In plumbing, standard fittings such as compression tube fittings are used for these specific purposes: to seamlessly adapt two or more dissimilar size pipe segments, connect sections of bent or straight tubing and to regulate water flow by using a valve equipped assembly.
Valves can be considered as fittings but are normally referred to as a separate category. Plumbing fittings, just like their pipe material counterparts, can be of a metal or plastic material base. However, a fitting with a movable valve will be generally made of metal, mostly brass.
Building codes will also be a determining factor for what fixture and pipe materials will be selected in the construction of specific areas of a building. As such, taking extreme water temperature, vibration and other stresses within the assembly environment into consideration will dictate what the appropriate pipe and fixture material should be.
Piping will commonly be made of copper, brass, steel and the plastics CPVC and PVC. The industry standard list of plumbing fittings are Tees, elbows, crosses, caps, barbs, nipples and plugs. These fittings are in all shapes and sizes. A full description of each part can be obtained online or in standard plumbing manuals which are also available online.
One can also find free, information online to guide one on what fittings can be used to comply with specific building codes within a specific Geo-targeted area. Other common but more involved plumbing fittings are used for very specific purposes. For instance, a plumber will install a Clean-out which allows one to easily open and clean out an obstructed drain without the extra work of removing the existing plumbing fixtures.Clean-Outs are placed in strategically easy locations throughout a drainage system within and outside the building structure.
They normally have screw on top caps that give the maintenance engineer and easy access to every part of the system. The maintenance worker uses an ‘auger’ or snake to remove clogging within the section.
Another common fixture, the combo-tee is a bent pipe fixture that allows a plumber to easily remove any obstruction that is clogging the pipe with a snake. The bend is designed specifically to easily accommodate the curved motion of the snake, making cleaning very effective.
Connection types: pipes can be connected simply by thread-pipe, screw on and off arrangement.
A Coupler is used to join together two pipes of dissimilar size. It should be obvious that there are many different types and can be custom fabricated if necessary.
A Union is a threaded coupling used which works like a large nut. The threading on both sides allows for easy assembly and dis-assembly of two pipes.Soldering is used by heating flux which will permanently join two pipes.PVC piping is permanently joined in a similar way with solvent welding. This will allow PVC to be joined without heating or melting the plastic piping.
Steel, specifically stainless steel compression tube fittings and pipe are used in an environment that is highly prone to corrosion.Where liquid or gases need to be in an absolute leak-sealed transport tube and fixture system, stainless steel is the first material to be carefully considered.
Also the material of choice for most petrochemical and food processing applications, stainless steel fittings, connectors, braces and pipes can also be found to be most reliable with minimal inspection, replacement or maintenance.
