Designing, calculating and verifying piping systems.
A piping system is only designed once three questions are answered: which components is it made of, does it withstand the pressure, and where does the force go when it heats up? Everything belonging to these three questions is collected here.
- Technical terms
- 40
- Guides
- 8
- Calculators
- 2
The first question is answered by the piping class: for a combination of fluid, pressure and temperature it defines which pipes, flanges, gaskets and valves may be used. In Europe the basis is the EN 13480 series within the Pressure Equipment Directive; international plant engineering frequently works to ASME B31.3.
The second question is answered by the wall thickness calculation – a short equation for straight pipe, separate rules for bends, branches and flanges. The third is answered by the pipe stress analysis: it shows the stresses from weight, thermal expansion and external loads, the loads arriving at pump and vessel nozzles, and how anchors, guides and spring hangers carry the line.
The terms below – from primary stress to constant hanger – each have their own page. The two calculators give the minimum wall thickness and the change in length for a first estimate; they do not replace the verification.
What we do in this field
Piping Classes
Piping class specifications for all nominal sizes to EN 13480, AD 2000 or ASME.
View servicePipe Stress & Dynamics
Stress analysis, support concepts and resonance studies for piping systems.
View serviceControl Valves
Sizing of control and pressure regulating valves to IEC 60534 using the Kv method.
View servicePump Sizing & Plant Design
Pumps, valves and system curves sized correctly – for maximum performance at the duty point.
View serviceSafety Devices
Sizing of safety valves and rupture discs – the last link in the safety chain.
View servicePlant Construction
Process plants – planned, built, documented and commissioned.
View serviceCheck the numbers yourself
Pipe wall thickness calculator
Minimum wall thickness of straight pipe under internal pressure to EN 13480-3 or ASME B31.3 – and the ordered thickness that results once corrosion al...
Open calculatorPipe thermal expansion calculator
By how many millimetres a pipe run grows between installation and operation – the figure with which the design of expansion loops, expansion joints an...
Open calculatorThe questions, answered in full
Piping classes to EN 13480
A piping class is a design check that is carried out only once.
Read the articlePiping classes to ASME B31.3
Schedule and class are designations – the calculation still has to be done.
Read the articleCreating a piping class: an example
The calculation is short. The work lies in the decisions before it.
Read the articlePipe stress analysis or good engineering practice (RAGAGEP)?
Not every pipe needs a complex calculation model. What matters is whether its mechanical safety can be assessed unambiguously with proven rules – or w...
Read the articleExpansion loop or expansion joint?
It is not only the movement that counts – but also where the forces go.
Read the articlePiping vibration – causes and countermeasures
Allow thermal movement. Limit vibration deliberately.
Read the articleCalculating the Kv value
A control valve is sized for a range, not for a point.
Read the articleCharacteristic and cavitation
The characteristic in the catalogue is not the characteristic in the plant.
Read the articleEvery term, explained individually
40 Terms- ASME B31.3
- ASME B31.3 is an internationally used code for process piping, particularly in the chemical and petrochemical industries.
- Bellows expansion joint
- A bellows expansion joint absorbs movement through the elastic deformation of one or more metal bellows. Its spring rates and allo...
- Cold spring and preload
- Preload is a force or deformation applied deliberately before the operating condition – in piping as cold spring, and as the prese...
- Connection loads
- Connection loads are the forces and moments a piping system transmits to connected equipment, machinery, valves or supporting stru...
- Constant hanger
- A constant hanger supports a pipe over a larger range of movement with an almost constant supporting force.
- Design load case
- A design load case is the combination of pressure, temperature and other actions that governs the dimensioning of a piping system.
- Dynamic piping analysis
- A dynamic analysis examines time-dependent loads, for example from pressure surges, earthquakes or pulsating forces.
- EN 13480
- EN 13480 is a European series of standards for metallic industrial piping, covering materials, design and calculation, fabrication...
