1. Material Selection & Forging: High-quality steel bars are cut to size and heated, then forged into a coupling blank using dies.
2. Machining: The forged blank is machined to create the "socket" recess on both ends (full coupling) or one end (half coupling).The internal shoulder is precision-machined to ensure the pipe rests correctly, allowing a 1/16-inch (1.6mm) expansion gap.
3. Heat Treatment: To achieve required mechanical properties, the couplings undergo heat treatment, such as normalizing or quenching and tempering, depending on the material specification (e.g., ASTM A182).
4. Finishing & Inspection: The fittings are sandblasted to remove scale, then inspected for surface defects using magnetic particle or dye penetrant methods.
5. Threading/Marking: While not threaded, the finished coupling is stamped with grade, size, and rating (e.g., 3000LB, 6000LB,9000LB).