Advantages of Forged Steel Fittings over Cast Iron & Ductile Iron Fittings
At Vijay Sales Corporation, we fiercely advocate the use of Forged Steel Pipe Fittings over Cast Iron or Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings, especially for Fire Fighting Lines.
Forged Steel Pipe fittings are much stronger from a mechanical point of view in comparison to Cast Iron or Ductile iron Fittings.
Let’s take a look at the difference in the manufacturing process:
Cast Iron Fittings
Cast Iron Fittings are manufactured by melting iron and pouring the melted iron into a mould or a die. The melted iron is then allowed to cool down and harden and as a result, it takes the shape of the mould or the die.
There are different Casting processes: Die Casting, Mould Castings, Sand Castings & Investment Castings.
What’s the difference between Cast Iron & Ductile Iron?
Cast Iron & Ductile Iron are very similar to each other.
The difference between traditional cast iron and ductile iron is the shape of graphite. Cast Iron has small flakes of graphite whereas ductile iron contains spherical graphite nodules. Ductile Iron is often considered to be MODERN CAST IRON.
We will consider Cast Iron & Ductile Iron as the same for the purpose of comparison with Forged Steel.
Forged Steel Fittings
Forged Steel Fittings are made by Forged Steel.
Forged Steel is manufactured when steel is heated until it becomes malleable and then the blacksmith presses and bends the steel into the desired shape.
The Process of manufacturing Forged Steel Pipe Fittings starts from cutting and heating billets, putting pressure on the heated billets using dies, trimming, and shot blasting the resulting product. CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines are then used to shape the forged blank fittings into exact shapes and dimensions.
The process of Forging creates a much stronger form of steel and as a result forged steel fittings can withstand much higher pressure. The forging process enables a uniform structure of the pipe fittings as it directs the grain flow accordingly to the shape of the piece. The mechanical properties of forged fittings are much better as compared to casted fittings. They also have better ductility and are more resistant to impact as during the forging process the grain flow is directed as per the shape of the pipe fittings.
Advantages of Forged Pipe Fittings over Cast Iron or Ductile Iron Pipe Fittings:
Forged Pipe Fittings are mechanically much stronger over Cast Iron Fittings as they have a much tighter Grain Structure
Unlike Cast Iron, Forged Pipe Fittings do not have the problem of having cavities and being porous.
Based on numerous studies conducted, Forged Steel has approximately 26% higher tensile strength as compared to Cast Iron.
Forged Steel has a 37% higher Fatigue strength which means that they have a much higher shelf life.
Another very decisive advantage that Forged Steel Fittings have is that when they are pulled to failure, they have a 58% reduction in area. In comparison, Cast Iron Fittings have a 6% reduction in area. The result means that there would be a much greater deformation before failure in the case of Forged Steel Fittings.
SINCE FIRE FIGHTING IS SUCH A CRITICAL & LIFE SAVING APPLICATION, WE ALWAYS RECOMMEND THE USE OF FORGED PIPE FITTINGS FOR FIRE FIGHTING PIPE LINES
Disadvantages of Forged Pipe Fittings over Cast Iron Pipe Fittings
Forged Fittings are more expensive as compared to Cast Iron Fittings
Cast Iron Fittings are much easier to make when it comes to manufacturing complex shapes.
Cast Iron Fittings do not have any upper size limit. Forged Pipe Fittings are manufactured only till size 4” or 100mm
In India, the leading manufacturing of Forged Steel Pipe Fittings is “VS”. Forged Fittings are available is socket weld and threaded end connections. The dimensions of socket weld fittings conform to ASME B16.11 and threaded fittings are as IS:1239 PART-2.
The leading brands of Cast Iron & Ductile Iron Fittings brands are UNIK, ZOLOTO, JAINSONS, NEW. UNIK & ZOLOTO produce Galvanized Malleable Fittings whereas JAINSONS imports and manufactures Ductile Iron Fittings.
At Vijay Sales Corporation, we offer our clients:
3. DRP-M CAST FITTINGS
4. UNIK DUCTILE IRON FITTINGS
5. SANT DUCTILE IRON FITTINGS
