Nonmetallic Materials Part 1 — Thermoplastic Material Specifications

ASME Standards for Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Systems

AN A MERICAN NA TIONAL S T AND ARD

ASME NM.3.1-2020

(Revision of ASME NM.3.1-2018)

ASME NM.3.1-2020

(Revision of ASME NM.3.1-2018)

Nonmetallic Materials

Part 1 — Thermoplastic Material Specifications

ASME Standards for Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Systems

AN AMERICAN NATIONAL STANDARD

Two Park Avenue • New York, NY • 10016 USA

Date of Issuance: December 31, 2020

The next edition of this Standard is scheduled for publication in 2022. This Standard will become effective 6 months after the Date of Issuance.

ASME issues written replies to inquiries concerning interpretations of technical aspects of this Standard. Periodically certain actions of the ASME NPPS Committee may be published as Cases. Cases and interpretations are published on the ASME website under the Committee Pages at https://cstools.asme.org/ as they are issued.

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CONTENTS

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Committee Roster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

ASTM Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Correspondence With the NPPS Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Specifications Listed by Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Summary of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

Mandatory Appendices

FOREWORD

In 2011, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) established the Committee on Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Systems (NPPS) to develop standards for the construction of nonmetallic pressure piping systems. This Commit- tee’s goal was to specify construction1 requirements for nonmetallic piping and piping products; such requirements were not adequately defined in existing standards.

Prior to the development of the ASME Standards for Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Systems, nonmetallic pressure piping requirements were contained within several existing standards. The nonmetallic piping requirements of the ASME B31 Code for Pressure Piping varied across Sections, with some Sections having no requirements for nonmetallic components at all. Other standards and codes, such as ASME RTP-1 and the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC), Section X, included requirements for reinforced thermoset plastic (RTP) corrosion-resistant equipment but not for piping and piping components. ASME BPVC, Section III did have a few Code Cases that addressed requirements for some nonmetallic piping and piping components, including those made from glass-fiber-reinforced thermosetting resin (FRP) and a few thermoplastics, e.g., high density polyethylene (HDPE) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). However, the scope of these Code Cases was very limited, and in some cases the methodology was nearly 30 years old. The ASME NPPS Standards now serve as a centralized location for NPPS requirements and are developed by committees whose members are experts in this field. The NPPS Committee’s functions are to establish requirements related to pressure integrity for the construction of nonmetallic pressure piping systems, and to interpret these requirements when questions arise regarding their intent. ASME and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) have cooperated for more than 50 years in the preparation of material specifications adequate for safety in the field of pressure equipment. This cooperative

effort originated with metallic materials in ASME BPVC, Section II.

The evolution of this cooperative effort is described in Professor A. M. Greene’s “History of the ASME Boiler Code,” which was published as a series of articles in Mechanical Engineering from July 1952 through August 1953. The following quotations, which are based on the minutes of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Committee, are taken from Professor Greene’s history and illustrate the cooperative nature of the specifications found in ASME BPVC, Section II, Material Specifications:

“General discussion of material specifications comprising [Paragraphs] 1 to 112 of Part 2 and the advisability of having them agree with ASTM specifications.” (1914)

“An ASME Subcommittee . . . was appointed to confer with the American Society for Testing Mate- rials.” (1916)

“Because of this co-operation the specifications of the 1918 Edition of the ASME Boiler Code were more nearly in agreement with ASTM specifications. . . . In the 1924 Edition of the Code, ten speci- fications were in complete agreement with ASTM specifications, four in substantial agreement, and two covered materials for which the American Society for Testing Materials had no corresponding specifications. . . .

“In Section II, Material Specifications, the paragraphs were given new numbers, beginning with S- 1 and extending to S-213.” (1925)

“Section II was brought into agreement with changes made in the latest ASTM specifications since 1921.” (1932)

“The Subcommittee on Material Specifications . . . arranged for the introduction of the revisions of many of the specifications so that they would agree with the latest form of the earlier ASTM Speci- fications.” (1935)

1 Construction, as used in this Foreword, is an all-inclusive term comprising materials, design, fabrication, erection, examination, inspection, testing, and overpressure protection.

This cooperation has continued with the ASME NPPS Standards. ASME NM.3.1 and ASME NM.3.2 contain many material specifications that are similar to the corresponding ASTM specifications but that have been modified for use in accordance with an ASME construction standard.2 Many of these specifications are published in dual format, i.e., they include both U.S. Customary units and SI units. The metrication protocols followed in the specifications are those adopted by ASTM, and they usually conform to the requirements of IEEE/ASTM SI 10-1997, Standard for the Use of the International System of Units (SI): The Modern Metric System.

In 1992, the ASME Board of Pressure Technology Codes and Standards endorsed the use of non-ASTM material for ASME BPVC applications with the intent that ASME’s procedures and practices for the adoption of ASTM material be used for the adoption of non-ASTM materials. ASME committees continue to consider materials for use in ASME applications; see Mandatory Appendix IV for guidance on the approval of new materials.

ASME material specifications identical to those of the originating organization are identified by both the ASME symbol and the originating organization’s symbol. The specifications prepared and copyrighted by ASTM and other originating organizations are reproduced in this Standard with the permission of the respective organization. The NPPS Committee has carefully considered each new and revised specification, and has made such changes as deemed necessary to adapt the specification for use in accordance with an ASME construction standard. In addition, ASME has furnished ASTM with the basic requirements that should govern many proposed new specifications. Joint action will continue an effort to make the ASTM and ASME specifications identical.

ASME NM.3.1-2020 was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) on October 29, 2020.

2 ASME construction standards include the ASME B16 series of standards, the ASME B31 Code for Pressure Piping, ASME BPVC, ASME NM.1, ASME NM.2, and ASME RTP-1.

ASME NPPS COMMITTEE

Nonmetallic Pressure Piping Systems

(The following is the roster of the Committee at the time of approval of this Standard.)

STANDARDS COMMITTEE OFFICERS

1. Henley, Chair

2. McGriff, Vice Chair

C. Ramcharran, Secretary

STANDARDS COMMITTEE PERSONNEL

R. Appleby, Consultant

D. Burwell, Dudley Burwell Consulting

B. R. Colley, INEOS Composites

R. Davis, Consultant

J. Eisenman, Maverick Applied Science, Inc.

M. Engelkemier, Cargill

1. Hebb, RPS Composites, Inc.

2. Henley, Kiewit Engineering Group, Inc.

L. Hutton, Plasticwelding, LLC

D. L. Keeler, Dow Chemical Co.

W. Lundy, U.S. Coast Guard

D. McGriff, ISCO Industries, Inc.

T. Musto, Sargent and Lundy, LLC

C. Ramcharran, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

C. W. Rowley, The Wesley Corp.

L. Vetter, Sargent and Lundy, LLC

F. Volgstadt, Volgstadt and Associates, Inc.

V. D. Holohan, Contributing Member, U.S. Department of Transporta- tion — Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NONMETALLIC MATERIALS

C. Davison, Chair, Aquatherm

L. Hutton, Vice Chair, Plasticwelding, LLC

C. O’Brien, Secretary, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers

B. R. Colley, INEOS Composites

R. Davis, Consultant

P. K. Gilbert, NOV Fiberglass Systems

B. Hauger, Bryan Hauger Consulting, Inc.