Bolted Joints

Pressure vessel and piping bolted flanged joints are one of the most complex items of equipment to analyse at any plant. Very few people in the world truly understand the complexities of the bolted joint and even fewer can provide practical guidance on how to eliminate joint leakage.

Dr Warren Brown, Principal Engineer at IES, is the author of over 50 papers, welding research council bulletins and research publications on bolted joints. He is a member of the ASME committees on bolted flange joint design and post-construction operation and vice-chairman of the ASME PCC-1 Committee. He was one of the principal authors of the revised ASME PCC-1-2013 “Guidelines for Pressure Boundary Bolted Joint Assembly”.

IES’s world-leading knowledge, experience, and capabilities uniquely positions it to assist with all aspects of the joint life cycle. To ensure leak free joints IES can provide, or perform:

• Design and assessment of bolted joints.
• Selection of most appropriate assembly methods and procedures.
• Prioritization / Risk-Assessments to optimise assembly effort and/or sealing technology.
• Operation practices and quality assurance to detect leaks early and resolve issues without major incident.
• Troubleshooting to identify and resolve any bolted flanged joint leakage issue.

In addition, IES offers products and services designed to facilitate plants improving their joint integrity:

• JADE Software
• Specifications and procedures for all aspects of a flange management program
• Nut Factor testing
• BFJ Training
• Flange Inspection Tools
• RT bolts, and the RT bolts logging system (www.rt-bolt.com)
• Flange assembly training rigs (www.ijaq.org)