Steel pipe fittings are commonly used components in industrial projects, but the manufacturing processes behind them are largely unknown to many. Therefore, the specific processes involved are often a blank slate. The following will introduce three manufacturing processes for steel pipe fittings.

① Die Forging Steel Pipe Fitting.
For small-sized steel pipe fittings such as socket weld and threaded tees, crosses, and elbows, whose shapes are relatively complex, die forging should be used. The billet used for die forging should be rolled profiles, such as bars, thick-walled pipes, or plates. When using steel ingots as raw materials, the ingots should be pre-rolled into bars or forged before being used as blanks for die forging to eliminate defects such as segregation and porosity. After heating, the billet is placed in a die forging mold (depending on the situation, it may need to undergo preliminary forging before die forging). The pressure causes the metal to flow and fill the die cavity. If the forged blank has flash, it must be removed by flushing off the flash, thus completing the entire die forging process.

② Free Forging Steel Pipe Fitting.
For steel pipe fittings with special shapes or those unsuitable for die forging, free forging can be used. Free forging should forge the approximate shape of the steel pipe fitting; for example, for tees, the branch pipe portion should be forged.

③ Machining Steel Pipe Fitting.
For certain cylindrical steel pipe fittings, they can be directly machined from bars or thick-walled pipes, such as double-socket couplings and unions. During machining, the fiber direction of the metal material should be approximately parallel to the axial direction of the steel pipe fitting. Tees, crosses, elbows, and other steel pipe fittings must not be directly machined from bars.