Bolted Blind Flange Design As Per ASME

If there were no pressure differential between the contents and the outside, and no risk of corrosion, then the thing could be made of, say, alumin(i)um foil and still remain tight. So, the answer to the question depends upon the pressure rating of the equipment, the wetted materials and the wetting agent, all of which detail has been withheld from the forum. These things will be on the datasheet for the equipment as determined by the Process Engineer at front-end design well before this flange was conceived.

In the limit the thing, whatever it is, will be subject to a witnessed hydraulic pressure test to satisfy the Engineer/Surveyor for the insurance company that is to supply burst/collapse indemnity insurance cover for the equipment. So it makes sense to open and maintain a dialogue with that organisation for the purposes of verifying the design before anything is put out to manufacture, otherwise what has been built will not be insurable. The Process Engineer's datasheet forms part of the package that needs to be presented to the prospective insurers.

Over time, there is a chance of the thing reducing in strength due to corrosion/erosion, and that must be taken into account in the design and the above organisation/individual is in a good position to advise. After all, it will be witnessing also the periodic testing of the equipment as it ages for the purpose of validating, at intervals, that the equipment remains inside the safety envelope for the purposes of sustaining that insurance cover.

So get dialling!

Once the methodology has been established it would make sense to standardise the procedure so that others may follow it in the future, thereby saving time and reducing the waste of electrons.

Hello Slack,

Thanks for your reply.

This is the bolted blind cover flange for the pressure vessel with the internal design pressure of 6 Bar(g). Please explain the calculation procedure for this in detail as per ASME.

Regards,

Vishal Mistry

As the code already does this, the invitation is declined.

<unsubscribes>

I haven't looked at ASME VIII for a while, presumably it gives blind flange thickness for a range of pressure and diameter. But that is for a solid flange without your numerous holes, so not going to help you much, even if it also includes thickness calculation.

I doubt there's any way to calculate it precisely. You need to put on your mechanical engineer's hat and do some thinking, estimate required thickness, then add a safety factor (unless you're quite confident).

Rules are contained in ASME Section VIII Division 1 Appendix 2

https://kezareng.com/flange-design-calculation/

Best reference is Brownell, L. E., and Young, E. E. “Design of Flanges”, Chapter 12, in “Process Equipment Design”, John Wiley & Sons, New York (1959).

No, we will not spoonfeed you... You must get the references, read and study them.... like all of us have in the past

Hello MJCromin,

Thank you very much for your suggestion.

Regards,

Vishal Mistry

So, now that the calls have been made, what exactly does the organisation witnessing the hydraulic test for insurance purposes have to say on the design package presented to it? That is far more of interest than any opinion stated here and interested readers want to know that (as well as the pressure rating, the wetted materials and the wetting agent)...