Per my previous response, here are the full detailed specs on the material that we used for our bull bar and reasoning why. Hopefully it gives some more detailed and accurate info for those interested. We specify that materials either have to originate in the USA or Canada. (We would chose other locations like UK, but it wouldn't make sense economically to bring that material here.)
Sheet Metal Material used (Everything on the part minus tubing):
HRPO ("Hot Rolled - Pickled and Oiled") Sheet Steel. This is steel sheets that are produced from a roll of steel.
The specific spec: PRIME ASTM A 1011 Grade 36 Type 2 - Country of melt is USA. Rolled & sheeted in Indiana; laser cut & formed in Pennsylvania.
Here are the YTEs (Yield, Tensile, Elongation) on the material:
Below is the chem report on the material. If you are unsure what the acronyms are - Periodic Table of elements. "C" is carbon.
This material was chosen for a couple reasons:
1. Pickled and oiled is much cleaner for laser, welding post forming, etc.
2. The material was chosen based on the most ideal 3/16 material composition for laser cutting, but mainly forming. Just going for a super high yield and tensile strength is not always best. The material could be "stronger", but more brittle after forming the parts in the press break. This is more than strong enough for what this bull bar is and is stronger than any of the other materials used in the factory bumper.
For the Tubing:
1.9" OD Tube, .120-.125 wall thickness. This is standard seam-welded tubing. Just like the sheet metal, this came originally from a HRPO roll of steel. Instead of turning the roll into sheet metal (ours were 60x120in sheets), these rolls are slit to specific size (called slit coils, or "slitting") where it will be turned into round or square tubing usually.
Specifications: PRIME ASTM A513 MT1010 Type 1. Country of melt was Canada as we chose to use a tube manufacturer that is in Ontario for this material. There is a good chance that steel mill is a mill owned by Nucor, SDI, or another US based steel company that happens to have a few mills in Ontario. This manufacturer turns the HR steel coil into slit coils, then they make the seem-welded tubing. From there it is cut and formed in Pennsylvania.
ASTM A513 Type 1 tubing is a low-carbon steel tubing with more precise tolerances than other pipe and structural tubing specifications. This material was chosen as it is ideal for bending the tube and it has excellent strength post forming the bends. We were recommended to stay away from DOM steel for tube bending due to the brittle nature of the material when bending. DOM Might have a higher YTE but not ideal for bending. The chem report on this tubing is below, but I did not request the YTEs on it. Its a pretty common spec so wasn't necessary for the application this is getting used for.
Anyways, hope that gives some better insight as to the materials that we used and why we used them over other options that may appear to be "better", but in reality, once parts are bent and formed, are not ideal.
While we are on the topic of how this bull bar is made, lets talk about welding and then the finish:
Welding:
We weld this fully in house. The parts are each placed in fixtures to insure the same size, spec, etc, and tig-tacked together. re-measured prior to final welding. Tube sections are all tig welded. The pillars are all tig-tacked and a combination of tig and mig are used to do the final welding post tacking. Most of the mig is on the front and rear of the pillar, which you do not see because those sections get ground down and finished to provide a cleaner look on the pillars.
Finish:
All pieces are individually blasted with a media that preps the surface to accept the zinc primer finish. After the zinc primer finish, we use our standard textured black powder coat. The reason the finish comes out a slightly "richer" black than many of our other textured black parts is because of the zinc primer. A worth while trade off to have a finish that is much more durable and very corrosion resistant. "why not just hot dip galvanize the pieces then powder?" - Glad you asked - The galvanizing process is sloppier, not as precise , and the powder does not adhere well to Galvanized metal. Zinc primer is ideal and extremely durable.
Anyways, let me know if you have any questions. Cheers.
Sheet Metal Material used (Everything on the part minus tubing):
HRPO ("Hot Rolled - Pickled and Oiled") Sheet Steel. This is steel sheets that are produced from a roll of steel.
The specific spec: PRIME ASTM A 1011 Grade 36 Type 2 - Country of melt is USA. Rolled & sheeted in Indiana; laser cut & formed in Pennsylvania.
Here are the YTEs (Yield, Tensile, Elongation) on the material:
Below is the chem report on the material. If you are unsure what the acronyms are - Periodic Table of elements. "C" is carbon.
This material was chosen for a couple reasons:
1. Pickled and oiled is much cleaner for laser, welding post forming, etc.
2. The material was chosen based on the most ideal 3/16 material composition for laser cutting, but mainly forming. Just going for a super high yield and tensile strength is not always best. The material could be "stronger", but more brittle after forming the parts in the press break. This is more than strong enough for what this bull bar is and is stronger than any of the other materials used in the factory bumper.
For the Tubing:
1.9" OD Tube, .120-.125 wall thickness. This is standard seam-welded tubing. Just like the sheet metal, this came originally from a HRPO roll of steel. Instead of turning the roll into sheet metal (ours were 60x120in sheets), these rolls are slit to specific size (called slit coils, or "slitting") where it will be turned into round or square tubing usually.
Specifications: PRIME ASTM A513 MT1010 Type 1. Country of melt was Canada as we chose to use a tube manufacturer that is in Ontario for this material. There is a good chance that steel mill is a mill owned by Nucor, SDI, or another US based steel company that happens to have a few mills in Ontario. This manufacturer turns the HR steel coil into slit coils, then they make the seem-welded tubing. From there it is cut and formed in Pennsylvania.
ASTM A513 Type 1 tubing is a low-carbon steel tubing with more precise tolerances than other pipe and structural tubing specifications. This material was chosen as it is ideal for bending the tube and it has excellent strength post forming the bends. We were recommended to stay away from DOM steel for tube bending due to the brittle nature of the material when bending. DOM Might have a higher YTE but not ideal for bending. The chem report on this tubing is below, but I did not request the YTEs on it. Its a pretty common spec so wasn't necessary for the application this is getting used for.
Anyways, hope that gives some better insight as to the materials that we used and why we used them over other options that may appear to be "better", but in reality, once parts are bent and formed, are not ideal.
While we are on the topic of how this bull bar is made, lets talk about welding and then the finish:
Welding:
We weld this fully in house. The parts are each placed in fixtures to insure the same size, spec, etc, and tig-tacked together. re-measured prior to final welding. Tube sections are all tig welded. The pillars are all tig-tacked and a combination of tig and mig are used to do the final welding post tacking. Most of the mig is on the front and rear of the pillar, which you do not see because those sections get ground down and finished to provide a cleaner look on the pillars.
Finish:
All pieces are individually blasted with a media that preps the surface to accept the zinc primer finish. After the zinc primer finish, we use our standard textured black powder coat. The reason the finish comes out a slightly "richer" black than many of our other textured black parts is because of the zinc primer. A worth while trade off to have a finish that is much more durable and very corrosion resistant. "why not just hot dip galvanize the pieces then powder?" - Glad you asked - The galvanizing process is sloppier, not as precise , and the powder does not adhere well to Galvanized metal. Zinc primer is ideal and extremely durable.
Anyways, let me know if you have any questions. Cheers.
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