Construction of Transition Pieces

What you will need:

• A few hours
• A sound knowledge of Pythagoras
• Ability to substitute into and use formulae
• A protractor, compass, A3 paper, pencil, sharpener and
ruler.
• Transition pieces are made to connect two different forms,
such as round pipes to square pipes, or square to
rectangular.
• They may involve a change in shape and/or size and/or
direction.
Transition pieces are used extensively in ductwork of heating
and air conditioning systems, and in industrial settings where
material has to continuously flow through pipework from one
machine or process to another.
Transition pieces are usually made from a single sheet of metal.
The required pattern, called the development, of the transition
piece, is accurately drawn on the sheet. It is then cut out and
folded along pre-defined lines to form the transition piece.
Think of the development as being the net of the transition
piece. Finally the seam edges are welded together to complete
the transition piece.
 How do you work out the pattern to produce the required
transition piece?

The transition piece will be made from a series of triangular

surfaces laid side-by-side to form the development. This
form of development is known as triangulation.
The development of a square to round transition is shown.
Have a think about why we would use triangles rather than
quadrilaterals.

The reason is that there is only one possible triangle that can be
constructed from 3 given side lengths. This is not the case for
quadrilaterals and other polygons. eg a quadrilateral with all sides 80
mm in length could be a square or any rhombus with that side
length. To be able to construct a specific quadrilateral we need to
know the lengths of all 4 sides and also the length of a diagonal (ie
we construct the quadrilateral as two triangles side by side)
Pythagoras’ theorem can be used to find the required lengths
before the construction of the development by triangulation.
• In industry, this work would now be done using CAD software.
However, we need to be aware of the mechanics behind it or
when we hit problems we can’t solve them. We can’t always
rely on computers!
• Previously it was done using specialist technical drawing
methods and equipment, making use of right angled
triangles to construct the ‘true lengths’ to do the
triangulation.
Because we are dealing with solid objects we will need to learn a
bit about locating points and finding distances in a 3
dimensional coordinate system.
We extend our 2 dimensional (x, y) number plane into a 3
dimensional system by using three axes x, y and z, all at right
angles to each other.
We show the y axis as being horizontal, the z axis as being
vertical, and the x axis pointing out from the page.
From your seat in a classroom the front wall is the yz plane
(blue), the side wall on your left is the xz plane (pink), and the
floor is the xy plane (green).
Of course the axes extend
in the negative directions
also.
• We use the right hand rule to remember the direction of the
axes.
• If someone pointed at you with their right hand, their first
finger points along the positive x axis, the second finger
points along the positive y axis, and the thumb points along
the positive z axis.
Practice using 3D coordinates in the classroom with the units in
meters:
1. Locate the point (2, 3, 1).
2. Find the coordinates of the point at the centre of the room.
Draw your own neat 3D coordinate system, label the axes and
the origin.
On this diagram, show a horizontal square of side 6
units, with the centre of the square at the origin.
(It will look like a parallelogram rather than a square).
What are the coordinates of the vertices of the square?
On the same diagram draw a square of side length 4 units at a
height of 4 units above the xy plane. The centre of the square is
to be on the z axis.
What are the coordinates of the vertices of this square?
We now need to learn how to find the distance between two points in
a 3D system.
We will start by finding the distance from the origin to the point (2,3,1)
• The point (2,3,1) is shown.
• Where is the right angle in triangle OAB ?
• Use Pythagoras theorem to find OB.
• The right angle is at A
OB2 = 22 + 32
=4+9
= 13
OB = √13
• We now use Pythagoras theorem in triangle OBP to find the
length of OP.
• Where is the right angle in triangle OBP ?
OBP is the right angle
OP2 = OB2 + BP2
= 13 + 1
= 14
The distance from (2,3,1) to the origin is √14 units.
• Can you see that the distance from the origin to any point (x, y,
z) is

d x y z2 2 2
• The distance between the points (x1, y1, z1) and
(x2, y2, z2) is given by the formula

d x1  x2 2   y1  y2 2  z1  z2 2
We will not prove this, but observe that :
• x1 − x2 is the distance between the points on the x axis
• y1 − y2 is the distance between the points on the y axis
• z1 − z2 is the distance between the points on the z axis
• it is an extension of the formula
d  x2  y2  z 2
Example: Find the distance between the points (2, 3, 1) and
(5, 1, -2).
Solution: x1 = 2, y1 = 3, z1 = 1,
x2 = 5, y2 = 1, z2 = -2

