A method of forming a heat exchanger tube, particularly suited for condensing applications, contemplates cold-rolling a metallic strip to emboss a hydrophobic surface texture, to thereby form an embossed surface on the metallic strip. The method includes roll forming the metallic strip to a tubular shape, with the embossed surface on the exterior of the tubular shape, and welding the edges of the roll-formed strip to form a heat exchanger tube. Cold-rolling to emboss a hydrophobic surface texture exhibiting a contact angle of at least about 75 is contemplated, with processing including heat-treatment to minimize degradation of the hydrophobic surface texture, and roll-forming to avoid deformation of the hydrophobic surface texture,

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 2 kW to 7 kW, inclusive, and uses R410a as a refrigerant circulating therein, and since a refrigerant pipe therein includes a ductile stainless steel pipe made of a material containing, at least, chrome (Cr), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu), the refrigerant pipe can maintain strength and hardness as good as or better than those of a copper pipe, while also maintaining good processability.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 16 kW to 28 kW, inclusive, and uses a single refrigerant R32 as a refrigerant, and a refrigerant pipe therein includes a ductile stainless steel pipe having 1% or less of a delta-ferrite matrix structure with respect to the grain size area thereof.

A method of evaluating deformability of steel pipe with which deformability can be evaluated regardless of whether the pitch of pipe expansion is coarse or fine, and a method of manufacturing steel pipe using the method of evaluating deformability, are disclosed. A method of evaluating deformability of steel pipe according to the present invention is a method for evaluating deformability of a steel pipe manufactured through a pipe expanding step performed using a die. The method of evaluating deformability of steel pipe includes an outer shape acquiring step of measuring a shape of the steel pipe to acquire an outer shape, a power spectrum acquiring step of acquiring a power spectrum from a wavy shape of the acquired outer shape, and a determining step of integrating the acquired power spectrum for a predetermined wavelength range and determining deformability on the basis of the resulting integral.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 7 kW to 11 kW, inclusive, and uses a refrigerant R134a as a refrigerant, and since a refrigerant pipe therein is made of a ductile stainless steel material having 1% or less of a delta-ferrite matrix structure with respect to the grain size area thereof, and includes a suction pipe guiding the suction of the refrigerant into a compressor and having an outer diameter of 15.88 mm, the refrigerant pipe can maintain strength and hardness as good as or better than those of a copper pipe, while also maintaining good processability.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 7 kW to 11 kW, inclusive, and uses a refrigerant R32 as a refrigerant, and since a refrigerant pipe therein is made of a ductile stainless steel material having 1% or less of a delta-ferrite matrix structure with respect to the grain size area thereof, and includes a suction pipe guiding the suction of the refrigerant into a compressor and having an outer diameter of 15.88 mm, the refrigerant pipe can maintain strength and hardness as good as or better than those of a copper pipe, while also maintaining good processability.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 11 kW to 16 kW, inclusive, and uses R32 as a refrigerant circulating therein, and since a refrigerant pipe therein is made of a ductile stainless steel material having 1% or less of a delta-ferrite matrix structure with respect to the grain size area thereof, the refrigerant pipe can maintain strength and hardness as good as or better than those of a copper pipe, while also maintaining good processability.

The present invention relates to an air conditioner. The air conditioner according to the present embodiment has a refrigeration capacity of 7 kW to 11 kW, inclusive, and uses, as a refrigerant, a mixed refrigerant containing 50% or more of R32, and since a refrigerant pipe therein is made of a ductile stainless steel material having 1% or less of a delta-ferrite matrix structure with respect to the grain size area thereof, and includes a suction pipe guiding the suction of the refrigerant into a compressor and having an outer diameter of 15.88 mm, the refrigerant pipe can maintain strength and hardness as good as or better than those of a copper pipe, while also maintaining good processability.

Provided is a welding monitoring apparatus that monitors a welding state of a V-convergence region in which a strip-shaped metal sheet is converged in a V-shape, when the metal sheet is cylindrically formed while being conveyed, and both side edges of the metal sheet are heated and melted in a manner of being butted each other while being converged in the V-shape, such that an electric resistance welded steel pipe is manufactured. This welding monitoring apparatus includes an image capturing unit that captures images of a region including the V-convergence region in time series; and an image processing unit that extracts a welding point based on the images captured in time series and detects the presence or absence and a position of irregular arcing at the welding point or on an upstream side of the welding point.

Composite tube assemblies and thin-walled tubing are disclosed. In embodiments, the composite tube assemblies include a functional tube and a sacrificial tube disposed within or around the functional tube. The sacrificial tube may be removed by exposure to a corrosive media, without substantially affecting the functional tube. Methods of forming composite tube assemblies and thin-walled tubing are also described.