Piping Materials for Flanges, Fittings, Valves and Pipes 01

Which materials should be used for the piping components?

This is a common question raised during design & procurement of pipes, fittings, flanges and valves.

Piping materials can be originally categorized as metals and non-metals. Non-metals usually refer to plastics such as thermoplastics and fibers as well as non-plastics such as concrete, glass and ceramic, etc. Metals(also called "metallic") materials are further classified into two big categories: ferrous which is iron-based and non-ferrous which is nickel, copper or aluminum based. Ferrous materials are classified into two sub-categories: iron and steel. Iron has two branches: wrought iron and cast iron. Wrought iron is a nearly pure iron that is often used in garden gates, fences and agriculture tools, etc. Cast iron series including gray iron, ductile iron and white iron are very important piping materials which can be used in sewage treatment, heat distribution and water supply project. The big family of steel includes high alloy steel(stainless steel for example), medium alloy steel(chromium and molybdenum alloy steel for example) and carbon steel(sub-classified into high carbon, medium carbonand mild carbon). We will introduce all main materials for pipe components step by step in following technical articles. Figure MTS01 below shows a clear architecture of piping materials for pipes, fittings, flange and valves.

Views: Author：hbmetals Date:15/02/05