Flange facing in a sentence
The process of flange facing (or flange refacing) involves the machining of flange mating surfaces so that they they produce a tight, leak-proof seal when assembled.
Industry standards for flange facing
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are the go-to organisation for many standards for mechanical engineering around the world. They have the set the standards to which many engineers work to for flange facing surface finishes.
ASME set the standards for flange face surface finish types through the ANSI accredited ASME Standard B 16.5 ensuring all gasket and flange fittings are consistent and fit for purpose allowing a high quality seal.
Flange facing vs milling
gasket_seal_flange_surface_finish-serrated
Milling is the process of machining a surface using a multi-point cutting tool. While a milling machine is capable of getting a smooth surface finishes and cutting in a circular stroke (such as our range of orbital milling machines), they are not capable of getting the required surface finish needed to meet the ASME B 16.5 standard.
In order to reach some of the finishes required to meet ASME B 16.5, the flange should be machined using a single point cutting tool. The single point tool enables on-site machinists to achieve the grooves required to created surface finishes suitable of creating a strong leak-proof seal for gasket flanges, such as the serrated surface (see image). As such, single point cutting tools will be used with a flange facing machine.
For users that are happy simply to produce a flat finish on the flange (with no defined machine profile), machines can be supplied with milling heads rather than single-point cutters. This dramatically reduces the machining time which has made flange facing machines an ideal tool for use in wind turbine production