flange

Look up flange in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Railway wheel flange, left & tram wheel flange, right

A flange is an external or internal ridge, or rim (lip), for strength, as the flange of an iron beam such as an I-beam or a T-beam; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc., or on the lens mount of a camera; or for a flange of a rail car or tram wheel. Thus flanged wheels are wheels with a flange on one side to keep the wheels from running off the rails. The term "flange" is also used for a kind of tool used to form flanges. Pipes with flanges can be assembled and disassembled easily.

Plumbing or piping

Surrey flange

A flange can also be a plate or ring to form a rim at the end of a pipe when fastened to the pipe (for example, a closet flange). A blind flange is a plate for covering or closing the end of a pipe. A flange joint is a connection of pipes, where the connecting pieces have flanges by which the parts are bolted together.

Although the word flange generally refers to the actual raised rim or lip of a fitting, many flanged plumbing fittings are themselves known as 'flanges':

Common flanges used in plumbing are the Surrey flange or Danzey flange, York flange, Sussex flange and Essex flange. Surrey and York flanges fit to the top of the hot water tank allowing all the water to be taken without disturbance to the tank. They are often used to ensure an even flow of water to showers. An Essex flange requires a hole to be drilled in the side of the tank.

There is also a Warix flange which is the same as a York flange but the shower output is on the top of the flange and the vent on the side. The York and Warix flange have female adapters so that they fit onto a male tank, whereas the Surrey flange connects to a female tank.

A closet flange provides the mount for a toilet.

Pipe flanges

There are many different flange standards to be found worldwide. To allow easy functionality and inter-changeability, these are designed to have standardised dimensions. Common world standards include ASA/ANSI/ASME (USA), PN/DIN (European), BS10 (British/Australian), and JIS/KS (Japanese/Korean).

In most cases these are not interchangeable (e.g. an ANSI/ASME flange will not mate against a JIS flange). Further, many of the flanges in each standard are divided into "pressure classes", allowing flanges to be capable of taking different pressure ratings. Again these are not generally interchangeable (e.g. an ANSI/ASME 150 will not mate with an ANSI/ASME 300). ^[1]

These pressure classes also have differing pressure and temperature ratings for different materials. Unique pressure classes for piping can also be developed for a process plant or power generating station; these may be specific to the corporation, engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, or the process plant owner. The ANSI/ASME pressure classes for Flat-Face flanges are 125# and 250#. The classes for Ring-Joint, Tongue & Groove, and Raised-Face flanges are 150#, 300#, (400# - unusual), 600#, 900#, 1500#, and 2500#.^[2]

The flange faces are also made to standardized dimensions and are typically "flat face", "raised face", "tongue and groove", or "ring joint" styles, although other obscure styles are possible.

Flange designs are available as "weld neck", "slip-on", "lap joint", "socket weld", "threaded", and also "blind".^[3]

ASME standards (U.S.)

ASME type flange on a gas pipeline

Pipe flanges that are made to standards called out by ASME B16.5 or ASME B16.47 are typically made from forged materials and have machined surfaces. B16.5 refers to nominal pipe sizes (NPS) from ½" to 24". B16.47 covers NPSs from 26" to 60". Each specification further delineates flanges into pressure classes: 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500 and 2500 psi for B16.5; B16.47 delineates its flanges into pressure classes 75, 150, 300, 400, 600, 900.

The gasket type and bolt type are generally specified by the standard(s); however, sometimes the standards refer to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (B&PVC) for details (see ASME Code Section VIII Division 1 - Appendix 2). These flanges are recognized by ASME Pipe Codes such as ASME B31.1 Power Piping, and ASME B31.3 Process Piping.

Materials for flanges are usually under ASME designation: SA-105 (Specification for Carbon Steel Forgings for Piping Applications), SA-266 (Specification for Carbon Steel Forgings for Pressure Vessel Components), or SA-182 (Specification for Forged or Rolled Alloy-Steel Pipe Flanges, Forged Fittings, and Valves and Parts for High-Temperature Service). In addition, there are many "industry standard" flanges that in some circumstance may be used on ASME work.

Other countries

Flanges in other countries also are manufactured according to the standards for materials, pressure ratings, etc. Such standards include DIN, BS, and/or ISO standards.

Vacuum flanges

A vacuum flange is a flange at the end of a tube used to connect vacuum chambers, tubing and vacuum pumps to each other.

Form factor of PDR and CBR flanges.

Microwave RF

In microwave telecommunications, a flange is a type of cable joint which allows different types of waveguide to connect.

Several different microwave RF flange types exist, such as CAR, CBR, OPC, PAR, PBJ, PBR, PDR, UAR, UBR, UDR, icp and UPX.

Ski boots

The sole extensions at the toe and heel of this ski boot produce flanges used to clip into the ski bindings.

Ski boots used for downhill skiing are connected to the ski via ski bindings that grip flanges at the toe and heel of the boot. These are formed by extending the sole of the boot slightly beyond the dimensions of the foot. The size and shape is standardized in ISO 5355.

See also

• Casing head
• Closet flange
• Victaulic

References

Further reading

• ASME B16.5 Standard Pipe Flanges up to and including 24 inches nominal
• ASME B16.47 Standard Pipe Flanges above 24 inches
• ASME Section II (Materials), Part A - Ferrous Material Specifications
• Nayyar, Mohinder (1999). Piping Handbook, Seventh Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-047106-1.