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The Benefits of Stainless Steel Fittings

Stainless steel is a versatile material that is used in many different applications. The two most common types of stainless steel are austenitic which is highly corrosion resistant and ferritic which is magnetic.

In this blog we are going to break down the basics of what austenitic stainless steel is, the key benefits it provides and where the uses of stainless steel fittings can be most beneficial.

Stainless Steel

All steels have the same basic iron and carbon composition along with nickel, but stainless steel also contains chromium - the alloy that gives stainless steel its well-known corrosion resistance.

Austenitic stainless steel contains high levels of chromium and nickel and low levels of carbon providing a balance of strength, workability and corrosion resistance. The standard stainless steel alloys used in plumbing applications contains between 18-20% chromium and 8-12% nickel, as well as small amounts of carbon 0.08% and manganese 2%. Austenitic stainless steel has the highest corrosion resistance and are the most commonly used type of stainless steel around the world.

Benefits of Stainless Steel Fittings

Stainless steel offers a wide range of benefits to the architect and designer of plumbing systems:

Material Benefits

The combining of corrosion resistance with high strength allows the reduction in wall thickness and weight. Stainless steel is resistant to heat and chemical damage. It can withstand very high flow rates - in excess of 40m/s, making it capable to withstand long-term exposure to the elements in almost any environment.

Environmental Benefits

Stainless steel can be used in all types of water, including drinking water in public supply. It has an excellent resistance to the full range of potable waters, including various chloride levels. At the end of its useful life, stainless steel is fully recyclable and retains a higher residual scrap value than ordinary steel.

Economic Benefits

Stainless steel is low maintenance and requires no additional coating, in both indoor and outdoor applications. The expected lifetime of a stainless steel system is more than 50 years, reducing system down time, replacement and maintenance costs over the life of the installation.

Stainless Steel Fitting Applications

With all the benefits that come with stainless steel there are equally just as many applications where these fittings can be utilized. Here are some key beneficial areas:

Residential & Commercial water systems that are subject to various stresses.

Commercial & Industrial piping systems that are needing to perform well under the toughest and harshest conditions.

Industrial Projects for sanitary or highly corrosive applications.

There are three kinds of marine hydraulic flange standards: asian system represented by Japanese standard, European system represented by German standard and North American system represented by the United States. German standard and American standard varieties are more complete, but in the shipbuilding industry is far less than the use of Japanese standard. The conventional flange of JIS is more popular, while the hydraulic flange is not separate into a system, commonly used only 210 Kgf /cm2, 280 Kgf /cm2 and 350 Kgf /cm2 three specifications.

For a long time, high pressure marine hydraulic flange has few specifications, high price, long delivery time and other problems in the market. Considering that the number of hydraulic flanges required throughout the ship is not much. Some shipyards with machining ability often manufacture high-pressure hydraulic flanges by themselves. This paper mainly discusses the basic points of marine hydraulic flange design and gives a design example.

Marine flange design
 

There are many methods for marine flange design, such as bach method based on material mechanics, waters method based on elastic analysis by TY8100 method, and analysis method based on plastic limit load, etc. These methods are too cumbersome and complicated for engineering applications. Based on the JIS hydraulic flange standard, this paper explores a design method suitable for shipyards.

What components make up a full hose assembly?

When looking at a full hose assembly, it is basically a length of hose with a properly attached fitting on each end. Robert J. Koehler, Sr. Training Specialist at Eaton Corporation, explained that a hose assembly is composed of the hose and the end fittings, which are determined by the application in which the hose assembly is going to be placed.

Hydraulic hoses have three major components, he said, which include the following: