HOW TO DESIGN FOR THERMAL MOVEMENT

If you’re building piping applications then it’s vital to bear in mind thermal expansion – particularly for heating applications.

This is because you will need to allow the pipes to expand and to ensure a uniform distribution of how the pipes move.

Thermal expansion depends on a few key factors:

• The original length of the section of pipe
• The coefficient of expansion
• The temperature difference

This is usually the change in temperature between the operational temperature of the pipe and the temperature outside. So, for instance for heating applications, the operational temperature would be around 70 °C and the ambient temperature typically 20 °C.