Pipe Beveling

Pipe beveling is the process where an angle is formed between the edge of the end of a pipe or tube and a plane perpendicular to the surface. Other angles and special forms such as J-Bevels can also be produced on the ends of pipe or tube using automatic beveling machines.

What is pipeline beveled end and why use it? 

In fact, it is processed prior to the welding of two pieces of line pipes, an angle formed at the edge of the end of the pipe with the help of a beveling machine. Beveling of pipe or tubing is most commonly used to prepare the ends for welding. It can also be used for deburring the cut ends for safety and aesthetic reasons.
Subtract the pipe’s wall thickness from the pipe’s outside diameter. For example, if you had a pipe with a diameter of six inches and a wall thickness of two inches, you would subtract two from six to get four.

Common types of beveled ends

Why bevel a pipe?

Beveling of pipe or tubing is most commonly used to prepare the ends for welding. It can also be used for deburring the cut ends for safety and aesthetic reasons.

Common types of beveled ends and comparison among different types

Common types of beveled ends

Beveling ends can be made into various angles, achieving the better welding seam. Common beveled ends for butt joints are I—Type butt joint, single—V beveled end, double—V beveled end and single U—beveled end.

I—type butt joint, also called square butt joint, is a relatively simple joint method for pipes of 1 to 6 mm in thickness. Strictly speaking, it is not a beveled end joint, for it only requires parallel matching the edges of two pieces together without certain angles. It is easy and economic to process, but is not recommended for pipes of thick walls. As for thicker wall pipes, the angle of the bevel ends needs full consideration, trying to use the least filler metal material to provide the desired welding soundness.

Single—V beveled end, is the most widely-used butt joint type in pipeline application. It suits pipes with the thickness of 3 to 26 mm. The beveled angle should be approximately 40 to 60°. Single—V beveled end is processed by a beveling machine. Comparatively speaking, it is more costly and needs more filler material than the I—type butt joint, but the joint is much stronger than the square joint. The disadvantage of single-V beveled end is its easy subjection to angular deformation.

Double—V beveled end, also called X—beveled end, is developed on the basis of single—V beveled end. It needs double-side welding, so the material needs to be turned over after welded one side and the preparation time is longer than the single-V beveled end. It can be used for pipes of thickness 12 to 60mm. For pipes of same thickness, a double—V beveled end requires less filler metal material, because there are two narrower V-joints compared to one wider single—V beveled end.

Single-U beveled end is a one-side welding joint. It requires less filler metal material than double—V beveled end and is less subjective to deformation. However, due to the radian shape, it is more difficult to process than the former methods.

Beveled angle refers to the angle between the two beveled surfaces. Beveled face angle, normally used for single-U type, refers to the angle between the beveled surface and the vertical line to the pipe itself. The root opening refers to the gap between the roots of both pieces before welding, to ensure the roots get complete welding. The root radius for single-U beveled end is to increase the transverse space between the roots, making the welding reach the bottom of the root.

Sunny Steel provides you pipelines with beveled ends

We can apply any type of Bevel to any degree required.

Ends of Pipes

For the ends of pipes are 3 standard versions available.

• Plain Ends (PE)
• Threaded Ends (TE)
• Beveled Ends (BE)

The PE pipes will generally be used for the smaller diameters pipe systems and in combination with Slip On flanges and Socket Weld fittings and flanges.

The TE implementation speaks for itself, this performance will generally used for small diameters pipe systems, and the connections will be made with threaded flanges and threaded fittings.

The BE implementation is applied to all diameters of buttweld flanges or buttweld fittings, and will be directly welded (with a small gap 3-4 mm) to each other or to the pipe. Ends are mostly be beveled to angle 30° (+ 5° / -0°) with a root face of 1.6 mm (± 0.8 mm).

Length of Pipes

Piping lengths from the factory not exactly cut to length but are normally delivered as:

• Single random length has a length of around 5-7 meter
• Double random length has a length of around 11-13 meter
• Shorter and longer lengths are available, but for a calculation, it is wise, to use this standard lengths;
• other sizes are probably more expensive.