What is mandrel piping?

I don't know the difference between mandrel piping and regular aluminum piping? Why is it said that mandrel is better. Thanx:bandit:

First of all, mandrel bending is completely independent of the material being bent. That being said, some materials are more resistant to bending than others.

During mandrel bending, a 'mandrel' is stuck into where the bend is going to be created. It allows the outside of the tube to stretch and the inside of the tube to compress, while keeping the material from crumpling together and 'wrinkling', you could say. Think of a normal straw, and a straw with that bendable neck. Visualize bending both in your mind. Which one of them flows a fluid more easily?

If you didn't infer from that previous paragraph, mandrel bending allows fluids to flow quicker and with less turbulence than with standard crush bending. When this is applied to an exhaust pipe, backpressure is reduced and you'll see some power gain.

EDIT: Damn my grammar is bad tonight...

I'm guessing that you mean "mandrel bent" piping?

The "mandrel" that I'm familiar with is a tool for bending things. "Mandrel bent" is sometimes contrasted to "crush bent" piping; the difference is in the process/tools used to bend the pipe.

From http://www.m-w.com
Mandrel
b : a metal bar that serves as a core around which material (as metal) may be cast, molded, forged, bent, or otherwise shaped

Perhaps this link will be useful to you: http://www.extrememotorsports.com/mandrel.htm

Otherwise, you might try here: http://www.celebritystorm.com/celebs/pics/BarbaraMandrel/index1.html


hope that helps.

looks like we were typing our responses at the same time...

Doesn't matter so long as the information isn't conflicting, right? :D

Thank you for the information, it really helped.