Does this size an expansion loop?

No. Loop geometry and piping flexibility require the full routing, restraints, supports, branches, component properties, load cases and applicable code procedure.

Does free thermal expansion create the displayed piping stress?

No stress is displayed. A freely expanding member has thermal strain and length change; restraint forces and stresses require a structural model.

Which CTE should be entered?

Enter a documented mean or secant linear coefficient applicable to the exact material, condition and full temperature interval.

Is this an EN 13480 or ASME B31.3 compliance check?

No. The arithmetic is a preliminary imposed-movement input for a separate controlled code analysis.

Source-gated free-expansion arithmetic

Documented Free Thermal Length-Change Arithmetic

Calculate signed free linear thermal strain and length change using a documented mean coefficient for one material and uniform temperature interval. No expansion-loop geometry, restraint stress or code acceptance is invented.

No material presetsNo loop sizingNo stress OK/OVER

Signed free length change ΔL

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Temperature difference T₂−T₁

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Free thermal strain εth

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Calculated free final length

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Entered mean-CTE basis

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Free length-change arithmetic only.

ΔT=T₂−T₁; εth=ᾱΔT; ΔL=L₀εth; Lfree,2=L₀+ΔL

ᾱ is a documented mean/secant linear coefficient over the complete interval, not a universal room-temperature material label. The relation is a small-strain free-expansion approximation and general mechanics arithmetic; it is not an EN 13480 or ASME B31.3 flexibility equation.

Units and sign

A kelvin and degree Celsius have equal interval size. A Fahrenheit interval is5/9 of a kelvin interval. One international inch is0.0254m exactly and one international foot is0.3048m exactly. Positive ΔL is elongation; negative ΔL is contraction. Equal temperatures correctly return zero.

Why no stress or loop result?

Thermal strain becomes stress only through compatibility and restraint. Actual piping response depends on the complete three-dimensional routing, restraint stiffness and gaps, supports, branches, fittings, stress-intensification/flexibility factors, material properties versus temperature, pressure/weight/occasional loads, cycles and the applicable acceptance procedure. A fully restrained uniaxial textbook expression is not a general piping stress result, and one guided-cantilever leg does not define an expansion loop.

Current code scope

EN13480-3:2024 is the current design-and-calculation part for industrial metallic piping systems including supports. ASME B31.3-2024 covers process-piping materials/components,design,fabrication,assembly,erection,examination,inspection and testing. Neither public scope record validates a one-line loop or stress-pass formula.

NEEDS_LICENSED_SOURCE: exact flexibility,displacement-stress-range,stress-intensification,allowable-range,cycle,load-combination and acceptance rules from the selected current code edition. No compliance conclusion is emitted here.

গণনা করা হয়নি

Expansion-loop leg/width,guide or anchor geometry.
Restraint force,thermal stress,code stress range or fatigue utilization.
Pressure/weight/occasional loads,nozzle loads,support reactions or equipment movement.
Temperature gradients,creep,plasticity,phase changes,composite/anisotropic response or transient temperature fields.

Sources

NIST definition and temperature dependence of linear CTE; University of Illinois thermal strain and free elongation; EN13480-3:2024 official national-body record; ASME B31.3-2024 official record.