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Photo – Burak Boru – Turkey – see page 38
Connectors
Fi t t ings , Flanges &
Fittings, Flanges and Connectors
In these specialties, fit is everything. A tube performs not as a unit but as an element in
an assembly. For the integrity and utility of the tubing system, the connections must be
of the same high quality as the pieces joined.
Whatever the assembly method, tubular joints are expected to be strong, leakproof,
corrosion-resistant; robust to whatever extremes of temperature, abrasion, and vibration
may present in the environments in which the jointed structure will see out its life in
service.
This is a tall order for small components. But fittings, flanges, and connectors have been
satisfying outsize expectations for as long as lengths of tubing have been fitted together.
That is to say, for as long as systems for the transport of water and fuel have facilitated
life in community.
The seasoned professionals who supply precision-milled fittings and couplings come
out of a tradition of craftsmanship which enables the producers of tube and pipe to
serve these high purposes.