The hidden backbone of every data center: tubular solutions

Built into every system

Modern data centers are designed to grow, adding capacity in modules, reconfiguring rack layouts, and expanding cooling infrastructure as demand evolves. Tubular steel is the backbone of that process, forming the structural and mechanical framework across a broad range of applications:

• Structural framing: server pod enclosures, raised floors, mezzanines, and full containerized module frames
• Mechanical and cooling infrastructure: support frames for cooling units, and precision manifolds for liquid cooling
• Cable management: supports for overhead trays, underfloor conduits, and seismic bracing systems
• Fire protection and gas suppression: sprinkler lines, suppression system pipework, and fire-safe enclosures
• Modular construction: pre-engineered frames for edge data centers, portable pods, and prefabricated server rooms

Tube-based frameworks allow operators to expand and reconfigure without touching primary structure, enabling faster deployment and easier expansion at every stage of a facility's life.

The numbers reflect how central tubes are to facility performance. Up to 75% of tube usage in a data center is concentrated in the three systems that matter most, cooling infrastructure, rack structures, and cable management, with cooling alone accounting for 35–40% of total tube demand. These are not peripheral applications. They are the systems that determine whether a facility can keep pace with the loads placed on it, and they are exactly where our product range is built to deliver:

• High-strength steel tubes, providing the load-bearing precision and dimensional consistency that dense, interconnected layouts require
• XCarb® low-carbon offer, supporting projects with sustainability targets and verified emissions reporting
• Modular, pre-engineered tube solutions, designed to integrate directly into the off-site fabrication and rapid deployment models that today's data center projects increasingly rely on.

Designing for AI-ready infrastructure

AI infrastructure is pushing those demands further. As rack density increases and liquid cooling becomes the norm, data centers require a fundamentally more tube-intensive design. Tube demand scales upward in parallel with three converging factors:

• Liquid cooling complexity, requiring dense networks of pipes, manifolds, and support structures throughout the facility
• Rack density, which increases structural and thermal load requirements
• Modular design, which adds secondary framework at every module boundary

The facilities being built today for tomorrow's AI workloads are already reflecting this reality, and the materials specified at design stage will determine how well they perform and how readily they adapt over time.

On total cost of ownership, the case for tubular steel becomes clearer over the lifecycle of a facility. Tubular steel may involve a slight premium over beam-based structures at the initial stage, but data centers are not static investments. They are reconfigured, expanded, and upgraded continuously, and structures that cannot accommodate change without significant rework generate retrofit costs that compound over time. Tube-based frameworks reduce those costs by enabling flexible reconfiguration without structural demolition or facility downtime. The smarter long-term investment is the one built to adapt.

Reducing the carbon footprint

Sustainability is an increasingly important consideration in data center construction, and tubular steel can support those goals too. Through the XCarb® recycled and renewably produced label, ArcelorMittal Europe – Tubular Products offers hollow structural sections produced via an Electric Arc Furnace using a minimum of 75% recycled scrap and 100% renewable electricity, achieving up to 75% lower CO₂ emissions compared to conventional production. Each product is backed by independently verified Environmental Product Declarations, giving project teams the transparent, credible data they need to report on embodied carbon and meet sustainability targets. Learn more about our low-carbon emission solutions.

ArcelorMittal Europe – Tubular Products supplies structural and mechanical tubes engineered for the full range of data center applications, from primary structural framing to cooling infrastructure, cable management, fire protection, and modular construction. 

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