September 30, 2016

Memorandum
From: Frank Britt, Britt Engineering

Subject: White Paper: FRP Flange Design

Ref: Thomas E. Graham, FRP Flanges for Process Pipe and Tanks, NACE, 1989

This white paper should be of interest to those who have worked with or specified
FRP flanges. Stresses in flanges are multidirectional but the metal material has the
same properties in the three major directions. So when you do an analysis for metal
flanges you have the same properties irrespective of the direction and that makes the
analysis less complicated.
However in FRP this is not the case the material has variable properties in different
directions this makes it difficult to do. We are not aware of any one who has ever
presented a reasonable approach that would provide stresses close to those
acquired from testing but this paper discusses some of the historical problems.

Background
In 1986-87 we encountered some major flange failures that developed after about a
year of service in a new bleach plant in NC. We performed the pipe stress analysis
and provided assistance to the client’s purchasing department during the bidding
process. The low bidder offered the two piece flange even though integral flanges
were specified the bid was accepted by the client. Also the client had experienced
earlier problems with filament wound pipe and designated contact molded for all
systems. Some of these flange problems are presented in the NACE paper along
with incidences occurring at other plants that we were asked to analyze.

Graham’s paper was received with great interest and more than 100 copies were
distributed to the attendees of the 1989 conference. A US University and a German
University asked permission to use the information in a mechanical engineering
class. NACE was contacted and gave approval to use the copyright material.

Tom passed away some years ago but he conducted a number of seminars that were
requested by several engineering firms. I believe the information is relevant today
and may be of help to the ASME committee responsible for flange design.

Sincerely,

Frank Britt PE
Attachments: Thomas E. Graham, FRP Flanges for Process Pipe and Tanks, NACE, 1989,
ADDENDUM

FRP FLANGES for PROCESS PIPE and TANKS

By

T HO MA S E . G RA HA M P E

Co n s u lt in g E n gin ee r

Presented at

NACE

Tenth Biennial

MANAGING CORROSION WITH PLASTICS

SYMPOSIUM

November 6 1989

San Antonio, Texas

I. ABSTRACT:
This paper discusses details of manufacture, design, and application of contact
molded flanges used in process piping and tanks and includes case histories
and stress analysis of typical installations. Several failures will be discussed
along with an analysis of the causes. Fabrication methods that have
improved reliability and strength are presented.
II. INTRODUCTION:
FRP flanges become necessary when joining pipe to tanks, pumps, valves and
ot her equipm ent. T his necessit at es t hat FRP f langes match metallic flange
standards in regards to bolting patterns and flange diameters. Due to the lower
modulus of elasticity of FRP, along with other unique characteristics of
f iberglass, this requires careful design and good fabrication techniques in order to
achieve a seal under all service and environmental conditions.
This paper deals with the requirements for FRP flanges and some designs that
have worked and discusses some designs that have given problems in the past.
Only contact molded flanges are considered.

The main objective of a f langed joint is to affect a seal between the f iberglass
pipe and the component to which it interfaces. To prevent leakage in a
gasketed joint of any design, a bolt force is required to compress the softer
gasket material so that the gasket seating surface fills the asperities of the
contact faces of the two mating surfaces. Leakage is prevented only if the gasket
material actually fills all depressions of the seal contact faces and the flange-hub
assembly is sufficiently rigid that it is not distorted under the bending and
torsional effects of the eccentric loading of the flange due to pressure, gravity,
temperature, and bolt pre-load. This seal must be maintained throughout the life
of the joint.

Care must be exercised to prevent "blow-out" of the gasket due to low sealing
stress, especially on flanges that have a very slick surf ace such as t hose laid up
on a g lass surf ace. T he sam e results can occur if low durometer gaskets are
used for high pressure service. Gaskets of 40 durometer should not be used in
pressure service above 50 psi. (4)

III. FRP FLANGE REQUIREMENTS:

A. PS-15-69: W hen an engineer needs to design a flange he has a limited
number of resources to work with. NBS VOLUNTARY PRODUCT STANDARD
PS-15-69 has been, and continues to be, the main source for flange
information for FRP process pipe and duct. But, PS- 15-69 begins in
Section 3.5.7. on flanges, with the statement "The use of f langes shall
normally be kept to a minimum..." this doesn’t give the engineer a very
confident feeling about designing flanges. Then he looks in Table 5 for the
thickness requirements and f inds that the table is not f illed out f or large
pipe diameters and high design pressures.(1)

B. ASME SECTION VIII: Having run into this dilemma he turns to the ASME
CODE SECTION VIII for BOILER AND PRESSURE VESSEL DESIGN only to
find the following under ARTICLE 3-4 entitled FLANGES W ITH OTHER THAN
RING TYPE GASKETS, "The rules in Article 3-3 shall not be construed to
prohibit the use of other types of bolted flanged connections, such as
flanges using full-face gaskets or other means of fixing or clamping the
 flange at the bolt circle to provide effective restraint against flange deflection.
Such designs may be used provided they are designed in accordance with
good engineering practice and the method of design is acceptable to the
Inspector." [2]
C. Taylor-Forge method of design: Fortunately there have been a number of
efforts to use the Taylor-Forge flange design procedure for flat face flanges
(3) normally used in FRP piping systems. The background for this method is
in metallic flanges. FRP is an anisotropic material whereas the theoretical and
testing work or f langes is based on orthot ropic mater ial. The question has
to be raised as to whether the procedure is directly applicable. FRP flanges
that have been designed and used in the past become a bench mark in
evaluating the design methods for sizes and service condit ions wit hin this
exper ience range. However, m uch needs to be done in the area of f lange
testing and analytical work to bring flanges within the realm of component
design that is based on sound design standards that assures the engineer
that his design and specification of flanges will result in a reliable system
instead of a weak link.
IV. FRP FLANGE DESIGN:

