Airbag inflators and components

Tenaris manufactures a wide range of seamless cold drawn tubes and preformed vessels for driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags.

Tubing used for airbag manufacturing are subject to severe standards of quality control (ISO TS 16949) and must meet the most stringent dimensional and functional requirements. The critical factors in airbag components are clean steel making, mechanical characteristics and very close tolerance in terms of thickness and eccentricity. When an inflator deploys, the tubes receive high stresses at an extremely elevated strain rate. Tenaris has developed low carbon alloy steels that guarantees high strength properties combined with excellent resistance both to bursting and impact toughness even at low (-40°) and warm temperatures. Tube tolerances are also extremely tight: the outer diameter is usually in the range of 25-75 millimetres, and the wall thickness is between 2 and 5 millimetres.

Tenaris supplies tubes suitable for hot, cold or warm forming and in its component centres, located in Mexico and Romania, specially dedicated for global airbag manufacturers, can perform cutting, cold forming and machining operations (turning, drilling, milling, etc).

Tubes for hybrid inflators

Hybrid inflators combine a small explosive charge with the presence of a cold pressurized gas. Tenaris provide passenger, side and curtain hybrid inflators in different shapes (cylindrical, double-bottled, ogive-shaped and necked). Hybrid inflators are obtained by cold, warm or hot forming processes and are subject to machining operations.

Tubes for pyrotechnic inflators

Pyrotechnic inflators, which use a gas developed by the rapid combustion of a special solid propellant to inflate the cushion, usually requires perforated tubes containing an explosive device and a cartridge of solid propellant. Tenaris supplies a wide range of driver and passenger pyrotechnic inflators, in cylindrical shape, obtained machining the ends of cold drawn tubes.