Piping Material Engineers Handbook

BOLTING

Flanges may be joined with either hex head bolts or studs nutted on each end. The length of the bolt or stud should be limited so that only two threads protrude beyond the nut. This prevents exposed threads from corroding which permits easier removal of the nut for future disassembly. Cast Iron Flange bolting is given by ANSI B16.1 Steel Flange bolting is listed in ANSI B16.5.

TYPES OF BOLTS
1. Two types of bolting are available: the studbolt using two nuts and the machine bolt using one nut. 2. Both boltings are shown below. 3. Studbolts have largly displaced regular bolts for bolting flanged piping joints. Three advantages of using studbolts are: a. The studbolt is more easily removed if corroded. b. Confusion with other bolts at the site is avoided. c. Studbolts in the less frequently used sizes and materials can be readily made from the round stock.

BOLT HOLES
1. Bolt holes in flanges are equally spaced. 2. Specifying the number of holes, diameter of the bolt circle and hole sizes sets the bolting configuration. All this information is provided in relevant standard. 3. Flanges are positioned so that bolts straddle vertical and horizontal centerlines. This is the normal position of bolt holes on all flanged items. (Straddle means on both sides)

Piping Material Engineers Handbook

4. The number of bolts used to join any standard flange pair is always divisible by four. 5. It is important to ensure that when piping is fabbed in a shop that it fit in the field. 6. A common designation in pipe spool drawings is 2HU, which means to the fabricator that there should be two holes up at the vertical quarter point of a flange. 7. Another way of saying this on piping drawings is to note that bolt holes straddle centerline. 8. Because the number of holes is divisible by four, if any of the bolt holes of a flange straddle the centerline, then they all do. 9. If your spool was simply a straight length of pipe with a flange on each end, you would still want the flanges to have the same orientation with respect to each other in order to ensure that there was consistency among the spools. 10. This will assure fit-up in the field.

BOLTING THEADS

Dielectric Connections
1. Stray electrical currents can accelerate corrosion, so it is desirable to electrically isolate underground piping using dielectric connections at the flanges. 2. A dielectric sleeve covers the bolts, and dielectric washers electrically insulate the nuts from the flange surfaces. 3. The gasket separates the flange faces eliminating metal-to- metal contact between the flanges. 4. Thus isolated, the underground portion of the pipe is usually coated and wrapped to further shield it from contact with earth. 5. The next step in protection is to provide a sacrificial anode that is bonded to the pipe electrically. 6. The anode corrodes instead of the pipe. This is called cathodic protection.

Piping Material Engineers Handbook

7. Zinc is commonly used as the sacrificial anode, with the pipe acting as the cathode.

BOLTING PROCEDURE
In general, the flange faces must be brought together in a parallel fashion. This is especially critical for corrugated metal gaskets to prevent the corrugations from being deformed unevenly as the bolts are tightened. The procedure for bolting up flanges is generally: 1. Visually inspect the flanges to ensure that the faces are flat, with no burrs or nicks. 2. Check the threads of the fasteners by ensuring that the nuts can be turned by hand onto the bolt or stud. Replace defective fasteners. 3. Lubricate bolt or stud threads, as well as the contact surfaces of the washers and nuts. Do not apply lubricant to flange or gasket faces, and never use any liquid or metallic based lubricants on the gaskets, as these could deteriorate the gasket material. The lubricant must be approved by the gasket manufacturer and should be spread evenly and thinly. Hardened washers should be used under nuts. 4. Center the gasket on the flange. For a raised face flange, use several of the bolts to help align the gasket. The gasket OD will closely match the ID of the circle formed by the bolts. 5. Draw the flanges together evenly using a star bolting pattern. The bolts should be torqued to 30 percent of the final torque value. The idea is to get the flanges to compress the gasket as evenly as possible. Torque wrenches should be used for this and the wrenches need to be calibrated periodically. 6. Following the same star pattern, the bolts should be torqued to 60 percent of their final torque value. 7. Using the same star pattern, torque the bolts to the final torque value. 8. Complete one more pass at torquing the bolts using an adjacent bolt-to-bolt sequence. 9. Re-torque the bolts 12 to 24 hours after initial installation when possible to minimize any creep in the joint.

Bolt Torques
It is the internal stress of the bolt that keeps the gasket in compression and provides a leak-tight joint. Most gasket manufacturers recommend a stress of 45,000 psi (310 N/ mm2).

BOLTING MATERIALS

Piping Material Engineers Handbook

Piping Material Engineers Handbook