- EN 1591
- EN 1591 contains calculation methods for bolted flange connections. They are used to assess the loading of the components and the...
- Expansion joint
- An expansion joint absorbs relative movement within a piping system. Depending on its type it can take up axial, lateral or angula...
- Expansion loop
- An expansion loop absorbs thermal changes in length through the elastic deformation of the pipe itself and so reduces the forces c...
- Flange load
- Flange loads are forces and moments that act on a flanged joint in addition to internal pressure and can affect its strength or ti...
- Local stress analysis
- A local stress analysis examines individual highly stressed areas – a nozzle, a branch, a welded attachment – in more detail than...
- Nozzle load
- Nozzle loads are the forces and moments that a piping system transmits to a nozzle of a vessel or other equipment.
- Occasional loads
- Occasional loads occur only temporarily or rarely. They include, for example, wind, earthquake and certain dynamic loads.
- Operating load case
- An operating load case describes a specific condition of a piping system with defined temperatures, pressures, contents and, where...
- Pipe anchor
- An anchor prevents defined movements of a pipe and transmits forces and moments into the supporting structure.
- Pipe guide
- A guide limits the lateral movement of a pipe while normally allowing movement along the pipe axis.
- Pipe stress analysis
- Pipe stress analysis is the calculation and assessment of the mechanical loading of piping systems under weight, temperature chang...
- Pipe stress calculation
- A pipe stress calculation determines stresses, displacements, forces and moments in a piping system under various load conditions...
- Pipe support
- Pipe supports carry, guide or anchor piping and transfer the resulting loads to steelwork, buildings or other structures.
- Pipe support spacing
- Support spacing is the distance between two pipe supports. It influences deflection, pipe stresses and support loads.
- Pipe wall thickness calculation
- The pipe wall thickness calculation determines the minimum wall thickness required for pressure, temperature and material under th...
- Piping class
- A piping class defines suitable materials, components, pressure ratings and design requirements for a specific range of operating...
- Pressure surge
- A pressure surge is a short-term change in pressure caused by rapid changes in flow conditions, for example when valves or pumps a...
- Pressure test
- In a pressure test the piping system is subjected to an increased test pressure. The additional weight of the test fluid can creat...
- Primary stress
- Primary stresses result from external forces and moments and from internal pressure. They are not self-limiting; excessive primary...
- Pump nozzle loads
- Pump nozzle loads are the forces and moments that connected piping transmits to the suction and discharge nozzles of a pump.
- ROHR2
- ROHR2 is a program system for the structural analysis of piping systems, covering stresses, displacements, support loads and nozzl...
- ROHR2fesu
- ROHR2fesu allows a detailed finite element investigation of selected areas of a global ROHR2 model, such as nozzles or special com...
- Secondary stress
- Secondary stresses arise from imposed deformation, for example restrained thermal expansion. They are usually self-limiting but ca...
- Seismic load
- Seismic loads result from earthquake accelerations. In pipe stress analysis they can be considered, for example, through accelerat...
- Sliding support
- A sliding support carries the pipe while allowing defined relative movement, for example due to thermal expansion.
- Spring hanger
- Spring hangers support piping that moves vertically. Their supporting force changes with the spring travel.
- Stress intensification factor
- The stress intensification factor accounts for the increased local loading of piping components such as bends, tees and branch con...
- Support reaction
- Support reactions arise at supports, anchors and connections as the response to the loading and deformation of the piping system.
- Thermal expansion
- Piping changes its length with temperature. If this movement is restrained, considerable forces and stresses can arise.
- Vibration analysis
- Vibration analysis examines the dynamic motion of a piping system and is used, among other things, to assess resonance and cyclic...
- Water hammer
- Water hammer is a transient event in liquid-filled systems in which rapid changes in flow velocity cause strong pressure waves.
- Wind load
- Wind loads act in particular on piping installed above ground outdoors and can cause additional lateral forces, moments and suppor...
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