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ANSI B3.1.3 rules of thumb 18

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280474

Mechanical
Aug 18, 2001
35
Dear All,

Are there any references available in the net such as tables, rules of thumb, etc in order to understand ANSI B3.1.3 easily..?
Sometime I feel more comfort to read tables/rules of thumb instead of browsing the thick book with its tiny character.

Regards.
 
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A mans gotta do what a mans gotta do.....
 
That's the scary thing, the contents of B31.3 largely are rules of thumb!
 
With apologies to the original author...

31 Rules of thumb for Bee Thirtyone dot Three piping:

1) All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal concentric with the hole.
2) All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length.
3) All pipe is to be of the very best quality, perfectly tubular or pipular.
4) All acid proof pipe is to be made of acid proof metal.
5) O.D. of pipe must exceed the I.D. otherwise the hole will be on the outside.
6) All pipe is to be supplied with nothing in the hole so that water, steam or other stuff can be put inside at a later date.
7) All pipe is to be supplied without rust, as this can be more readily applied at the job site.
8) All pipe is to be cleaned free of any covering such as mud, tar, barnacles, or any form of manure before putting up, otherwise it will make lumps under the paint.
9) All pipe over 500 feet long must have the words "long pipe" clearly painted on each end so that the fitter will know that it is long pipe.
10) Pipe over two miles long must also have these words painted in the middle so that the fitter will not have to walk the full length of pipe to determine whether or not it is a long pipe.
11) All pipe over six inches in diameter is to have the words "large pipe" painted on it so that the fitter will not use it as small pipe.
12) All pipe closers are to be open on one end.
13) All pipe fittings shall be made of the same stuff as the pipe.
14) No fittings are to be put on the pipe unless specified. Otherwise straight pipe becomes crooked pipe.
15) Fittings come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Be sure to specify the direction you are going when ordering.
16) Fittings come bolted, welded, or screwed. Always use screwed. They are the best.
17) If flanges are to be blank or blind, the big hole in the middle must be filled with metal.
18) All flanges must be cast or forged of the very best quality iron metal, close grained, free from blow holes, lumps, cavities, pock marks, pin pricks, and warts, otherwise we can't use them.
19) Gaskets shall be used to fill in the space between flanges.
20) Gaskets are to be made of metal, rubber, plastic, paper, or some king of goop. Do not use cow or sheep manure, it cracks when it gets dry.
21) All bolts are to be screwed.
22) All bolts must have a head on one end and a nut on the other.
23) Bolts without heads are to be furnished as studs.
24) Studs without heads are to be screwed all over and have two nuts, which is standard. Studs with three nuts shall not be used since they would be odd.
25) All nuts are to be furnished in sacks. Sacks must be whole and sound, with a minimum of two nuts per sack. Paper sacks will not be tolerated.
26) All piping shall be installed with valves.
27) All valves must have an opening on each end with a flapper in the middle which goes up and down or sideways when you turn the wheel or crank so that it will open or close. Otherwise the stuff will run out of the ends.
28) Valves are to be furnished by the kind required as follows:
* Ball valves shall have a ball inside.
* Gate valves shall have a gate inside.
* Globe valves shall have a globe inside.
* Check valves shall have a check inside. Czech's will not be tolerated except in the Czech Republic.
* Angle valves shall have an angle inside.
* Plug valves shall have a plug inside.
* Diaphragm valves shall have a diaphragm inside.
29) Ball valves are not to be used anywhere with a female connection.
30) Diaphragm valves shall only be used with a female connection.
31) All completed pipe lines must go somewhere and connect to something. The fitter shall verify this prior to turnover.

 
I'm always forgetting about #31. :)
 
IF YOU ARE IN DESIGN START WITH CALCULATION FOR WALL THICKNESS. YOU CAN ALSO CHECK "PROCESS INDUSTRY PRACTICE"(PIP) WHICH HAS SOME EXPLANATION ON ASME B31.3
 
Nice post jte. You get a star for cheering me up. I am sitting in my cubicle at 9:30 at night, just finishing up a piping material specification. I took your post and put it on the companies standard template for specifications and stuck it on my bosses desk for approval.

Hope he's in a good mood tomorrow morning...
 
JTE, that was excellent.
As if the book isn't confusing enough, then one must add the annual colorful revisions.
 
Actually, say goodbye to your multi color code. They way I understand it, we're now just going to a two year complete update cycle instead of a three year cycle with addenda in the in between years.

Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas

All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.
 
I have run a model 150 psig/370 deg F Steam @ 8" nom. diam. which ties-in axially to a 12" existing steam header. The existing steam header with multiple branch connections is hanged with plain hangers and in fact all the connections going back to the boiler. No seismic restraints can be seen anywhere around the header, not untill a few hundred feet of downstream lines where guides/slides, anchor and a expansion loop are visible. Briefly, the header is kind of floating with no any seismic bracing. My first attempt to model the existing header and connections to the hard anchors, yeild some overloading on the boiler nozzles. when I modeled it with our new system tie-in, loads and moments get even higher even with an expansion joint. Flex-Hose Co. has recommended their TriFlex Loop Expansion Loop and a seismic connector. I could scan and send the detail to anybody intrested if needed. My problem is how to incorporate this expansion loop into Caesar to reduce the effect of our new system tie-in into the existing system. It looks like a conventional expansion U-Loop with flange connections on both sides. The two offset legs are sort of a braided stainless steel hose which basically are the main elements that absorb axially and laterally loads and moments. Has anybody got any idea on how to handle this loop into modeling? Thanks a lot for an advice.

Eduard47
 
Technically, this might not answer your inquiries directly but surely would help. Hope you don't have this yet at your desk. Try: Process Piping, The Complete Guide to ASME B31.3 by Dr. Charles Becht (2002).

Eduard47
 
Hi 280474, Thank for the laugh. May I add to your list ? Here it is: ' Install the pipe on the pipe rack at a height such that it prevents any vehicle of greater height from passing underneath.'
 
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