engineering

Piping and plumbing fitting

Piping and plumbing fitting is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Piping and plumbing fitting rather than just read about it. In short: A fitting or adapter is used in pipe systems to connect sections of pipe (designated by nominal size, with greater tolerances of variance) or tube (designated by actual size, with lower tolerance for variance), adapt to different sizes or shapes, and for other purposes such as regulating (or measuring) fluid flow. These fittings can manipulate the conveyance of fluids such as water for potatory, irrigational, sanita…

Key takeaways

Piping and plumbing fitting belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Piping and plumbing fitting to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Piping and plumbing fitting from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A fitting or adapter is used in pipe systems to connect sections of pipe (designated by nominal size, with greater tolerances of variance) or tube (designated by actual size, with lower tolerance for variance), adapt to different sizes or shapes, and for other purposes such as regulating (or measuring) fluid flow. These fittings can manipulate the conveyance of fluids such as water for potatory, irrigational, sanitary, and refrigerative purposes, or other liquids like gas, petroleum, and liquid waste. Fittings allow multiple pipes to be connected to cover longer distances, increase or decrease the size of the pipe or tube, or extend a network by branching, and make possible more complex systems than could be achieved with only individual pipes. Valves are specialized fittings that permit regulating the flow of fluid within a plumbing system.

Standards

Standard codes are followed when designing (or manufacturing) a piping system. Organizations which promulgate piping standards include:

ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers A112.19.1 Enameled cast-iron and steel plumbing fixtures standards A112.19.2 Ceramic plumbing fixtures standard ASTM International: American Society for Testing and Materials API: American Petroleum Institute AWS: American Welding Society AWWA: American Water Works Association MSS: Manufacturers Standardization Society ANSI: American National Standards Institute NFPA: National Fire Protection Association EJMA: Expansion Joint Manufacturers Association CGA: Compressed Gas Association PCA: Plumbing Code of Australia Pipes must conform to the dimensional requirements of:

ASME B36.10M: Welded and seamless wrought-steel pipe ASME B36.19M: Stainless-steel pipe ASME B31.3 2008: Process piping ASME B31.4 XXXX: Power piping

Materials

The material with which a pipe is manufactured is often the basis for choosing a pipe. Materials used for manufacturing pipes include:

Carbon (CS) and galvanized steel Impact-tested carbon steel (ITCS) Low-temperature carbon steel (LTCS) Stainless steel (SS) Malleable iron Chrome-molybdenum (alloy) steel (generally used for high-temperature service) Non-ferrous metals (includes copper, inconel, incoloy, and cupronickel) Non-metallic (includes acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), Cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), and toughened glass; polybutylene has also been used, but is now banned in North America because of poor reliability) The bodies of fittings for pipe and tubing are often the same base material as the pipe or tubing connected: copper, steel, PVC, CPVC, or ABS. Any material permitted by the plumbing, health, or building code (as applicable) may be used, but it must be compatible with the other materials in the system, the fluids being transported, and the temperature and pressure inside (and outside) the system. Brass or bronze fittings are common in copper piping and plumbing systems. Fire resistance, earthquake resistance, mechanical ruggedness, theft resistance, and other factors also influence the choice of pipe and fitting materials.

Gaskets Gaskets are mechanical seals, usually ring-shaped, which seal flange joints. Gaskets vary by construction, materials and features. Commonly used gaskets are non-metallic (ASME B 16.21), spiral-wound (ASME B 16.20) and ring-joint (ASME B 16.20). Non-metallic gaskets are used with flat- or raised-face flanges. Spiral-wound gaskets are used with raised-face flanges, and ring-joint gaskets are used with ring-type joint (RTJ) flanges. Stress develops between an RTJ gasket and the flange groove when the gasket is bolted to a flange, leading to plastic deformation of the gasket.

Gender

Piping or tubing is usually inserted into fittings to make connections. Connectors are assigned a gender, abbreviated M or F. An example of this is a "3⁄4-inch female adapter NPT", which would have a corresponding male connection of the same size and thread standard (in this case also NPT).

Common piping and plumbing fittings

This section discusses fittings primarily used in pressurized piping systems, though there is some overlap with fittings for low-pressure or non-pressurized systems. Specialized fittings for the latter setups are discussed in the next major subsection.

Adapter

In plumbing, an adapter is generally a fitting that interfaces two different parts. The term commonly refers to:

any fitting that connects pipes of different materials, including: expansion adapters which have a flexible section to absorb expansion or contraction from two dissimilar pipe materials mechanical joint (MJ) adapters for joining polyethylene pipe to another material bell adapters which are like mechanical joint adapters but contain a stainless steel backup ring to maintain a positive seal against the mating flange flange adapters which attach to a polyethylene pipe with butt fusion to stiffen a junction and allow another flanged pipe or fitting to be bolted on a fitting that connects pipes of different diameters, genders, or threads (see § Coupling below) adapter spools (also called crossover spools), used on oilfields and pressure control, have different diameters, pressure ratings or designs at each end adapters to convert NPT to BSP pipe threads are available a fitting that connects threaded and non-threaded pipe

Elbow

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Piping and plumbing fitting

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Piping and plumbing fitting claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Piping and plumbing fitting before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Piping and plumbing fitting ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Piping and plumbing fitting

In research: Piping and plumbing fitting appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Piping and plumbing fitting in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Piping and plumbing fitting is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Bathrooms, Building engineering, Piping, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Piping and plumbing fitting outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Piping and plumbing fitting in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Piping and plumbing fitting means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Piping and plumbing fitting out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Piping and plumbing fitting in simple terms?

Why does Piping and plumbing fitting matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Piping and plumbing fitting?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Piping and plumbing fitting.