TAYLOR-FORGE METHOD: Let us look at a typical flange to see what

potential problems might arise and what variables the designer has to work
with that can result in a reasonably sound design that can be fabricated with
as little difficulty as possible. Figure 2 shows a flange that is typical of that
used for FRP pipe. Since the bolting pattern is set by standards for metallic
pipe that usually mates to the FRP flange and the flange OD is set within
certain limits, that leaves the flange thickness and the hub reinforcing as
variables that can be changed to meet t he desig n r eq uir em ent s. T her e
does not appear t o be a restrictive limit on flange thickness except
economy in design, but there is a limit on the hub reinforcement
thickness because of the bolt location and a possible interference with the
installation of bolts. (See the right side of Fig. 1.)
The stresses that a flange undergoes are illustrated in figure 1 (see
Appendix). There are four primary stresses that normally determine the
design of the flange. These are, (1) S H, which is the longitudinal stress in the
pipe wall and hub area, (2) SR which is the radial stress in the flange at the
inside diameter of the flange, (3) S T which is the tangential or hoop stress
acting on the cross sectional area of the flange and is maximum at the inside
diameter of the flange acting in conjunction with SR , and (4) SR A D which is
the radial stress at the section where the bolt holes remove material and
weaken the section. (See the Appendix for nomenclature used in the analysis.)
These stresses result from installation and operating conditions which includes
loads from internal pressure, thermal effects, beam bending action, and
preload from the bolts. Some of these loads are direct loads that cause axial
tensile stress and some cause bending due to being eccentrically applied and
result in bending stresses that can add to the axial tensile stress. For
instance, all tensile loads that are transmitted through the flange to the
mating flange must travel through the bolts since this is the only structural
system that is capable of r esist ing t hese t ensi le loads. T he loa ds ar e
t r ansm it t ed back to the flange skirt which results in bending stresses in
the flange at the bolt locations. See Fig. 2 for flange loading assumptions for
stress analysis.
Now look at a typical design that illustrates a procedure for controlling
stresses within limits that can be tolerated for f iberglass pipe. PS-15-69 has a
 foot note under TABLE 5 f or f lange thickness selection which states that,
“This Table is based on a factor cf safety cf 8 TO 1 and a flexural strength of
20,000 psi. This latter value is slightly under the minimum f lexural strength
for laminates of 3/8 inch and up (see Table 1), due to the manufacturing
technique."[1] Other requirements of PS-15-69 include the hub reinforcing
length to be equal to four (4) times the flange thickness and the hub
reinforced thickness equal to 1/2 the flange thickness as a minimum. The
example problem will be performed on a 42 inch flange at 150 psi to illustrate
the problems that occur in designing large diameter, high pressure flanges.

The matter of hub reinforcement thickness is subject to some interpretation.

Some have assumed that the requirement is that the tapered portion of the
hub outside of the structural wall of the pipe be equal to 1/2 the flange
thickness as indicated in ASTM Standard D 3299 for tanks, (5) Table 4 of this
Standard shows this as a requirement for contact-molded flanged nozzles.
However, the table only applies to 25 psi rating. If the same requirements are
applied to 150 psi flanges, then the hub reinforcement extends out into the bolt
hole area and much of it is cut out when spot -f acing f or t he washer s and
bolts. This cutout material is not accounted for in the design procedure and
thus the flange is weakened to a point below the strength indicat ed b y t he
desig n pr ocedur e. PS- 15- 69 does not specifically state that this is a
requirement; but, when flanges are molded onto a piece of pipe, it becomes a
requirement due to the nature of the fabrication. This type of flange has had
problems in the past on some projects due to its two piece construction and
the weakened area at the secondary bond interface. Our example problem is
for an integral hub flange with one piece construction.
Three cases are calculated based on the hub reinforcement requirements, (1) The
hub dimension equal to 1/2 the flange thickness plus the pipe wall thickness, (2)
the hub thickness equal to 1/2 the flange thickness, and (3) the hub thickness set
t o clear t he spot face dim ension as m uch as possible. The results are
summarized in the following table:

CASE 1 CASE 2 CASE 3

FLANGE THICKNESS 3.0625 5.125 7.0625
MAX HUB THICKNESS 3.6563 2.5625 2.125
INTEFERENCE BETWEEN
HUB AND SPDTFACE 1.5313 0.4375 0.125
MAX. STRESS 2451.5 (S r) 2422.2 (Sh) 2520.3(Sh)

I t is e vi d ent wh en lo ok ing at t h es e t hr ee ca se s t hat t he h ub thickness is critical

in limiting the longitudinal stress at the hub-flange intersection. The flange thickness
has to increase much more than the reduction in the hub thickness as shown in
the three cases. The wall thickness for 150 psi rated HLU pipe necessitates that the
spot-face at least get into the fillet area of the hub-flange junction, even when no hub
is used as for case 3.
 FRP FLANGES for PROCESS PIPE and TANKS

