Flat Face Flanges With Metal-to-Metal Contact Beyond the Bolt Circle

Abstract

A method of designing flat face flanges with metal-to-metal contact beyond the bolt circle is described. The design method takes into account the interaction between shell and flange and provides for continuity at the flange-shell junction. Weld neck flanges, where the hub is of uniform thickness, and flange rings welded directly to a shell are discussed in detail, however, the same analytical approach can be extended to include tapered, hubbed flanges. Although the approach is fundamentally rigorous, sophisticated analyses have been omitted in favor of making the method useful to most engineering design offices.