Tools › Mechanical Design › Pressure Vessels › Bolted Flange Joint › Example
NPS 8 class 150 weld-neck flange with a spiral-wound gasket at 150 psi: Appendix 2 bolt loads, hub factors, flange stresses and rigidity
| Tool | Bolted Flange Joint |
| Source | American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2023). ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 1, Mandatory Appendix 2 (cited; the method of Waters, E. O., Rossheim, D. B., Wesstrom, D. B., and Williams, F. S. G. (1937), Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 59, pp. 161–169); the method checked against Rodabaugh, E. C., O'Hara, F. M., Jr., and Moore, S. E. (1976), FLANGE: A Computer Program for the Analysis of Flanged Joints with Ring-Type Gaskets, ORNL-5035, Appendix A Example 1 and Table A.2. |
| Level | Professional |
Problem
An NPS 8 class 150 weld-neck flange (illustrative B16.5 dimensions: A 13.50 in, bore 7.981 in, t 1.12 in, hub g_0 0.322 in to g_1 0.8545 in over h 2.397 in, bolt circle 11.75 in, eight 3/4-10 UNC bolts) seals a spiral-wound gasket (OD 10.62 in, ID 9.00 in, m 3.0, y 10,000 psi) at 150 psi with SA-193 B7 bolts (25,000 psi) and an SA-105 flange (20,000 psi, E 29 Msi). Find the effective gasket width and reaction diameter, the operating and seating bolt loads and required area against the bolts provided, the flange moments, the K, T, U, Y, Z and F, V, f factors, the hub, radial and tangential stresses at both conditions against the Appendix 2 limits, and the rigidity index.
Inputs to Enter
- Integral flange; A 13.5, B 7.981, t 1.12, g_0 0.322, g_1 0.8545, h 2.397, C 11.75 in; flat gasket OD 10.62, ID 9.00 in, m 3.0, y 10,000 psi
- 8 × 3/4-10 UNC bolts (root area 0.302 in² each), S_b = S_a = 25,000 psi; P = 150 psi; S_fo = S_fa = 20,000 psi, S_n = 17,100 psi (hub welded to pipe), E = 29 Msi
Answers
- N = 0.81 in, b_0 = 0.405 in > 1/4 in → b = 0.5 √b_0 = 0.3182 in, G = G_o − 2b = 9.984 in
- H = π G² P/4 = 11,742 lb, H_p = 2b π G m P = 8,982 lb, W_m1 = 20,724 lb; W_m2 = π b G y = 99,801 lb; A_m = 3.992 in² (seating governs) against A_b = 2.416 in²: M.S. −0.39, the known shortfall of a B16.5 class 150 flange with a high-seating-stress gasket (the standard rates the flange, UG-44)
- W = (A_m + A_b) S_a/2 = 80,101 lb; h_D 1.457, h_T 1.384, h_G 0.883 in; M_o = 24,733 lb-in, M_gs = 70,745 lb-in; B_s = 4.61 in exceeds 2a + 6t/(m + 0.5) = 3.42 in (B_sc = 1.327 if applied)
- K = 1.6915: T 1.6288, U 4.2503, Y 3.8678, Z 2.0746; h_0 = 1.6031 in, g_1/g_0 = 2.654, h/h_0 = 1.495: F 0.6420, V 0.07503, f = 1 (the computed ratio −0.015 is below 1), e 0.4005 /in, d 574.6 in³, L 1.0385
- Operating: S_H 4,087, S_R 3,802, S_T 1,669 psi, averages 3,944 / 2,878 psi; seating: S_H 11,690, S_R 10,874, S_T 4,773 psi, averages 11,282 / 8,231 psi; all within 1.5 S_f and S_f (governing M.S. +4.07 operating, +0.77 seating); J = 0.064 / 0.184 (rotation about 0.02° / 0.06°)
Notes
The tool's default inputs are this joint; press Submit. The B16.5 dimensions are illustrative values flagged on the form (the standard is cited only). The method itself is checked by test_bolted_flange_joint.php against the printed Example 1 of ORNL-5035 (60 in API 605 300 lb flange: every load, moment and flange stress of Table A.2 reproduced to the printed digits or within 0.02 %), Table 3 of ORNL/Sub/2913-3, the Code's limiting factor values, a scipy solution of Waters' tapered hub and twenty seeded flanges against an independent numpy implementation.