V. DESIGNS THAT HAVE HAD PROBLEMS:

A. Twenty inch stock line in bleach plant:

The flanges involved were for 12 inch, 18" and 20" pipe. The project pipe
fabrication was split into two orders to expedite pipe shipment. Part of the
pipe was hand-lay-up and p ar t wa s f i l ame nt wo u n d. A ll of t h e f l a ng es
we r e h an d -la y-u p with stub flanges except in several cases where pipe
routing dictated that flanges be made onto some 90 degree elbows in order
to fit in the cramped space (see Fig. 5.) The flanges were photographed
and identified as to location.
The flange construction for the pipe is shown in figures 3 and 4. One
Fabricator laid the flange up directly on a straight pipe , section with the
hub reinforcement thickness equal to one half the flange thickness when
measured from the OD of the pipe (see Fig. 3). The pipe for this flange
was 150 psi contact molded pipe and the flange thickness was 2 5/16
inches from face of flange to the spot-face surface. The spot-facing for
the bolt holes cut into the hub area as shown in Figure 3b. The other
fabricator laid the flanges upon tapered pipe or fittings as shown Figs. 4
and 5. An effort was made to minimize the hub thickness to avoid
interference with the spot facing.

There were numerous cracks at the centerline of the bolt holes in both
directions as well as at the hub-flange int er sect ion. T he m ajor cr acks
t hat led t o leakag e wer e in the flanges that were fabricated according to
the technique shown in Fig 4, whereas the cracks in the flanges
constructed according to Fig. 3 appeared to be superficial even though they
were still of a concern. Much of this piping has since been replaced due to
process up grades.

A major failure occurred in a 20 inch flange that was made directly on a 90

degree elbow using the technique shown in Fig. 4 and 5. The line was a
chlorinated stock line operating at 87 psi and 160 degrees F. It was
located at the bottom of a 90 feet high chlorination tower and was a
critical line, both from a process and safety view point. Fortunately, the
failure was detected when it first began to leak badly and temporary
reinforcement was added to prevent a catastrophic failure until a new
elbow section could be fabricated using the technique shown in Fig. 3 and
installed.

Other contributing factors to the cracking and failure of the flanges were
the thin, hard gasket material used along with the high bolt torques that
were required to affect a seal. Flat face flanges with full face gaskets
require a sealing stress ever the entire area of the gasket which results in a
large bolt load if the gasket has a high durometer. A low durometer
gasket should be used to reduce the seating stress of the gasket and
thus result in lower bolt pre-load to effect and maintain a seal.

B. Twenty four inch diameter water line:

This case involved a 24 inch flange that failed due to bending stresses
that resulted from unrestrained expansion joint that induced bending
from pressure acting on a short offset. This flange was made up on a
stub flange section without any hub reinf orcement (see f ig. 6). The
system was designed for 25 psi, but actually operated at about 35 psi.
The flange f ailed upon start-up because there was an unrestrained

6
 expansion joint at the pump flange which isolated the FRP pipe f rom
pump vibr at ions. The yielding of t he expansion joint under pressure
created a high bending moment on the flange and it cracked immediately. It
was replaced with a higher rated flange and restraints were added to the
expansion joint.

C. A sixty-six inch diameter cooling water line for a power plant:

This flange was 6 inches thick and built on a piece of pipe with two piece
construction. It developed cracking at the flange-hub junction when the
restraining bolts at an expansion joint were left loose and the pressure
caused the elbow to move and induced a high bending moment.
Fortunately the flange was supported with a component support that acted
as a semi-anchor and reduced the bending moment on the flange.
D. A forty-two inch flange for a 100 psi salt water pumping station:

These flanges were fabricated 4 inches thick using one piece

construction. The Contractor called to complain about losing the gasket
due to blow-out even though he had used the recommended torque
supplied by the fabricator. The faces of the flange had been made on a
glass table and were very smooth and slick. This resulted in blow-out of
the gaskets even though the bolt torque was adequate for ordinary 100
psi service. After some calculations, it was decided to increase the bolt
torque 50 foot pounds from the original 120 foot pounds specified. All
the joints sealed except one. It was taken apart and some debris was found
between the flanges that caused the leakage. The f langes sealed with
the additional bolt loads without failure.
VI. RECOMMENDED FLANGE DESIGN AND DETAIL:

