Unlisted Materials
Registered fittings for Canadian use need to be made from certified materials but if they
are not listed in a North American standard then adoption is required. When this is allowed
and how it is applied is discussed, along with the pitfalls.
LINK
Unlisted Materials
File: File:PVE-4245, Last Updated: Aug 20 2014, By: LRB
Background
To register fittings, design validation based on code calculations, finite element analysis or proof
testing is required. When a design is based on code listed materials, the code of construction
provides allowable operating stress levels. If the design of the pressure containing item is
simple, the regular code rules can be used and will supply a pass/fail judgement. If no code
rules exist for a complex or unusual shape, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) can provide the
stresses which can be compared with the listed allowables for a pass/fail judgement.
An alternate to FEA is to proof test the item at stress levels far above operating. The items
actual and guaranteed minimum tensile strengths are required for the proof test. The formula
used is from VIII-1 UG-101(m):
Eqn-1
Where B is the burst test pressure and P the allowed operating pressure. The burst test has to
be at least 4 times the operating pressure. E is the welding efficiency if the item is welded –
typically between 0.7 and 1.0. Two more pieces of information are required – Su – the specified
minimum tensile strength of the material and Suavg – the tensile test results from the item
under test. Typical proof test pressures are 5-6x operating pressure, a requirement in many
cases more conservative than regular code calculations or FEA.
For code listed materials, all of the required information is available for either calculations/FEA
or for burst testing.
Unlisted Materials
https://pveng.com/home/asme-code-design/asme-methods-blog/ 1/4
9/4/2019 ASME Methods Blog – Pressure Vessel Engineering
Codes B31.1 and B31.3 are useful for registering fittings because they allow unlisted materials
to be adopted and because they provide fewer restrictive design rules. However, if your design
looks like a small vessel you might have to use VIII-1.
Eqn-2
This is a typical formula for adopting unlisted material in B31.3. Sy and St are the materials
guaranteed minimum strength. More complex methods are used at higher temperatures where
the materials creep properties need to be taken into account. Lack of availability of elevated
temperature material properties can severely limit the adoptability of unlisted materials. Caution:
see Unlisted Material Registration Problems below.
https://pveng.com/home/asme-code-design/asme-methods-blog/ 2/4
9/4/2019 ASME Methods Blog – Pressure Vessel Engineering
Fig 1 – the unknown materials test results after specified minimum tensile and yield
strengths are chosen.
What happens if the guaranteed minimum is set too low? If the product is to be burst test, per
Eqn-1, the required burst test is increased by the ratio of Su/Sur, where Su is the specified
minimum burst test, and Sur the test results from the item under test. If samples 1, 2 and 3 are
taken from the test object, Sur = average(47,46,44) = 45.6. If the specified minimum is 40 ksi,
then the burst test ratio is 4 x 45.6/40 or 4.56x. However if the specified minimum was set too
low, to 20 ksi, then the ratio would be 4 x 45.6/20 or 9.12x.
If the product will not be used at ambient, then elevated materials properties are required. For
CRN applications, temperatures above 100ºF are considered elevated (source unknown).
Additional elevated temperature material testing is required to cover the design conditions.
The manufacturer needs to document the minimum specified properties and other
characteristics of the unlisted material with no specified strength per B31.3:
Alberta requires that this document be published on the manufacturers web site available for
unrestricted access.
Unknown Materials
If all of the above fails, many Canadian reviewers will allow a fitting to be registered with
“unknown” materials if it can be proof tested to 10x operating pressure (no tensile strength
testing required, no guaranteed minimum specification provided). This category includes many
plastics that are not covered by the piping codes, glass, ceramics and steels that cannot be
adopted by the above methods.
https://pveng.com/home/asme-code-design/asme-methods-blog/ 3/4
9/4/2019 ASME Methods Blog – Pressure Vessel Engineering
However, testing to 10x operating pressure is a severe test not possible with many products.
https://pveng.com/home/asme-code-design/asme-methods-blog/ 4/4