ASTM A213 / ASME SA-213 / UNS S31600 / W.Nr. 1.4401
Thaida Stainless Steel Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. cold-draws ASTM A213 TP316 stainless steel seamless tubes at its Ban Bueng, Chonburi plant in Thailand for exchanger bundles, seawater circuits and instrument lines. Grade 316 carries UNS S31600 and EN 1.4401 as its European number, and its 2.00 to 3.00% molybdenum is the reason it heads the chloride-service part of our stainless steel seamless tubes family. Order acknowledgments and certificates are issued from Bang Phli, Samut Prakan.
Stainless Steel 316 seamless tubeUNS S31600 / W.Nr. 1.4401
EN 10204 3.1 certificate / 3.2 on request
Below is the drawn range for grade 316, the condition each tube leaves Ban Bueng in, and the proof and lot tests behind it. Bundle work usually fixes the diameter first and then picks the wall the design needs.
Each SS 316 seamless tube is made to the austenitic requirements of ASTM A213; ASME publishes the related specification as SA-213 for code work. Scale has to be off the tube before it ships, either by pickling or because the tube was bright annealed, and the heat-treated condition is not optional for an austenitic grade. Our 257 mm ceiling rests on the clause that allows diameters beyond the 127 mm usually furnished, as long as every other requirement of the specification is met. A take-off written in NPS and schedule points at pipe, so those line items are quoted instead as stainless steel 316 seamless pipes to ASTM A312.
One proof test covers every tube, either hydrostatic or a nondestructive electric examination, and A213 leaves that choice to us unless your order names one. Beyond it the standard samples by lot, one size out of one heat: strength from a tension test, hardness readings, and the flattening and flaring checks that show the tube will take expanding and beading. A second sample goes to the product analysis that A213 makes mandatory on one billet or tube from every heat, and tension testing doubles to two tubes once a lot passes 50 pieces. The results reach you on an EN 10204 3.1 (3.2 on request) certificate, and a manufacturer test certificate can add eddy current, ultrasonic, intergranular or pitting corrosion results whenever those tests are ordered.
A213 holds TP316 to 16.0 to 18.0% chromium and 10.0 to 14.0% nickel and adds 2.00 to 3.00% molybdenum, the element that lifts resistance to pitting and crevice attack in chloride-bearing water. Carbon is capped at 0.08%, while nitrogen, titanium and the remaining elements carry no requirement.
The limits below apply to every seamless 1.4401 stainless steel tube we draw:
UNS S31600316
| Element | ASTM A213 TP316, % |
|---|---|
| C (Carbon) | 0.08 max |
| Mn (Manganese) | 2.00 max |
| P (Phosphorus) | 0.045 max |
| S (Sulfur) | 0.030 max |
| Si (Silicon) | 1.00 max |
| Cr (Chromium) | 16.0 to 18.0 |
| Ni (Nickel) | 10.0 to 14.0 |
| Mo (Molybdenum) | 2.00 to 3.00 |
A213 sets the minimums below for TP316 after solution treatment at 1040 °C (1900 °F) or higher with a water quench or another rapid cool, and every UNS S31600 seamless tube is tested against them. The standard also caps hardness, and that ceiling is what governs how far a tube end can be worked.
| Property | ASTM A213 TP316 |
|---|---|
| Tensile Strength, min | 515 MPa (75 ksi) |
| Yield Strength, min | 205 MPa (30 ksi) |
| Elongation in 50 mm (2 in.) gauge, min | 35% |
| Hardness, Brinell or Vickers, max | 192 HBW / 200 HV |
| Hardness, Rockwell B, max | 90 HRB |
Mechanical requirements fall away below 3.2 mm inside diameter or 0.4 mm wall, both under our drawn range. For each ASTM A213 stainless steel 316 seamless tube the certificate reports the measured lot figures beside these minimums.
Grade 316 travels under a different name in each standards system. The table lines those names up against the UNS number.
A drawing that calls for seamless WNR 1.4401 tube is produced and marked as A213 TP316, with the European number noted against your line item on request. EN 10216-5 lists 1.4401 among its pressure tube grades, though A213 stays the governing document for size, testing and marking.
Exchanger and instrument work concentrates in the diameters below, where the permitted variations for our cold-finished A213 tubing are tightest.
| Specified OD, mm | Permitted Variation, mm |
|---|---|
| 25 to 40 incl. | ±0.15 |
| Over 40 to under 50 | ±0.2 |
| 50 to under 65 | ±0.25 |
These bands cover the diameters most shell-and-tube bundles and instrument loops are built from, and out-of-roundness counts inside them. One extra allowance comes with cold-finished austenitic sizes below 50.8 mm: individual readings around a cross section may stray 0.25 mm from nominal either way while their mean holds the band above. The limits hold for the tube as delivered, before bending, expanding, swaging or polishing, and diameters outside this span are confirmed with the quotation.
Molybdenum is the step up from grade 304. A213 sets no molybdenum requirement for TP304, so once cooling water, brine or a process stream carries chlorides, the 2.00 to 3.00% in TP316 is what buys resistance to pitting and crevice attack. Both grades share the same 515 MPa tensile and 205 MPa yield minimums, so the move costs nothing in design wall, and on clean, low-chloride duty stainless steel 304 seamless tubes remain the cheaper bundle.
