New Piping Flexibility Rules in ASME B31.3, Appendix P

Alternative rules for performing flexibility analysis were added, as Appendix P, in ASME B31.3, the Process Piping Code, 2004 edition. These rules are considered to be more comprehensive than before; they were designed around computer flexibility analysis. To determine stress range, the difference in stress states, considering all loads, is computed. This paper describes the new rules, their intent, and provides several example piping stress analyses, comparing the results of an analysis using the Appendix P rules with that using the rules in the base Code.