Clarification on Misleading facts by Nanjing Grand Steel Piling in the market.
CONSUMER ADVISORY
Mlion Corporation Pte Ltd and its locally registered company Certuso Structural Specialists Corporation are steel suppliers in The Philippines. Our main products are steel sheet piles, steel pipes and interlocking steel pipes. It has been brought to our attention that certain supplier claiming to be the “Biggest Sheet Pile Supplier in Philippines” by the name of Nanjing Grand Steel Piling Co., Ltd., with registered address at 181 Hunan Road Nanjing China, is trying to imitate or mislead customers by falsely advertising their products. Here are some facts we would like to clarify.
Hot Rolled Steel Sheet Piles in Z shape from Anshan Zizhu Sci and Tech China is Exclusively Distributed in Philippines.
We would like to remind all parties that Anshan Zizhu Sci and Tech, part of Liaoning Zizhu Group has appointed Mlion Corporation Pte Ltd as its sole distributor in Philippines. No other exporter out of China is allowed to export Z piles produced by this factory to Philippines, and no importers without the knowledge and permission of Mlion Corporation Pte Ltd is allowed to resell or purchase such products. By renaming the section to a different nomenclature “GHZ” does not relieve the seller or buyer from infringing on the exclusivity distributorship. Legal action will be taken against any who tries to circumvent this rule. Our lawyers Carpio Duterte Lawyers has taken legal action against those who imported such products without Mlion Corporation’s permission. Full range of Anshan Zizhu’s Z pile is listed in Appendix A.
Cold Formed O-Pile Connectors are far weaker than Hot Rolled Equivalents.
Cold Formed Connectors (GPC) claims to be stronger than hot rolled steel pipe connectors when thickness are the same. This claim is unfounded and false. We have done testing on GPC connectors that were supplied to us by Nanjing Grand Steel Piling Co., Ltd. and found them to be far weaker than the hot rolled counterparts.
When conducting tensile pull test, it only achieved 79.3 kN or 529 kN/m before failure. Note the cracking across the interlock, a result of possible residual stress in the material after bending. See Appendix B. In comparison, hot rolled O-Pile Connectors which our company sells, of which Nanjing Grand Steel Piling Co., Ltd. is imitating and calling it “GPO” connector, is able to provide 261 kN or 2610 kN/m before failure. See Appendix C. O-Pile Connectors are at least 5 times greater than GPC Connectors.
Cold Formed sheet piles are not equivalent to Hot Rolled Sheet Piles.
Although Cold Formed sheet piles may display similar sectional properties to Hot Rolled Sheet Piles, they are not a direct replacement. Care needs to be taken to understand the difference between both piles at the interlocks and along the curve areas of the pile where corrosion occurs.
Cold Formed sheet piles are produced using sheet metal and are bend into its final shape. Inevitably, due to the bending nature, it will have residual stress in the material. This residual stress results in a weaker interlock as compared to Hot Rolled equivalent. Hot rolled sheet piles are rolled into its final shape in hot formed and thus does not have any residual stress. Due to the nature of hot rolling, more steel is placed at the areas of the interlock to provide a stronger interlock, where most of the stresses occurs during driving. Furthermore, Hot Rolled Sheet Piles provide a “thumb” function to prevent declutching. This is not present in Cold Formed Sheet Piles.
Current limitation of rollers, Cold Formed Sheet Piles can only be rolled up to 16mm thickness, hence not able to meet specified thickness of heavier sections of sheet piles.
Cold Formed Sheet Piles provide a looser interlock as compared to Hot Rolled Larssen Interlocks, hence it is less watertight when compared. When under loading and testing, Cold Formed interlocks have been known to fail prematurely as compared to Hot Rolled interlocks.
Z shape sheet piles undergo stresses and corrodes fastest at the area between the web and flange. The bend needs to be reinforced with more steel to allow for better protection on the piles. Hot Rolled Sheet Piles have the ability to add more steel in areas where it is susceptible in corrosion, hence being more effective than Cold Formed Sheet Piles.
US Army Corp design manual therefore recommends that Hot Rolled Steel Sheet Piles be used for highly stressed applications. Cold Formed should only be considered for sections 6mm or less, with little or low bending and corrosion requirements. See Appendix D.
We therefore will not recommend Cold Formed Sheet Piles as a direct replacement to Hot Rolled Sheet Piles without prior accounting for the deficiencies and differences in the pile.
Section properties and images are copyrighted have been reproduced without prior consent.
Many of the sections listed in the February 2020 catalogue and pictures have been copyrighted and reproduced without prior consent of the owners. This constitutes to intellectual property theft and punishable by law. We hereby advise customers to take more effort in understanding the sections and also to purchase through reliable companies with sufficient track records in the products they advertise.
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
APPENDIX D
