A
flange is an external or internal
ridgeA ridge is a geological feature that features a continuous elevational crest for some distance.Ridge may also refer to:-Science:* Ridge , a domain of the genome with a high gene expression...
, or
rimThe rim of a wheel is the outer circular design of the metal on which the inside edge of the tire is mounted on vehicles such as automobiles. For example, on a bicycle wheel the rim is a large hoop attached to the outer ends of the spokes of the wheel that holds the tire and tube.In the 1st...
(lip), for
strengthShear strength in engineering is a term used to describe the strength of a material or component against the type of yield or structural failure where the material or component fails in shear. A shear load is a force that tends to produce a sliding failure on a material along a plane that is...
, as the flange of an
ironIron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
beamA beam is a horizontal structural element that is capable of withstanding load primarily by resisting bending. The bending force induced into the material of the beam as a result of the external loads, own weight, span and external reactions to these loads is called a bending moment.- Overview...
such as an
I-beam-beams, also known as H-beams, W-beams , rolled steel joist , or double-T are beams with an - or H-shaped cross-section. The horizontal elements of the "" are flanges, while the vertical element is the web...
or a
T-beamA T-beam, used in construction, is a load-bearing structure of reinforced concrete, wood or metal, with a t-shaped cross section. The top of the t-shaped cross section serves as a flange or compression member in resisting compressive stresses...
; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc., or on the
lens mountA lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is confined to cameras where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the single lens reflex type or any movie camera of 16 mm or higher gauge...
of a
cameraA camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
; or for a flange of a
rail carA rail car can be:* Railcar, a type of self-propelled passenger-carrying railway vehicle.* Railroad car, another type of railway vehicle, pulled by a locomotive....
or
tramA tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
wheelA wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through rotating on an axle through its center, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle,...
. Thus flanged wheels are wheels with a flange on one side to keep the wheels from running off the
railsThe rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to the length of the rail.In all but very early cast iron rails, a rail is hot rolled steel of a specific cross sectional profile designed for use as the fundamental component of railway track.Unlike some other uses of...
. 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
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 flangeIn plumbing, a closet flange is a pipe fitting that both mounts a toilet to the floor and connects the toilet drain to a drain pipe. The name comes from the term "water closet", the traditional name for a toilet. A typical closet flange is composed of an ABS or PVC hub with a round steel...
). 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 flangeIn plumbing, a closet flange is a pipe fitting that both mounts a toilet to the floor and connects the toilet drain to a drain pipe. The name comes from the term "water closet", the traditional name for a toilet. A typical closet flange is composed of an ABS or PVC hub with a round steel...
provides the mount for a
toiletA toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
.
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 (USA), PN/DIN (European), BS10 (British/Australian), and JIS/KS (Japanese/Korean).
In most cases these are not interchangeable (e.g. an ANSI 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 150 will not mate with an ANSI 300).
These pressure classes also have differing
pressurePressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
and
temperatureTemperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
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 flange faces are also made to standardized dimensions and are typically "flat face", "raised face", "
tongue and grooveIn manufacturing or mechanical engineering a groove is a long and narrow indentation built into a material, generally for the purpose of allowing another material or part to move within the groove and be guided by it. Examples include:...
", or "
ring jointA gland is a general type of stuffing box, used to seal a rotating or reciprocating shaft against a fluid. The most common example is in the head of a tap where the gland is usually packed with string which has been soaked in tallow or similar grease...
" styles, although other obscure styles are possible.
Flange designs are available as "welding neck", "slip-on", "boss", "lap joint", "socket weld", "
threadedA threaded pipe is a pipe with screw-threaded ends for assembly.- Tapered threads :The threaded pipes used in some plumbing installations for the delivery of gases or fluids under pressure have a threaded section that is slightly conical . This is called a "tapered thread"...
", and also "blind".
ASME standards (U.S.)
Pipe flanges that are made to standards called out by
ASMEThe American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
B16.5 or ASME B16.47 are typically made from forged materials and have machined surfaces. B16.5 refers to
nominal pipe sizeNominal Pipe Size is a North American set of standard sizes for pipes used for high or low pressures and temperatures. Pipe size is specified with two non-dimensional numbers: a nominal pipe size for diameter based on inches, and a schedule for wall thickness...
s (NPS) from ½" to 24". B16.47 covers NPSs from 26" to 60". Each specification further delineates flanges into
pressurePressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
classes: 150, 300, 400, 600, 900, 1500 and 2500
psiThe pound per square inch or, more accurately, pound-force per square inch is a unit of pressure or of stress based on avoirdupois units...
for B16.5; B16.47 delineates its flanges into pressure classes 75, 150, 300, 400, 600, 900.
The
gasketthumb|sright|250px|Some seals and gaskets1. [[o-ring]]2. fiber [[Washer |washer]]3. paper gaskets4. [[cylinder head]] [[head gasket|gasket]]...
type and
boltA screw, or bolt, is a type of fastener characterized by a helical ridge, known as an external thread or just thread, wrapped around a cylinder. Some screw threads are designed to mate with a complementary thread, known as an internal thread, often in the form of a nut or an object that has the...
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 is the German national organization for standardization and is that country's ISO member body. DIN is a Registered German Association headquartered in Berlin...
,
BSBritish Standards are the standards produced by BSI Group which is incorporated under a Royal Charter...
, and/or
ISOThe International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
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.
Microwave RF
In
microwaveMicrowaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
telecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s, a flange is a type of cable joint which allows different types of
waveguideA waveguide is a structure which guides waves, such as electromagnetic waves or sound waves. There are different types of waveguides for each type of wave...
to connect.
Several different
microwave RF flangeA waveguide flange is a connector for joining sections of waveguide, and is essentially the same as a pipe flange—a waveguide, in the context of this article, being a hollow metal conduit for microwave energy. The connecting face of the flange is either square, circular or , rectangular...
types exist, such as CAR, CBR, OPC, PAR, PBJ, PBR, PDR, UAR, UBR, UDR, icp and UPX.
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