HInoxTUBE® is an exclusive product, covered by a patent, produced by TRAFILTUBI using a special raw material never before used in the production of pipes.
Thanks to its specifications, Hinoxtube® represents the best technological answer found to date for the construction of light structural frames destined for dynamic use (and welded piping structures in general) under extreme conditions.
The raw material used to produce HInoxTUBE® (to date only used in the aeronautical and military fields, and more recently in F1 cars), originally stems from the military's need to suitably replace "cadmium coated" tempering steel (with the considerable inconvenience of having highly polluting production processes) with a truly innovative steel, with excellent mechanical specifications, good welding and exceptional corrosion resistance, being mainly used to give maximum guarantee in aggressive environments.
Thanks to Trafiltubi's innovation, this material can, nowadays, also be used in piping form to create highly resistant, long lasting welded structures.
It is a stainless steel that can be defined as "austeno-martenistic", from the high Chrome content formulation, with Molybdenum and Nickel as further alloy components, that highlight its resistance and tenacity specifications.
The martenistic base structure presents traces of austenite that minimise the risk of the formation of cracks during the welding process.
Thanks to the high rigidity/weight and resistance/weight ratio (better than that of titanium, and aluminium), its resistance to corrosion and workability, HInoxTUBE® allows for the creation of triple thick piping for extremely light frames that are almost indestructible.
Unlike pipes in light alloy, HInoxTUBE® has a clearly marked stress limit that makes it extremely long lasting to cycling stress.
HInoxTUBE® does not react to salt water corrosion and organic acids even without the protection of paintwork. The frame, therefore, does not require painting and even the internal surfaces, always difficult to reach from the protective working, after a simple passivation, becomes naturally resistant to corrosion. The joint on the piping elements can be made by TIG welding, or with the fillet brazing technique, or via brazing using special fluxing material or junctions.
Once the frame has been welded, the external surfaces can be pickled to eliminate dirt and calamine and later passivated or can be mechanically or electrically polished, without further treatment.
The frame can also be personalised with electrocolouring or particular sanding that creates a further protective surface layer.
Lastly, but by no means less important, the HInoxTUBE® project was created with a strong focus on environmental protection. One of its challenges, in fact, was to foreshadow a finished product life cycle whose environmental impact would overall, be less than that of all the previous products.
In the cycle industry, HInoxTUBE® can be used exclusively by Columbus for the production of the series of light, stainless steel pipes known as XCr. The only exception to this exclusive right is the famous GILCO frames.
As is well known, with normal maraging stainless steels, electrowelded pipes are created, that is, produced from pressed and welded sheet steel longitudinally. Unlike these, HInoxTUBE® is created by billet extrusion, is extremely stable and has no need to carry out thermal treatments for the recovery of mechanical specifications in the areas thermically altered by welding (ZTA), with the further advantage of an excellent impact resistance. The pipes have no welding and thanks to excellent workability for cold deformation, it is possible to achieve extremely thin thickness without compromising the frame's rigidity or durability.
In the pictures: group view and details of the welding on a frame prototype produced with HInoxTUBE® and assembled with the famous Colnago junctions.
