APPARATUS FOR CONNECTING TUBULAR BODIES

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims tne priority of U , S, Provisional Application No. 60/795, 061 f led o ⁿ , April 28, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for connecting components such as tubular members.

DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART

Connections between pipe sections, a pipe section and a valve, or between any two bodies having tubular port ^' ons that are connectabie to provide a fluid flow passage are common ly made using flange assemblies, One type of flange assembly, commonly referred to as a swivel flange assembly, has two subassembPes, each having a flange or collar that is rotatabie and axiaily movable re'ative to a hub or nipple, I n these swivel faπge assemblies, the hub or nipple is provided with a radially outwardly facing , annularly extending groove into which are received split ring segments. The split rings project radially outwardly from the groove in the hub or nipple and provide a right-angled shoulder against which o ⁿ e flange is urged as it is bolted to the adjoining flange. This shou'der supports the loads imposed by the bolts holding the flange assemblies together. While other

prior art swivel-type fiarge assemblies have tapered hubs and flanges, for all ,ntents and purposes the taper angle ¹ S so large, e g , 65° , that they behave essentially like a right-angled shoulder, Because of this type of shouldering, high stress concentrations are created at the juncture of the shoulder(s) and the hub(s) or nipple(s)

In fange assemblies, both of the standard and swivel type, metal seal rings have been utilized to obtain metal-to-metal sealing between the two flange subassembhes Typically, this has necessitated that a metal seal ring, or at least a portion the ^r eof, be compressed between the hub faces by the nut and bolt assemblies used to clamp the flange subassembhes together However, in these types of prior art flange assembles, there tyoically is not metal-to-metal sealing between the hub 'aces themselves as opposed to being between the hub faces and the sea! ring or a portion thereof compressed therebetween,

DESCRI PTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is an improvement in the apparatus disclosed and/or claimed in U.S. Patents 6,394,507 and 6,71 5, 802 (Bake ^r Patents), both of which are incorporated he ^r eh by reference for a I purposes. Referring f rst to Fig 1 , there is shown a first tubu ar member 10 having a flow passage 12 and a tubu ar member 14 having a fow passage 16. Tubular member 10 has an externally threaded portion 18 exte ⁿ ding from an end or face 20 of tubular member 10, tubular membe ^r 10 having a reduced diameter poiion 22 extending axially away from threaded portion 18 In like fashion, tubular member 14 has an externally threaded portion 24 extending axially away from end or face 26 of tubular member 14 and a reduced αiameter port ^' on 28 extending axially away from threaded poiion 24 A first hub 30 has an ιrte ^r nal'y threaded portion 32 which mates with threaded portion 18 whereby hub 30 can be screwed onto tubular member 10, Hub 30 a'so has an ax>al!y exte ⁿ dιng annular skirt 34 received in the recess formed by reduced diameter cortion 22 on tuσu'ar member 10, Hub 30 has an annular, radially outwardly facing, frustocon cal surface 35 in generally surrounding relationsh p to threaded portion 32 An annjla ^r fange 38 has an annular radially mward'y facing frustoconical surface 40 which mates with frustoconical surface 36, flange 38 having a series of circumferentia Iy spaced bolt holes 41 , A second hub 42 has an internally threaded portion 44 which mates w th threaded portion 24 on tubular merrDer 14 whereby hub 42 can be th ^r eadedly received on tubular member 14 Hub 42 has an axially extending, annular sk rt 46 Wh ¹ Ch, when huD 42 is screwed onto tubular member 14 is received in t ^μ e arπular recess formeα by reduced diameter portion 28 of

