Custom Flange Manufacturing: What You Need to Know
When standard flanges don't meet the unique requirements of a piping system-due to size, material, pressure rating, or design constraints-custom flange manufacturing becomes essential. Here's what you need to know:
🔩 What Is a Custom Flange?
A custom flange is a non-standard flange engineered and manufactured to meet specific application needs that cannot be fulfilled by catalog flanges.
📌 Key Considerations in Custom Flange Design
Specifications to Provide:
Size: Outer diameter, inner diameter, thickness
Pressure rating: ANSI/ASME Class 150 – 2500 or custom
Bolt hole pattern: Number, size, and pitch circle diameter
Facing type: Raised face (RF), flat face (FF), ring type joint (RTJ)
Connection type: WN, SO, SW, TH, BL, LJ, LWN
Material Selection:
Carbon steel, stainless steel, duplex, nickel alloys (e.g., Inconel, Monel, Hastelloy), aluminum, and titanium depending on environment, temperature, and corrosion resistance.
Applicable Standards:
Custom flanges may still adhere to general industry norms (e.g., ASME B16.5, B16.47, DIN, EN 1092-1) for compatibility, but with modifications.
Engineering & Drawing:
Engineering drawings (CAD) are created to define dimensions and tolerances.
3D modeling and FEA (finite element analysis) may be used for complex designs.
🛠 Manufacturing Process
Raw Material Selection
Forging or Machining
Heat Treatment (if required)
Precision CNC Machining
Surface Treatment (pickling, passivation, coating)
Nondestructive Testing (NDT): e.g., UT, RT, PT, MT
Dimensional Inspection & Certification (EN 10204 3.1/3.2)
✅ Advantages of Custom Flanges
Fit unusual or legacy systems
Support extreme conditions (temperature, pressure, corrosion)
Accommodate unique design constraints
Allow use of exotic or proprietary materials
🔍 When to Choose Custom Flanges
Retrofitting old or unique equipment
Offshore and subsea installations
Petrochemical plants with aggressive media
Cryogenic or high-temperature service
Non-standard sizes or pressures not covered by ASME/DIN catalogs
💼 Why Choose SSM for Custom Flanges?
Experienced engineering support
Wide material range including exotic alloys
Fast lead times with in-house machining and forging
Global standard compliance: ASME, DIN, JIS, EN, GOST
Quality assurance: NACE, ISO, API certified processes