Fig. 7 shows a method of flange construction that the E n g i n e e r i n g

department has recommended and used on projects for m a n y
years. This flange is a one piece, integral unit. The hub reinforcement is built up
to a thickness equal to one half the flange thickness. W oven roving is made
continuous from the shell and hub into the flange as well as the mat layers. The
additional thickness of the flange is made up using donut shape sections of mat
alternated between the layers of woven roving.
Table 1 presents dimensions for this type of flange for sizes 2" through 42"
and pressure ratings from 25 psi through 150 psi. In the calculations an
attempt is made to minimize the interference between the spot-facing for the
bolt holes and the hub reinforcement by setting the hub reinforcement to clear
the spot-face diameter and determining the flange thickness required to bring
the stresses ti: 2500 psi or less. A minimum hub shell thickness is set at 1/2
the flange thickness. Thus, for larger diameters and pressures, the hub still
encroaches into the spot-face area for the bolts but is held to a minimum.
It can be noted that the flange thicknesses are greater than those listed in
Table 5 of PS-15-69 for many flanges in the table. If the initial assumption
had been based on using predetermined flange thicknesses and determining
the hub thickness required the flange thickness would have been the same
as in PS-15 where shown. Thus, it becomes obvious when performing
analysis on FRP flanges that the geometric restraints for mating up to steel
flanges dimensionally creates m a n y pr ob le m s. T h is i s c om p ou n de d b y t h e
f act t h at F R P analysis is being performed by procedures and with coefficients
that were derived through many years of research, testing and design of
steel f langes. The same testing and research needs to be performed on
fiberglass flanges to determine the proper procedures, proportions and factors of
 safety needed to provide reliable flanges. Such testing would need to be
performed on f ull scale test samples under realist ic conditions as they
occur for FRP pipe installations. This would involve all sizes and pressure
ratings acting under the combined effects of pressure and external bending
on the flanges at design temperatures. Various gasket materials should be
tested to determine the optimum durometer gasket to use and the optimum bolt torque
to affect a maintainable seal.

Table 2 gives the results of calculated bolt torques as determined by the

analysis that Table 1 is based on. The calculated torques are based on the
following:
Maximum calculated bolt torque:
Bolt load = W = .5 (Am+ Ab) Sa
Bolt torque = (k P Bd] 1/12, where: Bolt torque is in ft. -lbs.
k = .15 for lubricated bolts.
Testing indicates that this value can vary
between .10 and .23
P=single bolt load, lbs.
Bd = bolt diameter, inches
Minimum calculated bolt torque:
Bolt load = greater value of W m1 , or W m2 (see Appendix for
nomenclature and definition of terms.)
Bolt torque = (k P Bd) 1/12
Recommended torque is:
For 2" thru l6":
Bolt torque = Min. torque + 2/3 (Max. torque - Min. torque),
but not less than 25 ft. lbs.
For 18" thru 42":
Bolt torque = 1/2 (Min. torque + Max. torque).
It should be noted that bolt torques for pressure piping flanges are affected by
many factors, such as type of gasket, length and type of bolts, flange elastic
modulus and rigidity, temperature, lubricity of bolts, etc. All gaskets creep after
they have been loaded by the flanges which results in reduced bolt load. Creep is
the tendency for the material to continue plastic deformation with no increase in
load. This creep relaxation is greater at higher temperatures. Since most piping
systems operate with a fluid temperature that is higher than the ambient
temperature at installation, creep due to increased temperature is of concern. It
has been reported that 90% of creep takes place in the first 24 hours at
operating temperature. This makes inspection after start-up an important tool to
assure proper bolt torques and other installation parameters have been performed
properly. If leaks do occur, the system pressure should be relieved prior to re-
torquing the bolts. Re-torquing should be done in approximately 10 ft-lbs
increments using the cross-torque method until the leak is stopped. If the maximum
bolt torque value in table 2 is reached without stopping the leak, the engineer
needs to be consulted to determine the cause to avoid over stressing the flange.
 FRP STUB FLANGE DIMENSIONS AND STRESSES

STUB FLANGE DIMENSIONS STRESSES

RATING SIZE Bd SF t SR ST
A B C N h g0 g1 LEIN 511 S RAD
-
PSI IN.

25 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 11/32 6 559 318 230 2,090
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/B 3/16 15/32 6 559 524 229 1,863
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 3/16 23/32 6 392 580 167 2,391
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 13/16 2 7/16 3/16 41/64 8 663 643 232 2,349
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 3/4 2 1/4 3/16 49/64 8 683 1,030 311 2,395
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 1/16 3 3/16 3/16 7/8 10 691 716 216 2,327
12 19 12 17 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 3 3/16 1 1/4 10 474 1,082 358 2,427
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 1 1/8 3 3/8 1/4 1 12 831 945 294 2,425
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 1 1/4 3 3/4 1/4 1 1/4 12 649 940 294 2,502
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 1 3/8 4 118 1/4 7/8 12 1,243 751 418 2,377
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 1 9/16 4 11/16 1/4 I 15 1,124 689 291 2,393
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 1 5/8 4 7/8 1/4 1 1/8 15 1,160 813 423 2,423
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 1 7/8 5 5/8 5/16 1 3/8 18 1,079 840 266 2,412
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 2 7/16 7 5/16 3/8 1 1/2 21 1,162 650 300 2,492
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 11/2 3 1/8 2 1/2 7 1/2 3/8 1 7/8 24 969 787 302 2,454

50 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 11/32 6 1,117 636 460 2,090
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 15/32 6 1,118 1,047 458 1,863
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 3/16 23/32 6 784 1,159 334 2,391
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 13/16 2 7/16 3/16 41/64 8 1,326 1,286 463 2,349
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 3/4 2 1/4 1/4 49/64 8 1,381 2,057 626 2,395
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 1/16 3 3/16 1/4 7/8 10 1,365 1,389 529 2,327
12 19 12 17 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 3 1/4 1 1/4 10 995 2,200 632 2,427
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 1 1/8 3 3/8 5/16 1 12 1,677 1,894 579 2,410
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 1 1/4 3 3/4 5/16 1 1/4 12 1,336 1,903 526 2,491
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 1 1/2 4 1/2 3/8 7/8 12 2,475 1,266 689 1,974
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 1 9/16 4 11/16 3/8 1 15 2,242 1,361 640 2,360
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 1 5/8 4 7/8 7/16 1 1/8 15 2,503 1,707 553 2,386
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 1 7/0 5 5/8 1/2 1 3/8 18 2,198 1,672 566 2,364
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 2 7/16 7 5/16 5/8 1 1/2 21 2,385 1,311 553 2,444
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 1 1/2 3 1/8 2 1/2 7 1/2 3/4 1 7/8 24 2,049 1,610 445 2,396

