Second Report of the Pipe Flanges Research Committee

The research † has continued to follow the main lines of the programme originally laid down by the Committee, with an important addition, namely that relating to the study of the creep relaxation of model flanges. Some sections of the work are still incomplete; in such cases the data so far obtained are recorded and discussed, but final conclusions must be postponed until the research is terminated.

The present report deals with the following sections of work:—(I) an investigation of conditions on the joint under which tightness is maintained at room temperature (p. 433); (II) an investigation of the behaviour of compressed asbestos packing materials under certain conditions of loading and temperature (p. 437); (III) the completion of the examination of the properties of the materials used in the bolt assembly tests (p. 439); (IV) experiments on full-scale bolted flange joints under conditions of high temperature and pressure (p. 441); and (V) creep relaxation tests on model flanges (p. 453).