Pipe Bending for Power Generation
Main steam, hot reheat and feedwater bends to ASME B31.1, for plants that cannot afford an unplanned outage.
What power piping work brings to a bending shop
Main steam and hot reheat lines, feedwater and condensate piping, economiser and superheater runs, and the large-bore headers around a boiler.
Main steam piping is heavy-wall, high-temperature and safety-critical, and the wall thinning limit on a bend is genuinely load-bearing rather than a formality. Induction bending on a computer-controlled machine with recorded forces is what produces a bend that a Section I reviewer will accept on that service.
Codes and standards: ASME B31.1 power piping, with ASME Section I on the boiler side, and B16.49 on factory-made induction bends. The U and S stamps this shop holds cover Section I and Section VIII work. Send your project specification with the enquiry and we will confirm in writing what we certify against before anything is cut.
Outage windows and paperwork
Power work runs on outage windows, and the documentation package is as much of the deliverable as the bend. Material test reports, non-destructive testing records, heat treatment charts and hardness verification all have to arrive together and match.
That is why testing and in-plant stress relieving on the same floor matter here. Brinell hardness verification after a heat cycle is available on site, so the chart and the part do not travel separately.
What to send with a power piping enquiry
Five numbers describe a bend: outside diameter, wall thickness, centerline radius, bend angle and the tangent length on each end. Add the material and the quantity and the job can be priced. A drawing, a sketch or a photograph of a marked-up print all work, and the quote form takes an attachment up to 25 MB.
For power work, send the code and the section along with the drawing. Section I and B31.1 are not interchangeable, and the documentation package differs between them. Say when the outage window opens, because the paperwork has to be complete and consistent by then rather than shortly afterwards.
Put the documentation requirements in the enquiry rather than in a later email. Material test reports, non-destructive testing and heat treatment all cost money and time. Retrofitting a documentation package onto a bend that has already been made is slow, and sometimes it is impossible.
Materials we bend
If the grade you need is not listed, ask. This is what comes through most often, not a limit.
What we can bend for you
How we would make it
Wall thickness, radius, material and schedule decide the process. Send the drawing and we will tell you which one fits.
Heat Induction Bending
Cojafex induction bending up through 42″ O.D. and 4″ wall, in any radius, angle or plane.
Coiling
Helical, spiral wound and serpentine coils, cold, up through 10″ pipe.
Cold Bending
Rotary draw bending on fourteen machines, with mandrels and wiper shoes where the radius needs them.
Mandrel Bending
Ball mandrels and wiper shoes for tight radii and thin walls that would otherwise collapse.
Large Diameter Pipe Bending
The work most shops turn away: up to 42 inch outside diameter and 4 inch wall.
Stainless and Alloy Bending
Stainless, duplex, Hastelloy, titanium and nickel alloys, bent without wrecking the metallurgy.
Questions we get from power piping buyers
Do you hold the ASME Section I stamp?
Yes. American Pipe Bending is an A.S.M.E. code shop holding the U and S stamps, covering Section I and Section VIII work, and is listed in the National Board Manufacturer and Repair Directory.
Can you bend main steam piping?
Yes, up to 42 inch outside diameter with 4 inch wall on the induction bender, to ASME B31.1 and B16.49. Send your wall thinning and ovality acceptance limits with the enquiry.
Can you verify heat treatment?
Yes. In-plant stress relieving is on the floor and Brinell hardness testing is available here, so the cycle and its verification happen in the same building as the bend.
Have a drawing? Send it over.
Send a drawing or a sketch and our team will get back to you with a quote.