How Stainless Steel is Rolled

Have you ever wondered how stainless steel is rolled into a cylinder to form a pressure vessel? It’s a manufacturing process that requires specialized equipment and trained experts to perform. See it in action below:

Why roll stainless steel into a cylinder for a pressure vessel?

Pressure vessels have to withstand a lot of force pressing on their entire surface area. Forming vessels as cylinders helps evenly distribute these forces across the entire vessel, which increases the amount of pressure the vessel can withstand and how long it will last. Sharp corners, joints, welds, and bends are all places where stress can concentrate in the material, and stress concentrations can lead to material failure.

Good pressure vessel design limits the number of welds in a vessel. It’s important to use as few individual pieces of steel to make the vessel as possible since each piece will need to be welded to the others.

How is the steel formed into a cylinder?

Limiting the number of pieces of steel can mean working with large, unwieldy, heavy sheets of metal. This requires experienced technicians who know how to handle the problems that might come up when machining large items, like transporting and maneuvering them through a workshop, proper dimensioning and the right tolerances for those measurements, and more.

To make the process as simple as possible, the sheet of steel that will become the main body of the vessel is measured and cut to the right dimensions, and any necessary holes are drilled for fittings and the like while the sheet is still flat. Then, the sheet is put on a roller like the one shown in the video above and rolled into a cylinder.

Once it’s attained the right shape, the metal sheet is removed from the roller and the seam is welded together. After that, it’s time to weld the top and bottom shells in place.

Where to learn more

Do you need a steel pressure vessel, or are you curious about the manufacturing process? Rexarc is one of the leading manufacturers of custom vessels internationally, and we’re happy to talk with you about any questions you might have.