Miters

One technique for designing miters, where they are allowed, is as fol-
lows. Figure E.2 shows the diagram of a miter and labels the symbols.
These are expressed in B31.3 and B31.9, where
R
1
= effective radius of miter
T = measured or minimum thickness of miter pipe wall
q = angle of miter cut
a = angle of change in direction = 2q
r
2
= mean radius of pipe using nominal wall to calculate
E = efficiency
c = corrosion and mechanical allowances
P
m
= maximum internal pressure
D = pipe OD
M= minimum distance from inside crotch to end of miter
There are three equations to utilize in the design process. Equation
3 is only applicable to single miters where the angle q is greater than
22.5. Equation 2 is to be used for single miters where the angle q is not
greater than 22.5. When one wants to use multiple miters, the angle q
must not be greater than 22.5 and one must use equations 1 and 2.
The lesser value computed with those two equations is the maximum inter-
nal pressure allowed by the code. Then the length M must be calculated
and applied to the end sections. Those equations are given in Table E.2.
Bends and Miters 257
D
T
R
1
r
2
M
q
q
a
a
Figure E.2 Diagram showing typical miter and
terminology.
The value of R
1
should meet some minimum for these miters to be in
compliance with the code. There are two formulas for that value. The
more general formula is found in B31.9 and is given as
Code B31.3 has a more rigorous requirement, giving the minimum value
of R
1
as a function of the thickness. This refinement has the effect of
requiring R
1
to be larger for thicker materials. The general formula is
the same but substitutes a variable expression A for the 1 in the B31.9
formula. It is
where A has an empirical value per Table E.3.
R
A D
1
2
+
tan
R
D
1
1
2
+
tan
258 Appendix E
TABLE E.3 Empirical Value of A
Wall thickness (T c) A value
13 mm 25
13 < (T c) < 22 mm 2(T c)
22 mm
0.5 1
0.5 < (T c) < 0.88 2(T c)
0.88
2
3
1 17
( )
.
T c
+
2
33
30
( ) T c
+
TABLE E.2 Equations Utilized in the Design of Miters
Equation number Equation
1
2
3
4
whichever is greater
M r T M R r 2 5
2 1 2
. ( ) or tan
P
SE t c
r
T c
t c r T c
m


+

1
]
1
1
( )
( ) . ( )
2 2
1 25 tan
P
SE t c
r
T c
t c r T c
m


+

1
]
1
1
( )
( ) . ( )
2 2
0 643 tan
P
SE t c
r
R r
R r
m

_
,

( )
.
2
1 2
1 2
0 5