, support structures of helicopter decks and further in various secondary structures such as staircases, ladders, etc.

Nowadays, architectural appearance becomes more important, while stringent environmental restrictions make protection and maintenance increasingly expensive. These factors stimulate designs made of China hollow section tubes in the market. In the current steel pipe market, Rectangular hollow sections are cold formed and welded from either hot rolled, cold rolled, pre-galvanized or stainless steel. ASTM A500 is the most common steel specification for hollow structural section in the steel pipe market around the world. This specification is for cold formed welded and seamless carbon steel tubing in round, square and rectangular shapes. ASTM A501 is another standard for hot formed steel tubing. For example, rectangular steel pipes become very popular in many forms of construction and other structural & mechanical applications. Considering that rectangular steel pipes have the flat square surfaces which can ease construction, they are sometimes preferred for architectural aesthetics in exposed structures.