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316 Stainless Steel

S w a g e l o k Tu b e F i t t i n g s
®

with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrules

Simplify
Installation,
I m p ro v e
Performance, and
R e d u c e To t a l
Installed Cost
2 316 Stainless Steel Swagelok Tube Fittings with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrules

Introduction
Since the original two-ferrule Swagelok tube fitting was In consideration of these factors, over the last 50 years,
introduced in 1947, fluid systems designs have continued to Swagelok has implemented continuous improvements to its
shift from high-volume/low-pressure to low-volume/high- tube fitting products that help customers make correct, leakfree
pressure to meet financial, environmental, and performance installations, easily and consistently. These enhancements
requirements. These new low-volume/high-pressure systems include precision geometry to improve the swaging of the back
call for increased internal and external pressures, vacuum ferrule nose onto the tubing, the design of gaugeable fittings
levels, flow velocities and shifts, vibration levels, and shock and gap inspection gauges, and training seminars to instruct
and impulses. As a result, mechanical demands on tube installers worldwide in the requirements for making safe,
fittings, tubing runs, and other system-related equipment have leakfree connections.
increased as well. Industry continues to demand that tubing installations and
The Swagelok two-ferrule tube fitting has earned a global operations be more reliable, controllable, repeatable, predictable,
reputation for consistency, quality, and performance, supported and economical. Therefore, it was logical to take the Swagelok
by our continuous product improvement efforts. In order to tube fitting to the next level of performance to add even more
provide consistent, leakfree connections to fluid system users, value. The fundamental challenge in developing the Swagelok
our experience shows that a tube fitting has to meet the tube fitting with advanced geometry back ferrules was to
following requirements: maintain or even further reduce installation time and effort,
■ Offer reliable installation over a range of field conditions, improve performance, and maintain compatibility with the
since improper make-up and tightening remain the leading original design of the Swagelok tube fitting—the world’s most
causes for leakage. widely installed instrumentation tube fitting.
■ Cope with the wide variation in tubing characteristics,
including differences in wall thickness, hardness, ovality, and
burst pressures.
■ Deliver a predictable, consistent “feel” to installers, who
sometimes judge installation quality by effort (torque) rather
than the recommended one-and-one-quarter-turn installation
practice. Fittings that require high installation torque or that
vary widely in the “feel” and effort required to achieve
complete pull-up may cause installers to improperly tighten
components and severely degrade tube fitting performance.

How Two-Ferrule Tube Fittings Operate

Tube fittings depend on a balance of factors to ensure proper surface-hardened back ferrule can tend to over-drive the front
installation and performance. In a two-ferrule tube fitting ferrule when remade. This condition can potentially damage
design, the back ferrule moves the front ferrule forward to the tubing and fitting body and compromise the front ferrule
spring load the fitting assembly, burnish and seal with the action required for consistent gas-tight remakes.
fitting body, and create the primary tubing seal. The back Compared to fittings that employ complete surface-hardened
ferrule also swages the tube to provide the grip needed to back ferrules, the original design of the Swagelok tube fitting
keep the fitting and tubing firmly in place. established a different balance of factors in installation and
To swage and grip the tube properly, the back ferrule’s leading performance. Through the use of a selectively hardened back
edge must be sufficiently harder than the tube. Two methods ferrule, Swagelok reduced installation torque while providing
of producing this differential hardness may be employed— the swaging and gripping action needed to perform in combin-
complete surface hardening of the back ferrule or selective ation with a wide variation of commercial grade tubing. In manu-
hardening of only the nose of the back ferrule. facturing its back ferrules, Swagelok employed a proprietary
The use of complete surface hardening on a conventional back metallurgical process that selectively hardened the nose of the
ferrule can have several drawbacks. First, it typically increases back ferrule, yet left the center section and rear flange softer.
installation torque because a surface-hardened, conventional During make-up, this softer center section acts as a hinge
back ferrule is unable to flex or “hinge” downward to improve point when force is applied to the flange. This hinging
swaging action on the tube. Instead, it must be wedged into mechanism helps limit the amount of torque required by the
position using installer torque, and as a result, more torque installer, yet delivers the right amount of swaging action
typically is required. Second, because it is not engineered to through the nose of the back ferrule.
hinge and absorb installer torque on remakes, a conventional
 316 Stainless Steel Swagelok Tube Fittings with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrules 3

