3 Part 2, Section II—Materials and Specifications

The first (1914) edition [1] of Rules for the Construction of Stationary Boilers and for Allowable Working Pressures was adopted in the spring of 1915 [2]. The book consisted of 114 pages, of which 35 pages—the first 178 paragraphs—were dedicated to materials. Part I of the 1914 edition was dedicated to Section I (Power Boilers). Material specifications were provided in Section I for important materials used in the construction of boilers. Only riveted construction was permitted; the specifications included the materials permitted for rivets. The material requirement was that the rivets be made of steel or iron and be manufactured to specifications written specifically for Boiler—Rivet Steel or Iron. It must be noted that fusion-welded construction for pressure-boundary parts was not permitted until the 1931 Edition of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel (B&PV) Code was published.

The materials, for the most part, were similar to those of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM); however, they were not duplicates. Meetings were held between representatives of ASTM and the Boiler Code Committee; consequently, in the 1918 Edition of the Boiler Code there was a much closer agreement between the ASME Boiler Code and those used for the ASTM Specifications.

Specifications provided in Part I of Section I (Power Boilers) included materials needed for the design and fabrication of power boilers. The specifications included in the 1914 Edition of the Boiler Code are shown in Table 3.1.1. For the most part, Firebox-quality steel was to be used. (Steels were designated Firebox and Flange quality, the former having a higher quality than the latter [3].) The specifications in the first edition of the Boiler Code were unique to the needs of that time and therefore bear no resemblance to those in the current 2010 Edition of Section II.