What does SIFCO mean when they refer to their insert flanges as ASME Rated?
Standard one-piece pipe size flanges conforming to the ASME/ANSI B16.5 standard, ‘Pipe Flanges and Flanges Fittings’, are pressure rated for various temperatures. This allows piping and pressure vessel designers to select from a specific material, and to determine whether that flange has a high enough pressure and temperature rating for their required design conditions. Custom designed flanges made to mate with these standard ASME/ANSI flanges do not necessarily meet those pressure/temperature ratings published in B16.5. However, by using sufficient flange and insert thickness and subjecting these specialty flanges to a series of calculations for each of the pressure/temperature ratings listed in B16.5, the manufacturer may claim that their flanges can be safely used at those same pressure and temperature conditions given for the standard flanges. It is having successfully performed this series of calculations that SIFCO refers to as ‘ASME Rated’, i.e., their flanges meet the same pres
