Hydraulic Expansion
Hydraulic Expansion is the direct application of high internal hydraulic pressure within a tube in order to form a joint between a tube and tubesheet or parent tube. R.C.E. uses the proprietary HydroPro™ hydraulic expansion system to provide this expansive force in an accurately set, highly repeatable, and controlled process. The HydroPro™ System features hydro-expansion technology.
Work can be performed on-site or at our location.
Why Hydro-Expand?
There are four main benefits to hydro-expanding:
- No step expanding – expanding is done in one quick operation.
- Minimal work hardening of the tube material during expansion assures difficult tube materials can be easily expanded successfully.
- Longer tube life due to less wall reduction and less stress concentration from the expanded to the unexpanded portion of the tube.
- Improved quality – the system controls each tube expansion and is not influenced by the operator.
R.C.E. is HydroPro™ certified
- Units capable of applying 60,000 PSI
- Standard sizes .5″ to 2.5″ O.D.
- Hybrid tube expansion
Other Services
- SleevePro® is a viable alternative to tube plugging. It’s a system used on inlet/outlet erosion sleeves, down tube sleeves, and full length liners.
- HydroProof® is a system employing 2,000 PSI water pressure to perform hydrostatic testing of individual tube and tube to tubesheet strength.
- BoilerPro® is used to flare and lock boiler tubes from 1″ to 3″ O.D..
- TubePro® presets the tubes and locks them into place for joint welding.
