Table 4.

16 Construction to ASME Intent: Key points

1 Code compliance
. A vessel built to ASME intent will not, by definition, be ASME stamped.
This means that there is no verification of full code compliance and the
vessel will not be recognized (either by statutory authorities or purchasers)
as a vessel that complies fully with the ASME code. Hence the reference
to ASME becomes a guideline to engineering practices only. For most
vessels built in this way, the adoption of ASME VIII practices is often limited
to the outer pressure shell only.
2 Materials
. Vessels built to ASME intent may not use ASME II specified materials nor
will materials have been recertified as required by ASME VIII part UG10.
Equivalent materials should be checked to make sure that elevated- and lowtemperature
properties are equivalent to the ASTM referenced materials in
ASME II. The most common differences relate to material impact properties.
. Material traceability requirements of ASME are not too difficult to
reproduce. A system using EN 10204 certificates of level 3.1B for pressure
parts is broadly compliant with the requirements of ASME VIII part UG94.
3 Manufacturing inspection
. The ASME Authorized Inspector (AI) will normally be replaced with a
different third party inspectorate. Although the inspection role will probably
be similar to that defined in UG90, an unauthorized inspectorate cannot
authorize ASME-stamping of the vessel.
. NDT is an important area. Most ASME-intent vessels will not use the A,
B, C, D joint types specified in ASME VIII and will probably use a simplified
extent of NDT (such as RT or UT on seam welds and DP/MPI on nozzle
welds). ASME defect-acceptance criteria (UW51 and 52) may be used but
are sometimes replaced by different agreed levels.
4 Documentation
. It it rare that documentation content causes significant problems with
ASME-intent vessels. Most competent manufacturers documentation