75 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 t 7/8 3/16 11/32 6 1,676 954 690 2,128
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 15/32 6 1,677 1,571 686 1,900
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 3/16 23/32 6 1,176 1,739 501 2,432
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 13/16 2 7116 1/4 41/64 8 1,944 1,881 784 2,372
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 7/8 2 5/8 1/4 49/64 8 1,906 2,203 825 1,768
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 1/16 3 3116 5/16 7/8 10 2,068 2,098 760 2,336
12 19 12 17 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 1/4 3 3/4 3/8 1 1/4 10 1,408 2,119 591 1,562
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 1 1/4 3 3/4 3/8 1 12 2,424 2,260 810 1,940
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 1 3/8 4 1/8 7/16 1 1/4 12 1,987 2,352 671 2,049
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 6 1/2 7/8 12 2,482 994 713 1,097
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 3/16 6 9/16 1/2 1 15 2,386 958 688 1,187
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 2 1/2 7 1/2 5/8 1 1/8 15 2,420 961 686 992
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 2 7/8 Ii 5/8 3/4 1 3/8 18 2,512 982 645 985
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 3 3/8 10 1/8 1 1 1/2 21 2,465 958 574 1,250
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 1 1/2 3 1/8 3 13/16 11 7/16 1 1 7/8 24 2,499 %8 573 1,005

9
 FRP STUB FLANGE DIMENSIONS AND STRESSES

STUB FLANGE DIMENSIONS STRESSES

PRESSURE PIPE SR ST
Bd SF t
RATING SIZE A B C N h g0 gl LOTH SH S-RAD
PSI IN.
100 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 11/32 6 2,235 1,273 920 2,167
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 5/8 1 7/8 3/16 15/32 6 2,236 2,094 915 1,937
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 1/4 23/32 6 1,554 2,267 745 2,472
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 7/8 2 5/8/8 1/4 41/64 8 2,504 2,126 968 2,065
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 1 3 5/16 49/64 8 2,458 2,216 911 1,360
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 3/8 4 1/8 3/8 7/8 10 2,446 1,585 801 1,400
12 19 12 17 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 3/8 4 1/8 7/16 1 1/4 10 1,867 2,306 71B 1,299
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 2 6 1/2 1 12 2,472 1,034 793 753
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 1 5/8 4 7/B 9/16 1 1/4 12 2,508 2,200 763 1,461
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 1/4 6 3/4 5/8 1 1/8 12 2,491 1,015 746 856
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 7/16 7 5/16 11/16 1 7/32 15 2,443 996 740 943
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 2 13/16 8 7/16 13/16 1 13/32 15 2,452 991 671 772
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 3 1/4 9 3/4 1 1 5/8 18 2,508 998 619 754
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 3 13/16 11 7/16 1 1/4 1 29/32 21 2,505 983 503 960
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 1 1/2 3 1/8 4 5/16 12 15/16 1 7/16 2 5/32 24 2,479 975 557 766

125 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 11/16 2 1/16 3/16 11/32 6 2,475 1,219 1,070 1,822
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 1/4 15/32 6 2,355 1,640 1,040 1,371
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 13/16 2 7/16 1/4 23/32 6 1,856 2,362 871 2,141
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 1 1/4 3 3/4 5/16 41/64 8 2,483 1,159 858 1,021
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 1 7/16 4 5/16 3/8 49/64 8 2,477 1,199 846 661
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 13/16 5 7/16 7/16 29/32 10 2,286 1,000 876 809
12 19 12 17 12 7/B 1 7/8 1 1/2 4 1/2 1/2 1 1/4 10 2,263 2,390 829 1,097
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 2 1/4 6 3/4 5/8 1 1/8 12 2,318 990 782 591
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 2 3/8 7 1/8 11/16 1 1/4 12 2,502 1,155 808 681
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 1/2 7 1/2 3/4 1 1/4 12 2,429 1,008 711 685
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 3/4 8 1/4 7/B 1 3/8 15 2,488 1,004 516 730
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 3 3/16 9 5/16 1 1 19/32 15 2,433 977 459 591
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 3 5/8 10 7/8 1 1/4 1 13/16 18 2,399 970 5B9 593
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 4 3/16 12 9/16, 1 1/2 2 3/32 21 2,424 972 560 779
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 1 1/2 3 1/8 4 3/4 14 1/4 1 3/8 2 3/8 24 2,445 976 528 615

