“What's the difference between a steel tube and a steel pipe?"  This is a question we often are asked by our clients. Although tubes and pipes look similar, they are actually quite different in nomenclature and size. Remember that tubes and pipes are rarely interchangeable. The main differences between the two products can be compared as follow:

Use of Pipes and Tubes

Pipes are used for fluids and gases, such as water, oil, gas or propane, or as steam pipes, boiler pipes, etc. The inner diameter is the key to measure the pipe flow, which determines the pipe flow. This is why the pressure rating is so important because the pressure must be within the delivery or distribution pressure range. However, tubes are usually used in applications requiring accurate external diameters, such as medical tubes, weapon components, industrial components, cooler tubes, heat exchanger tubes, and boiler tubes. Steel tubes are commonly used in medical, architectural, structural, or load-bearing fields, which is why the outer diameter is important because it indicates how much it can hold as a stabilizing factor.

Strength

The tube is stronger than the pipe.

Shape

The pipe is always round. While the tube can be square, rectangular or round.

Metal Types

The tube is available in hot rolled steel and cold rolled steel. The pipe is typically black steel (hot rolled). Both items can be galvanized.

Rigidity

Although copper and brass tubes can be shaped relatively easily, tubes are typically rigid. Pipes, on the other hand, are invariably rigid and cannot be shaped without special equipment.

Quantity

For long transport or distributing, piping is often used in mass quantity and for long distance application. So, the order of pipes is usually large. While tubes may be used in small quantity.

Surface Finish

For outdoor field transporting or underground transporting, pipes need to be painted or coating to anti-corrosion or oxidation. Tubes are sour cleaning or special polish treatment for particular field use.

Pipe End and Tube End

Pipe ends are usually in plain or beveled so as to welding. while tubes are with coupling ends or especially end finish, like irregular ends, special screw thread, etc.