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Piping Engineering Guides

Long-form method guides written by the same licensed engineer who maintains the calculators — the reasoning and code history behind a topic, not a rephrased standard. Where a guide quotes a number, the number traces to a cited paragraph or a fixture-verified calculation.

GuideASME B31J Stress Intensification & Flexibility Factors vs B31.3 Appendix DASME B31.3-2020 deleted Appendix D and mandates B31J for SIFs and flexibility factors. What changed, why, the practical impact, and how to handle legacy work. GuideHydrostatic vs Pneumatic Leak Testing — ASME B31.3 and B31.1When ASME B31.3 permits a pneumatic leak test instead of hydrostatic, the 1.5·P·ST/S formula, the ¶345.2.1 ceilings, and a worked example. Free calculator. GuideASME BPE-2026 Hygienic Piping Design — Dead Legs, Drainability and CIP VelocityASME BPE-2026 hygienic design: the L/d ≤ 2 dead-leg rule, all four GSD slope designations, and the 5 ft/s CIP target — with a free calculator for each. GuideLoad Cases — ASME B31 Flexibility (Stress) Analysis RequirementsLoad cases for ASME B31.1/B31.3 pipe stress analysis — sustained, occasional, expansion, test — and how ASCE 7 wind and B31E seismic loads enter the model. GuideBolted Flange Connections Under Piping Loads: Equivalent Pressure to VIII-2 Part 4.16How to check a bolted flange for piping moments and axial force: the Kellogg equivalent-pressure screen, ASME VIII-1 UG-44(b), and VIII-2 Part 4.16. GuideSupport Stiffness in Pipe Stress Models: When "Rigid" MisleadsCAESAR II and AutoPIPE default every restraint to rigid. Real supports run far softer. How to calculate support stiffness and when rigid misleads you. GuideSupporting Relief Valve Piping — Reaction Forces, Stanchions and Load PathGet the PSV discharge reaction force (API 520-II, B31.1 App. II), apply it as an occasional load, and support the outlet with a stanchion into steel. GuideHow to Read a Piping Isometric Drawing — Symbols, Welds, Dimensions and OffsetsHow to read a piping isometric drawing: the 30° axes, title block, north arrow, dimensions, weld marks, symbols and rolling offsets, with figures.

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