Precision steel tubes for lighter, stronger, easier-to-form products

Our wide precision steel tubing ranges from E220 up to DP980 – and up to 1400 MPa (typical) for our boron tubes for quenching/hardening. Since we’d developed specific tube steel grades at our mill, and then form the tubes ourselves, we have complete control over the entire tube-manufacturing process – from dimensional tolerances and surface quality to guaranteed strength levels. Plus, SSAB’s operations produce some of the lowest embedded CO₂ steel available anywhere – see our EPD below. And SSAB Fossil-Free Steels are becoming commercially available, starting in 2026.

Why to choose precision tubes with higher elongation?

The success of bending precision tubes can be estimated from the tubes’ elongation at fracture, A, which correlates well with fracture in draw bending. Tubes with higher elongation values have many advantages, including the potential for using smaller bending radii, achieving a more uniform bending quality, and reducing scrap costs.

Precision steel tubes are manufactured by cold forming and high frequency (HF) induction welding, of cold-rolled, hot-rolled pickled, or metal-coated narrow steel strips slit from coils on a continuous production line.

The steel strip passes between successive forming rolls to give it a circular shape, where the open slit is closed by longitudinal HF-welding, without using any filler materials. The tube’s weld is trimmed smooth to converge with the round shape, before being cooled down. On galvanized tubes, the weld seam is thermal coated after outside trimming. The precision steel tube is worked to its final size, aka calibration, in a roller machine. In the profiling units, the circular steel tube is straightened and, when specified, shaped into a square, rectangular or other special cross-section.

Docol^® Automotive Tubes, ideal for safety

Docol^® Automotive Tubes are designed for use in vehicle safety systems and for car body and chassis structural components. Vehicles from racing cars to autonomous shuttles have taken advantage of Docol^® Steel Tubes’ wide range of tensile strengths: from 490 MPa up to 980 MPa – without requiring costly hardening processes.

Docol Automotive Tube is typically cold rolled. Coating options include zinc (GI), Galfan^® (ZA), and galvannealed (GA). The longitudinally-welded Docol Tubes are made in compliance to standard EN 10305 (parts 3 and 5) and the more demanding elongation (CR2+) values and chemical analyses. With our emphasis on tight dimensional tolerances, highly consistent mechanical properties, and excellent surface quality, Docol Steel Tubes are the “go to” for vehicle frame builders.

Docol Tube 420LA, Docol Tube 500LA, Docol Tube 600LA, Docol Tube 700LA, Docol Tube 590DP, Docol Tube 780DP, Docol Tube 980DP, Docol Tube R8