150 2 6 2 4 3/4 4 5/8 1 7/16 3/4 2 1/4 3/16 3/8 6 2,212 1,120 1,202 1,558
3 7 1/2 3 6 4 5/8 1 7/16 7/8 2 5/8 1/4 15/32 6 2,444 1,324 1,086 1,026
4 9 4 7 1/2 8 5/8 1 7/16 7/8 2 5/8 1/4 23/32 6 2,157 2,421 936 1,876
6 11 6 9 1/2 8 3/4 1 19/32 1 3/8 1 1/8 7/16 13/16 8 2,329 1,065 977 852
8 13 1/2 8 11 3/4 8 3/4 1 19/32 I 5/8 4 7/8 7/16 13/16 8 2,386 1,065 888 520
10 16 10 14 1/4 12 7/8 1 7/8 1 15/16 5 13/16 1/2 31/32 10 2,380 1,054 867 710
12 19 12 17 12 7/B 1 7/8 1 13/16 5 7/16 5/8 1 1/4 10 2,495 1,897 839 756
14 21 14 18 3/4 12 1 2 1/8 2 3/8 7 1/8 3/4 1 3/16 12 2,469 1,064 803 528
16 23 1/2 16 21 1/4 16 1 2 1/8 2 11/16 8 1/16 13/16 1 11/32 12 2,422 1,047 791 529
18 25 18 22 3/4 16 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 11/16 8 1/16 15/16 1 11/32 12 2,422 1,022 735 585
20 27 1/2 20 25 20 1 1/8 2 3/8 2 7/8 8 5/8 1 1 7/16 15 2,477 1,038 722 658
24 32 24 29 1/2 20 1 1/4 2 5/8 3 5/16 9 15/16 1 1/4 1 21/32 15 2,502 1,032 645 538
30 38 3/4 30 36 28 1 1/4 2 5/8 3 7/8 11 5/8 1 1/2 1 15/16 18 2,452 1,002 575 508
36 46 36 42 3/4 32 1 1/2 3 1/8 4 1/2 113 1/2 1 7/8 2 1/4 21 2,440 988 544 661
42 53 42 49 1/2 36 1 1/2 3 1/B 5 1/8 115 3/8 2 1/8 2 9/16 24 2,422 977 523 515

10
 FRP FLANGE BOLT TORQUE COMPARISON

PRESSURE NUMBERBOLTS BOLT WASHER MASHER BOLT BEARING STRESSCALC. BOLT TORO. BOLT TORQUES FROM BOOKS & CATALOGS
NOMINALDIAMETER
RATING DIA. DIA. AREA LOAD MASHER GASKET MAX. MIN. REC. A/B C D E F 6 H

2 25 4 5/8 1 5/16 0.9112 2075 2278 330 16.2 2.1 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20

50 2138 2346 340 16.6 3.0 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20
75 2237 2455 356 17.5 4.7 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
100 2336 2564 372 18.2 6.2 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
125 2435 2672 388 19.0 7.7 25 25 25 80 31 25 25 20
150 2534 2781 403 19.8 9.3 25 25 25 BO 31 25 25 20
..
_-
__
3 25 4 5/8 1 5/16 0.9112 2126 2333 229 16.6 2.9 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20
50 2233 2450 241 17.4 4.6 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20
75 2379 2611 257 18.6 6.9 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
100 2526 2772 272 19.7 9.2 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
125 2673 2933 28B 20.9 11.5 25 25 25 80 31 25 25 20
150 2820 3094 304 22.0 13.7 25 25 25 80 31 25 25 20
4 25 8 5/8 1 5/16 0.9112 2014 2298 328 16.4 2.4 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20
50 2180 2393 342 17.0 3.8 25 25 25 25 31 25 25 20
75 2300 2525 361 18.0 5.7 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
100 2421 2657 379 18.9 7.5 25 25 25 70 31 25 25 20
125 2541 2789 398 20.0 9.5 25 25 25 80 31 25 25 20
150 2662 2921 417 20.8 11.3 25 25 25 80 31 25 25 20
6 25 B 3/4 1 15/32 1.0931 3110 2845 373 29.2 4.0 25 25 25 25 52 25 25 30
50 3262 2984 391 30.6 6.8 25 25 25 25 52 25 25 30
75 3443 3150 413 32.3 10.2 25 25 25 70 52 25 25 30
100 3625 3316 434 34.0 13.6 30 25 25 70 52 25 25 30
125 3806 3482 456 35.7 17.0 30 35 35 80 52 35 35 30
150 3988 3648 478 37.4 20.4 35 40 40 80 52 40 40 30
8 25 8 3/4 1 15/32 1.0931 3172 2902 273 29.7 5.1 25 25 25 25 52 25 25 40
50 3417 3126 294 32.0 9.7 25 25 25 25 52 25 25 40
75 3676 3363 317 34.5 14.6 30 30 30 70 52 30 30 40
100 3934 3599 339 36.9 19.4 35 40 40 70 52 40 40 40
125 4193 3836 361 39.3 24.3 35 50 50 80 52 50 50 40
150 4452 4073 384 41.7 29.1 40 60 60 80 52 60 60 40
3/4 1.6199
10 25 12 7/8 1 4299 2654 421 47.0 6.4 30 25 25 25 75 25 25 80
50 4544 2805 445 49.7 11.4 40 25 25 25 75 25 25 80
75 4805 2966 471 52.,6 17.1 40 30 30 70 75 30 30 80
100 5066 3127 496 55.4 22.8 45 40 40 70 75 40 40 80
125 5327 3288 522 58.3 28.6 50 50 50 80 75 50 50 80
150 5588 3449 547 61.1 34.2 55 70 70 80 75 60 70 80
12 25 12 7/8 1 3/4 1.6199 4419 2728 311 48.3 8.7 35 25 25 25 75 25 25 80
50 4770 2945 336 52.2 16.4 40 25 25 25 75 25 25 80
75 5144 3176 362 56.3 24.6 45 35 35 70 75 35 35 80
100 5518 3406 389 60.4 32.7 50 45 45 70 75 45 45 80
125 5892 3637 415 64.4 40.9 60 60 60 80 75 60 60 80
150 6266 3868 441 68.5 49.1 65 80 80 80 75 75 80 80
14 25 12 1 2 2.1476 5702 2655 356 71.3 10.3 50 25 25 30 110 25 25 100
50 6115 2848 381 76.4 20.6 55 30 30 30 110 30 30 100
75 6528 3040 407 81.6 31.0 65 40 40 80 110 40 40 100
100 6941 3232 433 86.8 41.3 70 60 60 80 110 50 60 100
125 7354 3424 459 91.9 51.6 75 75 75 100 110 70 75 100
150 7767 3617 484 97.1 61.9 95 100 100 100 110 85 100 100
 FRP FLANGE BOLT TORQUE COMPARISON
PRESSURERATIN NUMBER BOLT WASHER WASHER BOLT
NOMINAL BEARING STRESS CALC. BOLT TORO. BOLT TORQUES FROM BOOKS & CATALOGS
G BOLTS DIA. DIA. AREA LOAD
DIAMETER
WASHER BASKET MAX. MIN. REC, A/B C DEFG H

