Experimental results of ten girth weld and two unreinforced piping intersections recently tested at Paulin Research Group (PRG) are reported. Results are compared to the original Markl work [1–5] and to current ASME piping design code practices [6]. In addition, approximately 800 experimental tests from the literature [7–32] are compared to the new test results and the existing Mark1 equations. Findings indicate that the original mean girth weld equation provided by Mark1, which serves as the basis of the ASME piping codes, does not match trends expected for as-welded fatigue data. Discrepancies are apparent in the low and high cycle regimes. Finally, the new PRG test data and the existing data from literature are used to develop a new mean girth butt weld curve and to modify the existing ASME piping design codes.

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