Practical Aspects of Turbine Cylinder Joints

Existing American standards for steel flanged fittings satisfactorily cover the requirements for round pipe joints in the several pressure classifications, providing the type of flange is properly chosen for the particular service. The design of nongasketed, high-pressure, and high-temperature joints for steam-turbine cylinders is quite another problem, and an understanding of the principles underlying the design of steam-tight joints is necessary to its successful solution. It is the purpose of this paper to bring out the important considerations affecting such flanged joints and to note the general methods adopted for their analysis by the company with which the writer is associated.