Carbon is the other axis. TP316 allows 0.08% carbon against 0.035% for TP316L, which matters where tube ends are fusion welded into a tubesheet and the joint stays unannealed afterwards. That lower carbon comes with lower minimums, 485 MPa tensile and 170 MPa yield, so a bundle moved to 316L seamless tubes may need a heavier wall for the same duty.
Chloride resistance, a clean drawn bore and close size control put grade 316 into cooling, process and measuring circuits across these industries.
Shell-and-tube condensers and water coolers handling chloride-bearing cooling water take drawn grade 316 tube, ordered by outside diameter and minimum wall so every row of the bundle matches the tubesheet drilling.
Desalination trains, brine transfer and seawater cooling loops rely on the molybdenum in grade 316, which holds back the pitting and crevice attack that chloride-rich water starts on lighter austenitic grades.
Analyzer racks, impulse lines and hydraulic runs use small diameters from 6.35 mm upward, where close diameter control lets twin-ferrule compression fittings seal the joint mechanically.
Thermowells and sensor pockets on gas plant and refinery streams are built from seamless 316 tube, which keeps the instrument dry while its outer wall carries the full process stream.
Bioreactors, fermenters and sterile transfer lines are run in bright annealed grade 316, since a bright annealed bore arrives clean enough for sterile service and gives product residue no scale to lodge in.
Distillation column internals, reactor service lines and process coolers in chemical and petroleum plants are tubed in grade 316 where chlorides in the stream rule out a molybdenum-free grade.
Unit loads
A bundle holds a single size and wall, so goods-inward can count it without unpacking; bright annealed and thin-wall sizes are cased instead.
Stencil and tags
Our mark with ASTM A213 and TP316, the finishing condition and the wall basis, plus heat numbers or your own item numbers on request.
Ends
Plugged as soon as the tube is cut to length, so the bore reaches site dry.
Documents
The EN 10204 3.1 (3.2 on request) certificate travels with heat treatment charts, PMI records, the raw material certificate and the size and surface roughness record.
Inspection
An independent inspector can witness the tests on request.
Terms
FOB, CFR or CIF, named in the offer against the port you give us.
Routing
Road movements to plants inside Thailand, containerized sea freight on export orders.
Seamless stainless steel 316 tube drawn to ASTM A213 prices indicatively between USD 3.5 and 8 per kg. Alloy content drives that band: with 10 to 14% nickel and 2 to 3% molybdenum in the grade, the rate follows both metals and not the steel market alone. Exchanger sizes in mill quantities sit in the lower half, while small instrument diameters, a bright annealed bore, heavy walls and short runs reach the upper end. Thaida prices each line of your size list against the alloy market on the day of the offer.
Indicative only. Send your sizes and specification to Thaida for a firm quotation.
Billets become finished tube at our factory at 154 Moo.1 Map Phai, Ban Bueng, Chonburi 20170, Thailand, where piercing, cold drawing, solution treatment and final inspection run under one roof. The quotation, the certificate set and the export file are prepared at our office, 89/18 Moo.15 Enterprize Park, Bangna-Trad Road, Bang Kaeo, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan 10540, Thailand. Tube for Thai plants moves by road, and export orders leave by sea for Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.
It keeps the tube workable. TP316 must stay at or below 192 HBW, 200 HV or 90 HRB, and two tubes from each lot are checked. Walls under 1.65 mm carry no hardness requirement, so thin exchanger tube is judged on its flattening and flaring results instead.
Because the tubesheet is drilled to the real diameter of the tube. A213 sizes tubing by outside diameter and minimum wall, with average wall applied only when the order says so, so every hole, ferrule and baffle clearance follows a measured figure. NPS and schedule describe pipe and belong on a line class.
Pickled free of scale as standard, or bright annealed, which reaches you without a pickling stage. Each seamless S31600 stainless steel tube leaves with smooth ends free of burrs, ready for a compression fitting or a weld preparation. Name the condition on the order when a hygienic or instrument line sets a surface requirement.
To ±0.15 mm, out-of-roundness included. The band opens to ±0.2 mm once the diameter passes 40 mm and to ±0.25 mm from 50 mm to under 65 mm. Readings are taken on the finished tube, so a size that will be bent or expanded during fabrication has to start inside the band.
Yes, as a supplementary requirement. TP316 carries the A213 footnote under which the rapid cool can be demonstrated by the ASTM A262 Practice E test, and we run it only on orders that call for it. List it on the line together with any other test beyond the standard.
257 mm outside diameter, with walls to 12.7 mm and straight lengths to 22 m, from a 6.35 mm and 0.89 mm floor. A213 treats 127 mm as the usual ceiling and accepts larger diameters that satisfy every other requirement. Above 225 mm no diameter tolerance is tabled, so that figure is agreed with you at quotation.
Twice. A213 requires a product analysis from one billet or one tube of every heat on top of the heat analysis, so each UNS S31600 seamless tube order rests on two independent results against the TP316 limits. Both appear on the certificate with the chromium, nickel and molybdenum figures.
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