What are the differences between seamless and metallurgically welded hollow shapes?
The aluminum extruded hollow can be seamless if made by a pierce-mandrel method or can be metallurgically welded if made by the bridge-porthole process. The seamless shape is preferred for severe bending applications, but in most of the smooth radius end uses, the non-seamless metallurgically welded shape will work. As a rule, as long as you are not seeking to utilize the tube for internal flow where burst pressure becomes a concern, the truly seamless is not required. Tooling, product price and availability are considerably less for the non-seamless product.
