DEVELOPING A FITNESS FOR SERVICE APPROACH FOR REDUCED TOUGHNESS CARBON STEEL PIPING, FLANGES & FITTINGS

摘要

It has been reported by multiple sources that recently manufactured piping, fittings, and flanges have reduced toughness and do NOT meet the ASME BPVC Section VIII Division 1 -20°F impact test exemption for listed components. All ASME B31.3 Figure 323.2.2A Curve B materials are considered to be potentially at risk, although the issue has not been found in piping components manufactured from plate materials. Recently, several owner/operators have undertaken toughness audits of new project components to quantify this issue. The results confirm a widespread and endemic problem with a substantial population of supplied components not meeting the toughness requirements for exemption. Industry response to date has been focused on collecting additional evidence to quantify the scale of the issue and to propose various changes to industry standards and specifications, to mitigate the potential for further issues with new production components. However, there currently is no focused industry effort in addressing what is suspected to be a substantial population of in-service components having reduced-toughness.