One of Australia’s premier induction bend manufacturers, Inductabend, specialises in high integrity heat induction bending of pipe and other sections for gas pipelines, mining, and construction.
If it can’t be cold bent, it can be induction formed.
Founded in 1992 by Barry Crouch and Rob Stead, the business has been servicing the mining, oil and gas and building industries in Australia for over 30 years. Its founders both had extensive experience in manufacturing and engineering, with Crouch having previously worked as an engineer for the SEC and Stead owning and operating several manufacturing businesses. Their first experience working together was running Smithweld, a specialist cold rolling and bending company.
After a few years cold rolling, the opportunity to purchase an induction bending machine, originally brought into Australia to assist with the construction of coal fired power plants, presented itself and thus Inductabend was born.
As Managing Director, Crouch has been involved in the day-to-day operations of Inductabend from the beginning. He, and other long serving employees, including General Manager John Rea, have contributed to the wealth of experience and knowledge Inductabend has at its disposal to aid its customers in ensuring their bends are made to fit their purpose.
Presently, the business is entering a transitory phase with the directors committing to the long-term future of the business in Australia through investing in, updating and upgrading its plant and equipment, and continued investment in research and development of new cutting-edge induction bending technologies.
New management is also being implemented with the introduction of Nathan and Jordan Crouch into the business. Both are experienced professionals with backgrounds in civil engineering (utilities water and gas), finance and accounting.
What is induction bending?
Induction bending is a hot bending process specifically designed to produce high quality pipe bends with mechanical properties equivalent to or exceeding those possessed by the mother pipe the bend it’s produced from.
Inductabend has continued to develop and improve its capabilities, product offerings and overall quality as the core value adding proposition for Australia’s industrial markets.
“We work with our customers to tailor bending geometries and mechanical characteristics to their needs,” Crouch said.
“In order to ensure consistent performance of our bends we employ a wide range of destructive and non-destructive testing methodsto create custom testing programs tailored to our client’s pipeline application and risk profile.”
Inductabend products
Inductabend owns and operates three induction bending machines that cover a wide range of applications. Pipe diameters from DN25 to DN900 with wall thicknesses of up to 100mm can be bent to the purchasers exact desired angle and radius (generally 2.5D and up) with custom tangent lengths on each end of the bend.
Complex compound bends can also be produced, including S bends and even helical bends for specialist applications.
Induction bending is compatible with a wide range of materials including all carbon steels, alloy steels, high X grade steels, stainless steels and other exotic alloys.
Recently, Inductabend internally developed a new world-first method of bending that allows us to utilise induction bending for the forming of bends with radii from 14m and up, allowing for gradual consistent changes in direction to minimise wear on steel pipelines and deal with any difficult alignments all whilst maintaining their desired mechanical properties.
Additional services such as end preparations for welding, Victaulic grooving and coating are also available to customers when placing orders with Inductabend.
Inductabend also owns some cold field benders (up to DN1200 capacity) that are available for dry hire.
For more information visit www.inductabend.com.
This article featured in the November edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
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