Rectangular Hollow Section

Rectangular hollow sections or rec tubes are cold formed and welded from either hot rolled, cold rolled, pre-galvanized or stainless steel.

In order to form the rectangular steel section the appropriate mother tube, a round steel tube, has to be formed first. From a round tube rolls are used that progressively press the round tube into a rectangular hollow section. This is all done inline. For example: A round tube with an outside diameter of 101.6 is pressed into an 80x80 square tube.

Square and rectangular steel tubes have the advantage of being stronger in bending while a round hollow section has more stiffness in twisting

Since rectangular and square HSS have about two-thirds the surface area of an open section of comparable capacity, this has a cost-saving benefit as there is less surface to prepare, fewer painting materials are required, cementitious fireproofing can be reduced, and minimal labour is needed