tubular member 14. Hub 42 has an annu!a ^r , radially outwardly facing frustoconical surface 48 in generally surrounding relatlonsh p to threaded portion 44, A second flange 50 surrounds hub 42 and has an annularly extending, radially inwardly facing frustoconical surface 52 which, as seen, rrates with frustoconical surface 48. Flange 50 is further provided with a series of crcumferentially spaced bolt holes 54 Bolts 60 are received in registering bores 41 and 54, bolts 60 having a first threaded end 62 on which is received a nut 64 and a second threaded end 66 on which is received a nut 68. Formed in the end face 20 of tuoular member 10 is an axially facing, annular groove 100, shown in greater detail in Fig, 2 Annular groove 100 has an annularly extendι ⁿ g, radially inwardly facing, frustoconical wall 102, an annular, generally cylindrical radially innermost wall 1 02a and an annular, radially extending end wall 102b, Formed in end face 26 of tubular member 14 is an axially facing, an ⁿ u ^! arly extending groove 104, groove 104 having an annu ar, radially inward'y fac ^' ng, frustocon ^' cal wa ' 06, an annular generally cylindrical innermost wall 1 06a and an annular, axia Iy 'acing enα wall 105b, g'ooves 104 and 1 00 be ng in register w th one another, Disposed in registering grooves 1 00 and 1 04 is an annular seal ring 108, anπular seal ring having a first, annu'ar radially outwarα'y facing frustoconical surface 1 10 and a second , annular rad a'ly outwardly facing frustoconical surface 1 12, Seal ring 108 a so has a first annu'ar, radially extending end surface 108a and a second annular, radially extending end surface 108b, surface 108a being proximate to but spaced from wall 102b, surface 1 08b being proximate to but spaced from wall 106b Seai ring 108 further includes an annu'ar, radially

inwardly facing cylindrical surface 1 08c, surface 108c being spaced from v/a'ls 1 02a and 1 06a As will be seen hereafter, when the assembly is fully made up, frjstoconicai surfaces 1 1 0 and 1 1 2 are in rretal-to-meta! sealing engagement with frustocon cal surfaces 102 ard 1 06 respectively providing metal-to-metal sealing between tubular members 10 and 14. It wil ^[ also be appreciated that when the assembly is fully made up, that the end faces 26 and 20 of tubula ^r members 10 and 14, resoective y, are also in metal-to-metal sealing engagement It will thus be appreciated that the metal-to-metal sealing between seal ring 108 and tubular members 10 and 14 as we'l as the direct meta -to-meta' sea ing between tubular members 10 and 14 on their faces 26 and 20, respectively, prov,de an extraordinarily high pressure seal between tubular members 10 and 14,

In a preferred embod ment, and pπo ^r to make-up of the assembly, the diameters of the frustoconica, surfaces on the seal ring 108 are greater than the diameters of tne frustoconica surfaces in the grooves 100 and 104 by an amount that permits substantially full interference and engagement of the frustoconical surfaces on the seal ring 108 w th at least a portion of the f ^r ustoconical surfaces n the seal ring g ^r ooves 100 ana 104 but prevents engagement of the faces 20 and 26 without the nut/bolt combinations 60, 62 and 68 being tightened suffic ⁱ ently to resu't in a radially, inwardly comp ^r essive force on the seal ^r ιng 108 su*fic ent to permit metal-to-meta' engagement of the faces 20 and 25, Thus, the relative sizing should be such that when fully made up the seal ring is under compressive loading which is greater than about 30% of the y eld point of the material of the seal ring 108. Accordingly as the connect ^' σn assembly is made up, the sea ring 108 is compressed

radially inwardly However because there are clearances between the axially facing end walls 1 C2b and 106b respectively of the grooves 100 ard 104 and the axially facing surfaces 108a and 108b, respectively, of tne seal ring 108 as well as an a ⁿ nular clearance between tne annJar, radia'Iy mward'y fac ng surface 108c of the sea ring 108 and the annular radia Iy outwardly ^f acιng walls 102a and 105a part ally formrg t^e grooves 100 and 104 respectively the seal ring 108 is at a I times free to float within those clearances This unique design prevents the seal ring 1 08 from being excessively deformed unlike metal seal rings used in standard flange designs which, of necessity require that the metal sea' rings effectively be crushed to ef ^f ect metal-to-rretal sealing This oversiz ng of the seal ring 108 relative to the grooves 20 and 26 as d scussed above intentiona Iy induces compress ve strain on the seal r ⁿ g 1 08 in a collapse mode that exceeds the yield st ^r engf^ of the material from which the seal ring 108 is made This ensures that the frustoconical surfaces of the seal ring " ¹ OS and the frustoconical walls of the seal ring grooves are firmly seated against one anothe ^r w th a compressive-beaπng stress that essentially matc ^h es the yield strength of the material of the seal r ng 1 00

Un ι<e the appa ^r atus disclosed in the Baker Patents in the present invention the grooves 100 and 104 are formed in tne abutt ng ends of the tubular members 10 and 14 In this regard the present invention is ideally suited for heavy wall pipe wherein such grooves can oe accommodated

