ASME B31.

3 PIPE WALL THICKNESS

CALCULATION
Introduction to Pipes
Pipe wall thickness calculation

INTRODUCTION

Pipes are thin cylindrical shells which is used

transportation of fluids.
ASME B 36.10 is the dimensional standard for
Welded and Seamless Wrought Steel Pipe (CS,
LTCS, and LAS).
ASME B 36.19 is the dimensional standard for
Austenitic / Stainless Steel Pipes.

 Pipes based on the process of manufacturing are classified into

Seamless Pipe, Electric Fusion Welded Pipe (EFW), Electric
Resistance Welded Pipe (ERW). There are also other types such a
Spiral Welded pipe, Centrifugal Cast pipe etc., but is not suitable
for pressure applications.
Pipes based on types of materials are classified into Carbon Steel
pipe, Low Temperature Carbon Steel Pipe, Low Alloy Steel Pipe,
Stainless Steel Pipe are the materials used in major piping design.
There are also materials such as Hast alloy, Inconel, Monel, Cu-Ni
Alloy, CFRP, GFRP etc., are used for special applications.

 Pipes are made of standard sizes having several range of wall

thickness or weight.
G:\G1_International Standards\American\ASME\ASME\ASME B36
10M-1996.PDF
G:\G1_International Standards\American\ASME\ASME\ASME B36
19M-1985.PDF
Pipes are known by Nominal Pipe Size NPS (in inches) and
Diameter Nominal DN (in mm).

 Upto 12" NPS the Nominal diameter is approximately equal to

inside diameter of pipe.
Above 12" NPS the Nominal diameter is equal to the outer
diameter of the pipe.
Pipe wall thickness is designated based on weight and schedule.
The older system designates pipe as Standard (S), Extra Strong
(XS) and Double Extra Strong (XXS) which is based on pipe
weight.

 The newer system designates wall thickness by Schedules; such

as Sch 10,20,30,40,60,80,100,120,140,160. For Wrought steel
pipe, Sch 5S, 10S, 40S, 80S. For Stainless Steel Pipe.
Normally for all pipe sizes Sch40 corresponds to Standard (S) and
Sch80 corresponds to Extra Strong (XS).
Commercial pipes are normally available in 6m, 12m length.
Pipes are connected through flanges, welding (both butt and
socket welding), threaded.

 Dimensional standard for flanges is ASME B16.5 upto 24" NPS,

ASME B16.47 Series B above 24" upto 60NPS, above that AWWA
C-207 which ranges from 4 NPS to 144 NPS.
Dimensional Standard for Butt-welding end pipe is ASME B16.9,
and for Socket welded and threaded pipe ASME B16.11.

PIPE WALL THICKNESS CALCULATION

Pipe wall thickness design is for internal pressure.

When calculating pipe wall thickness operating pressure and
operating temperature is always multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to
get the design parameters. This factor is called safety factor.
The pipe wall thickness equation given in ASME B31.3 is based on
Hoop stress; t=PD/2S, where t-thickness, P- Internal Pressure, SHoop Stress.

Where,
t wall thickness of pipe in (mm)/(inch)
P- Design internal Pressure (PSI) /(MPa)/ Bar
D- Outer diameter of pipe (mm)/ (inch)
S- Allowable stress for the material of pipe (KSI) /(MPa)/ Bar
E- Weld Quality factor
W- Weld Strength reduction factor
Y Coefficient of material used

 1 inch = 25.4mm
1 bar = 14.5 psi = 100 Kpa
1 ksi = 1000 psi

Pipe wall thickness design calculation can be done by;

Line rating condition and Flange (Full) Rating condition.

 In any plant piping falls under,

150#,300# - 90%, 600#- 5%, 900#,1500#,2500# - 5%.

 Line rating condition : In this method the pipe thickness is calculated for the each and every
line according to the line rating or particular line design conditions.
This is method is generally used for large diameter pipes or special
cases such as use of costly alloys (such as Hast alloy, Cu-Ni, Inconel
etc. )
Pipes in 900# and above.
It is not preferred for cases where large number of pipes procured for
similar design conditions.

 Flange rating condition: In this method the pipe thickness design calculation is done based on
the flange rating.
Pipe is made stronger than flange.
This design is made to make the procurement more economical.
In this case in any case only flange fails and not the pipe, which saves
a huge cost in a process plant.
Rating/ Class of Flange as per ASME B16.5 are- 150, 300, 400, 600,
900, 1500, and 2500.

 A corrosion allowance based on process data is added to design

thickness to get the minimum required thickness. Normally for CS
pipe it is 3.0mm. For SS pipes its 0.0mm.
A mill tolerance of 12.5% is added to the required thickness for
seamless and mill-rolled pipe and a mill tolerance of 0.3mm is
added to the required thickness of plate fabricated pipe. Ref Std.
ASTM 01.01 for mill tolerance.

 Minimum selecting thickness

for CS

Minimum selecting thickness

for SS

1.1/2

Sch.80

Sch. 40 minimum.

2- 6

Sch.40

8-14

Sch.20

SAMPLE CALCULATION FOR LINE CONDITION

SAMPLE CALCULATION BY FLANGE RATING