16 25 16 1 2 2.1476 5698 2653 392 71.2 10.2 50 25 25 30 110 25 25 100

50 6106 2843 420 76.3 20.4 55 30 30 30 110 30 30 100
75 6514 3033 448 131.4 30.6 65 50 50 80 110 45 50 100
100 6922 3223 476 86.5 40.8 70 70 70 BO 110 60 70 100
125 7330 3413 504 91.6 56.0 80 80 80 120 110 75 80 100
150 7739 3603 532 96.7 61.2 85 -- -- 120 110 -- -- 100

18 25 16 1 1/82 1/4 2.7489 7089 2579 480 99.7 12.3 55 30 30 35 148 30 30 --

50 7525 2737 509 105.8 24.5 65 35 35 35 148 35 35 --
75 7960 2896 539 111.9 36.8 75 50 50 90 148 70 80 --
100 8396 3054 568 118.1 49.0 85 80 80 90 148 70 80 --
125 8832 3213 598 124.2 61.3 95 100 100 120 148 85 100 --
150 9268 3372 627 130.0 73.4 100 -- -- 120 148 -- -- --

20 25 20 1 1/82 1/4 2.7489 7064 2570 505 99.3 11.6 55 30 30 35 148 30 30 --

50 7475 2719 534 105.1 23.1 65 35 35 35 148 35 35 --
75 7886 2869 564 110.9 34.7 75 60 60 90 148 50 60 --
100 8297 3018 593 1116.7 46.3 85 90 90 90 148 80 90 --
125 8708 3168 623 122.5 57.8 90 -- -- 120 148 -- -- --
150 9120 3318 652 128.2 69.4 100 -- -- 120 148 -- -- --

24 25 20 1 1/42 1/2 3.4238 9122 2664 518 142.5 18.1 80 35 35 40 199 30 35 --

50 9700 2833 551 151.6 36.1 95 40 40 40 199 40 40 --
75 10278 3002 584 160.6 54.2 105 70 70 100 199 60 70 --
100 10857 3171 617 169.6 72.3 120 -- 100 100 199 85 100 --
125 11539 3370 918 180.3 93.6 140 -- -- 120 199 -- -- --
150 966 189.7 112.3 150 -- -- 120 199 -- -- --
12138 3545

30 25 28 1 1/42 1/2 3.4238 9143 2670 542 142.7 18.7 80 -- -- 45 199 -- -- --

50 9742 2845 577 152.2 37.4 95 -- -- 45 199 -- -- --
75 10341 3020 613 161.6 56.2 110 -- -- 110 199 -- -- --
100 10940 3195 648 170.9 74.9 125 -- -- 110 199 -- -- --
125 11435 3340 484 178.7 90.3 135 -- -- 120 199 -- -- --
' 150 12013 3509 509 1E17.7 108.4 150 -- -- 120 199 -- -- --

36 25 32 1 1/2 3 4.9946 13107 2624 651 245.7 27.1 135 -- -- 50 333 -- -- --

50 13829 2726 687 259.3 49.1 155 -- -- 50 333 -- --
--
75 14552 2914 723 272.8 131.3 175 -- -- 120 333 -- -- --
100 15275 3058 760 286.4 108.4 195 -- -- 120 333 -- -- --
125 15997 3203 795 300.0 135.5 215 -- -- 120 333 -- -- --
150 16720 3348 3:13.5 162.6 235 -- -- 120 333 -- -- --
831

42 25 36 1 1
/
2 3 4.9946 13244 2652 581 248.3 32.3 140 -- -- 55 -- -- -- --
50 14105 2824 619 264.5 64.5 165 -- -- 55 -- -- -- --
75 14965 2996 656 280.6 96.8 190 -- -- 120 -- -- -- --
100 15826 3169 694 296.7 129.0 215 -- -- 120 -- -- -- --
125 16686 3341 732 3112.9 161.3 235 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
150 17546 3513 770 329.0 194.0 260 -- -- -- -- -- -- --
 FRP FLANGES for PROCESS PIPE and TANKS
VII. CONCLUSIONS:

Poorly designed, fabricated or installed FRP flanges are a weak link in a piping
system. Attention must be paid to many aspects of design, fabrication, and installation to be
assured of a reliable flange. Short cuts or untried methods can lead to trouble. It does not
pay to cut corners on flanges to save a few dollars if the piping system is critical to plant
operations. Among the things that must be considered to obtain a good installation are,

(1) Select conservative proportions for the flanges such as those in table 5 of PS-15-69.
Increase the thickness if the flange is to be mounted on a thin wall pipe such as f ilament
wound pipe that has a structural wall below that listed in Table 3 of PS-15-69.