Extrapolat ng an FEA analysis applied to an assembly wherein the hubs are welded to the pipe as shown in the Baker Patents it can be postulated how the apparatus of the present invent on wou d behave If it is

considered that the two parts the hub and the tubular member are not in solid contact with each other, tne stress on the engaged threads between the hub and the tubular member would be aoout 12,000 psi If the nub and pipe are in ntimate, solid contact the stress would flow a'l the way to the LD, of the tubjlar member and an FEA analys s would ne essentially the same as for one sol ^j d hub, i e , the hub welded to the tubular member As a practical matter solid intimate contact in the threaded portions w Il not occur inasmuch as the threaded engagement between the tubular member and the hub is in solid contact only on one s de of the th ^r eads. The other side of the threads has an air gap. Accordingly, it is oostulated that compress ve stress oπg nating 1 ^r om the bolt load on tne flanges as translated through the hub and into the tuDular member would be sim lar to an FEA analysis for a hub welded to the tjbular member. The stresses on the threaded portions between the hub and tubular member, which are normally shear stresses in the case of a single bolt, would in this case be reduced by virtue of tre fact that there is a compressive stress at 90° to the shear stress

To avoiα tfread shear fahure at high loading it is desirable that the tπread shear area between the hub and the tubula ^r member be chosen so as to be greater than about doub e the amount of tnread shear area in the bolts used to connect the assembly

It should also be noted that the skirts 34 and 46 wh ch are received in the recesses fo ^r med by reduced d ameter portions 22 and 28, respect vely, act as a guide when starting to thread the hubs onto tne pipes or tubular members Addιtιona"y, th s extended axia ¹ length of the hubs provides

additional strength to resist exte ^r πal bending moments since the skirts 34, 36 are closely fitted to the reduced diarreter portions of the tubular members,

It will be understood from the above that the only force transmitt ^' ng contact between the flanges and tne hubs is through the mating frustoconical surfaces on those members. I n this regard, the inner engaged frustoconical surfaces on the hubs and flanges are leveraged together by the load imposed by the threaded studs a ⁿ d nuts, i e., the compression assembly used to force the flanges against the hubs The clamping load developed by the studs and nuts is applied to the frustoconical surfaces of the flanges and hubs and results in compressive st ^r esses being developed in tne hubs which are beneficial because they can reduce an often completely offset tensile stresses resulting from interna! flow line pressure

Preferably the angle as measured between an axis coaxial with the first and second tubular members once the first and second seal ring grooves are in register and an imag ^' nary line passing througn either o* the frustoconical surfaces on the first and second hubs is from 10° to 30° more preferably from about 12° to about 25°.

As noted, with the aoparatus of the present invention , metal-to-metal sealing occurs between the end faces of the tubular members when the con nection assembly is fully made up, To enhance this metal-to-metal sea ling, the end surfaces or faces should be provided with good flat finishes and the stud nut s assemDlies evenly tightened Metal-to-metal sealing between the end faces of the tubular members is enhanced by choosing a face contact area that develops comp ress ve stresses in the range of 60% to 90% of the yield point of the material of the tubular members as a result of a

tignteπiπg of the comoression assembly, i.e , tπe studs and nuts to the Drescr ^' bed load, Additionally, it is preferred that the axial end faces of the tubular members have a finish of approximately 63 to 100 RMS ₁ which can be accomplished, for example, by making a face cut on the lathe As is well known, such a face cut will result in a surface with peaks or crests generated by the cutting tool Although s'ight, these peaks or crests can be felt if a fingernail is run over the sur ^f ace. However, when tne load imposed by the studs and n uts results in a calculated compressive stress on the end faces of the tubular members of 60% to 90% of the yield point o ^f the material o* the tubular members, the yield point of tne material of the peaks or crests will be exceeded, forcing the peaks or crests to flatten, creating a metal-to-metal seal

The meta ¹ seal ring used 'n the apparatus of the present invent'on p ^r ovides exceptional sealing capability at wide ranges of temperatures and pressures. Both h ^' gh and low pressures are sealed by an interference dimensioning of the frustoconical surfaces n the seal r ng g ^r ooves and the seal ring, in the range of 5° to 25° preferably 10" to 20°, as measured between an imaginary line through tne frustoconical surfaces on the seal ring and the axis or centerline of the tubular members, The foregoing descr ption and examples illustrate selected embodiments of the present invention. In light thereo* variations and modifications w 'I be suggested to ore skilled in the art, a l of which are in the spirit and purview of th s inve ⁿ tιon.