Evolution of the Advanced Geometry Back Ferrule

While the performance of the original design of the Swagelok ■ Its proprietary metallurgy and hinging action can absorb
tube fitting has been outstanding with regard to 316 stainless excess torque inputs to help prevent overdriving of the front
steel tubing, alloys of greater strength and hardness posed a ferrule, thus ensuring more predictable gas-tight sealing
significant challenge to the original design. A specific challenge during remakes.
from a customer led us to examine the requirements for a tube The success of this design in meeting the requirements for
fitting built of super duplex stainless steel, a material substantially super duplex tubing convinced Swagelok of the value in utilizing
stronger and harder than 316 stainless. the same basic design in its 316 stainless fittings as well.
To meet this challenge, we developed an advanced geometry
back ferrule design that balances the performance requirements Improved Ferrule Performance
of hard, higher pressure tubing, with a consistent, easy-to- As the nut is turned during pull-up, the back ferrule first
achieve target for proper installation. The improved Swagelok drives the front ferrule between the tubing and the fitting body
tube fitting design (Figure 1, next page) incorporates a patented seat, creating a primary seal. As resistance to forward motion
new back-ferrule geometry with an improved engineered hinging increases, the back ferrule hinges radially inward, transferring
action and a new, patent-pending process for full surface force downward to swage the surface of the tubing and produce
hardening and enhanced corrosion resistance. a consistent, firm grip.
The improved engineered hinging action of the back ferrule The shape and metallurgy of the advanced geometry back
(Figure 2, next page) provides several benefits: ferrule are designed so that the ferrule hinges inward to swage
and grip the tubing before the front ferrule is driven past its
■ It advances and seals the front ferrule predictably and
optimum sealing position. In addition, the patented geometry
accurately.
of the ferrule avoids generating an exposed large stress riser
■ It flexes to maintain installation torque at a predictable and on the tube, a deficit typical of bite-type fittings. In addition, the
manageable level, even on hard materials. radial colleting action of the back ferrule grips the tube away
■ It smoothly and efficiently delivers more swaging energy from the swaging point to actually enhance vibration endurance.
earlier in the pull-up process. As a result, it reduces the The result is an extremely robust, easy-to-install, and consistently
potential for improper installation and leakage in cases reliable tube fitting technology capable of meeting the demands
where the fitting is less than properly tightened. of modern industrial fluid-system applications.

