Adjoining pipes do not have to be welded or their flanges bolted when designers specify a groove and wedge joining system from Victaulic. The company introduced the system this year for pipes from 14 to 24 inches in diameter.
The AGS, or Advanced Groove System, uses a two-piece clamp with wedges to provide a pressure tight union good to 350 psi. The company sells several different rolling machines for grooving each pipe end. Once the grooves are made, assembly becomes a simple matter of slipping the two-piece coupling over the two prepped and gasketed pipe ends and making up on a pair of bolts.
Previous Victaulic systems used rectangular grooves and angled pads on the clamps to lock up the joints. Because its wedges provide the lock-up force, the new system uses flat bolt pads which affirm visually when an assembly is properly tightened. Once the clamp faces touch, the union is good.
The weld-free system saves time on a site that would ordinarily go to welding connections, according to Victaulic couplings and fittings Product Manager, Chuck Wilk. The system is especially valuable to revenue producing facilities where faster construction finishes spell quicker earning potential. Wilk calls AGS a "schedule reducer."
AGS also combines "permanency" with flexibility, Wilk says: The rigid couplings make the joints strong enough that pipes hang from hangers spaced on standard centers without needing extra support at each connection. Yet, the system is quickly disassembled and reconfigured or expanded.
To find out more about the AGS system from Victaulic, visit http://rbi.ims.ca/4400-510.
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