(2) Use one piece fabrication with as much integral hub reinforcement as practical on stub
flanges. Avoid building flanges on pipe sections and fittings if possible.

(3) Select a soft gasket with a Shore A or Shore A2 hardness between 40 and 70.

(4) Use the proper bolt torque to seat the gasket without overloading the flange. Place a
washer under the head and nut of the bolts that are in contact with fiberglass to avoid a
bearing stress under the washer that exceeds 2500 PSI.

(5) Provide good support close to the flange if it acts as a beam to avoid high bending
moments on the joint. Supports located at the inflection point (point of zero moment
would be ideal). Finally,

(6) use good installation procedures such as keeping the sealing surfaces clean, don't allow
the gasket to become twisted or crimped, lubricating the bolts, tighten the bolts using the
cross torque method and incrementally tightening the bolts until the proper torque is
obtained, and inspect the flanges after installation, hydro testing, and start-up to assure that
there is no visible damage or leaking.

Good flanges begin with good design and specification and are assured through
continuous inspection throughout the fabrication and installation. The extra cost of
a quality flange will provide peace of mind to the engineer and plant maintenance
superintendent.

The following symbols are used in the equations for the design of flat-faced flanges employing full-face
gaskets.

A = outside diameter of flange, in. (mm)

AB = total cross‐sectional area of bolts at root diameter of thread or section of least
diameter under stress, in. (mm)
2
Am = total required cross‐sectional area of bolts, the greater of Wm1/Sb or Wm2 /Sa, in.
2
(mm )
B = inside diameter of flange, in. (mm)
b = effective gasket width or joint‐contact‐surface seating width, in. (mm)
C = diameter of bolt circle, in. (mm)
d = shape factor for integral type flanges
=
d1 = bolt hole diameter
e = shape factor
= F/ho
F = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.3)
f = hub stress correction factor (Figure M1-300.3.4)
= 1 for calculated values less than 1
G = diameter of gasket load reaction
g0 = thickness of hub at small end
g1 = thickness of hub at back of flange
H = hydrostatic end force
HD = hydrostatic end force on area inside of flange
HG = difference between bolt load and hydrostatic end force
HGy = bolt load for gasket yielding
= bπGy
H′Gy = compression load required to seat gasket outside G diameter
Hp = total joint‐contact‐surface compression load
= 2bπGmp
Hp′ = total adjusted joint‐contact‐surface compression for full‐face gasketed flange, lb

=
HT = difference between total hydrostatic end force and the hydrostatic end force area
inside of flange
= H − HD
h = length of hub, in.
hD = radial distance from bolt circle to circle on which HD acts
hG = radial distance from bolt circle to circle on which HG acts
= radial distance from bolt circle to gasket load reaction

= flange lever arm

hT = radial distance from bolt circle to circle on which HT acts
K = ratio of inside flange diameter to outside flange diameter
L = length of flange including hub
M = unit load, operating, lb
= Mmax/B
Ma = moment under bolt‐up conditions
MD = component of moment due to HD
MG = component of moment due to HG
Mo = total moment
MT = component of moment due to HT
m = gasket factor
N = number of bolts
p = design pressure
Sa = allowable bolt stress at ambient temperature
Sb = allowable bolt stress at design temperature
SFa = allowable flange stress at ambient temperature
SFo = allowable flange stress at design temperature
SH = longitudinal hub stress
SR = radial flange stress
SRAD = radial stress at bolt circle
ST = tangential flange stress
T = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.5)
t = flange thickness
tn = pipe wall thickness
U = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.5)
V = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.2)
Wa = flange design bolt load
Wm1 = minimum bolt loading for design conditions
Wm2 = minimum bolt loading for bolt‐up conditions
Y = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.5)
y = gasket unit seating load
Z = shape factor (Figure M1-300.3.5)
21
24
23
ADDENDUM

3-19-2015

Technical Note

Improvement

A modification to the fabrication procedure as described in Figure 7 would be to

initially apply at least two layers of uni-directional glass around the hub after the
corrosion barrier has been completed. This would add hoop strength and may
prove to add bending strength to the flange. This procedure has not been tested
but there are plans to work with a fabricator to manufacture some 6” flanges for
testing.

Earlier burst tests, where a modified O Ring was used to seal the flanges,
indicated the flange to pipe joint failed before the seal leaked, flange or pipe
failed. Pressure as high as 2,200 psi was reached when the joint failed. While
this exceeds the ultimate pressure rating of the pipe and flange it indicates that
the joint could be improved.

The seal that was used in these tests is patent pending and is described in the
attached bulletin.

Frank Britt PE