Benefits Summary: Swagelok Tube Fittings with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrule
The Swagelok two-ferrule tube fitting offers predictable, leak- ability. In reality, stainless steel tubing manufacturers do
tight performance up to the burst pressure of AISI 316 and not always run their processes for the minimum required
304 stainless steel tubing. A summary of its benefits include: material strength values cited by ASTM and other standards
■ Wider Target for Proper Installation: The engineered for determining the rupture pressure of a tube. The result
hinging action of the advanced geometry back ferrule delivers is stronger, harder tubing with burst pressures often signifi-
energy to not only seal the front ferrule, but also to deliver cantly higher than what occurs under least case conditions.
greater swaging action throughout the pull-up process. As a The Swagelok tube fitting is robust enough to grip and
result, this fitting reduces the potential for improper installation exceed the burst pressure of these stronger, available
and system leakage, even in cases where the fitting was tubing materials. In addition, the uniformly surface-hardened
less than properly tightened. design of the advanced geometry back ferrule offers high
corrosion resistance.
■ Enhanced Gas Seal: The back ferrule hinge delivers steady
force to seal the front ferrule consistently on a wide range ■ Compatibility with Original Design Swagelok Tube
of tubing. Because the advanced geometry back ferrule can Fittings: The patented Swagelok fitting pulls up using the
hinge and absorb more energy than a conventional hardened same one-and-one-quarter-turn procedure as the original-
back ferrule, this design reduces the potential for overdriving design of the Swagelok tube fitting. In addition, the Swagelok
the front ferrule, thereby ensuring reliable operation and gas fitting with advanced geometry back ferrule uses the same
seal for repeated remakes. installation inspection gauges as before. However, what
every installer will notice is a more consistent feel, from a
■ Vibration Fatigue Resistance: The engineered back-ferrule
more consistent range of torque on every pull-up to an even
hinging action delivers a more consistent radial colleting
more consistent, leak-free connection.
action to give improved support to the tube behind the point
of grip. This colleting protects the swaged area of the tube ■ Applicability to New Alloys: The Swagelok tube fitting
more effectively from system vibration and fatigue. demonstrates it is practical to develop an easy-to-install,
high-performance tube fitting that can be built using non-
■ Greater Margin of Performance on Commercial Tubing:
standard alloys, such as super duplex steel, despite their
Textbook calculations, such as Lame’s formula for determining
increased strength and advanced mechanical properties.
minimum rupture pressure of a tube, use the minimum
allowable ultimate tensile strength, minimum allowable wall
thickness, and maximum allowable outer diameter for tube
burst calculations—as they should. However, these calculations
offer a conservative estimate of the tube’s pressure-containing
New Surface Hardening
Methods Used in Advanced
Geometry Back Ferrules
Swagelok has international patents and
patents pending on a number of methods
developed for producing uniform, very
hard, and corrosion-resistant stainless
steels. These methods employ carbon-
solution, hardened surface treatments
essentially lacking in metal carbide
precipitates that can permit corrosion.
Case carburization or case hardening
is accomplished by elevating the
temperature of stainless steel to allow
free carbon diffusion into its surface,
resulting in a uniform hard layer on the
metal. This method avoids temperatures
that create metal carbide precipitates.
Solution hardening of stainless steels
was pioneered by Dr. B.H. Kolster in
the Netherlands; he published the
results of his work in 1983. Since that Figure 1:
316 SS Swagelok Tube Fitting with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrules Prior to Make-up
time, Swagelok and several other
The elements of the fitting are depicted in cross-section prior to make-up: the fitting nut (top), the advanced-
organizations have pursued processes geometry back ferrule (left), the front ferrule (center), and the fitting body (right). The tube wall section is
for achieving this carburization effect shown below the ferrules and body.
on a range of products. Swagelok is the
only manufacturer of tube fittings to
have independently developed and
have international patents and patents
pending for commercial-scale processes
to produce case carburization of ferrules
for tube fittings. Swagelok’s expertise
in surface-hardening techniques for
stainless steels was essential to the
successful development of the patented
geometry and hinging action of the
advanced geometry back ferrules used
in its 316 and super duplex tube fittings.

Figure 2:
316 SS Swagelok Tube Fitting with Advanced Geometry Back Ferrule After Make-up
During make-up, the front ferrule (center) is driven into the body of the fitting (right) and the tube (bottom) to
create primary seals (tube and body), while the back ferrule (left) hinges inward to create a strong grip on the
tube. The rear ferrule geometry allows for an improved engineering hinging action that translates axial (forward)
motion into radial swaging action on the tube, yet operates with a low input force (torque) requirement. The
improved radial colleting action of the back ferrule (the area to the left of the swage point) isolates and protects
the swaged area of the tube, preventing the exposed vibration stress riser that is typical of bite-type fittings.

Swagelok—TM Swagelok Company

© 2000, 2003 Swagelok Company
October 2003, R3
MS-06-16-E