d 2  5  3  1  1  (2) 
2 2 2

 (3) 2  2 2  32
 949
 22
 4.7
Example 1
Follow the next few slides to produce the development
for a rectangle to square transition piece.
• The base is to be a rectangle 60 mm by 40 mm.
• The top is to be a square of side 30 mm.
• The top square and bottom rectangle are to be parallel surfaces 40 mm
apart, with the centre of the square vertically above one of the vertices
of the rectangle. The seam will be on one of the edges.

• Construct the transition piece using a sheet of A4 paper or cardboard.

The transition piece looks like this,
watch the video:
Step 1 – Find the coordinates of the points
to be used. Watch this video:
We now have these coordinates:
Points

A (20, -30, 0)

B (20, 30, 0)

C (-20, 30, 0)

D (-20, -30, 0)

W (-5, 15, 40)

X (-5, 45, 40)

Y (-35, 45, 40)

Z (-35, 15, 40)

Step 2 - Identify the triangles which will make up the
development. There are four surfaces – all
quadrilaterals. (not to scale)
Triangles needed are ABW, BWX, BXC, CXY, CYZ, CZD, ZDW and
DWA. This makes the seam along AW.
The lengths that need to be calculated are: AW, WB, BX, XC, CY,
CZ, ZD, DW
Step 3 - Calculate the lengths using the formula
d  x1  x2 2   y1  y2 2  z1  z2 2

Rather than doing each individual calculation, excel

has been used to calculate these lengths see here. It
is always worth checking one or two are correct
though, as the formula may have been typed in
incorrectly.
Finding the length AW
Example: Find the distance between the points A (20, -30, 0) and
W (-5, 15, 40).
Solution: x1 = 20, y1 = -30, z1 = 0,
x2 = -5, y2 = 15, z2 = 40

d  x1  x2 2   y1  y2 2  z1  z2 2
d 20  (5)   (30)  15  0  40
2 2 2

 25  (45)  (40)
2 2 2

 625  2025  1600

 4250
 65.2
 We now have these lengths:
Lengths (mm)

AW 65.2

WB 49.5 62.0 65.2 45.3 45.3

BX 49.5

XC 45.3

CY 45.3

CZ 45.3

ZD 62.0

DW 62.0 62.0 45.3 49.5 49.5

Step 4 – Create the development by
triangulation. Watch this video:
Step 5 – Cut out and fold the piece. Watch
this video:
There are now four
exercises you can try
to do on your own
using these
techniques…
Exercise 1
Produce the development to make a square to square
transition piece.
The base is to be a square of length 60 mm.
The top is to be a square of side 40 mm.
The top and bottom squares are to be parallel surfaces 50 mm
apart with their centres in a vertical line.
The seam will be on one of the edges.
Construct the transition piece using a sheet of A4 paper or
cardboard.
Exercise 2
Produce the development to make a rectangle to square
transition piece.
The base is to be a rectangle 60 mm by 40 mm.
The top is to be a square of side 30 mm.
The top and bottom squares are to be parallel surfaces 50 mm
apart with one vertex of the square directly above a vertex of
the rectangle.
The seam will be on one of the edges.
Construct the transition piece using a sheet of A4 paper or
cardboard.
Exercise 3
Produce the development to make a rectangle to square
transition piece to join two sections of ductwork.
One end is to be a vertical rectangle 60 mm wide by 40 mm
high; the other is to be a horizontal square of side 60 mm.
The square end is to be 30 mm below the bottom edge of the
rectangle and 30 mm out from it.
The seam will be on one of the edges.
Construct the transition piece using a sheet of A4 paper or
cardboard.
The piece looks like this.
Exercise 4
Produce the development to make an oblique square
pyramid, open at the base.
The base is to be a square of side 60 mm.
The height of the pyramid is 80 mm, with the apex of the
pyramid directly above one of the vertices of the base.
The seam will be on one of the edges.
Construct the pyramid using a sheet of A4 paper or
cardboard.
Well done!

See your teacher for

the extension of this
activity…