[2] The ASME works as an accreditation body and entitles independent third parties (such as verification, testing and certification agencies) to inspect and ensure compliance to the BPVC.
A fire-tube boiler exploded at the Grover Shoe Factory in Brockton, Massachusetts, on March 20, 1905, which resulted in the deaths of 58 people and injured 150.
As a result, the state of Massachusetts enacted the first legal code based on ASME's rules for the construction of steam boilers in 1907.
[6][7] It developed over time into the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel code, which today has over 92,000 copies in use, in over 100 countries around the world.
ASME's interpretations to submitted technical queries relevant to a particular Section of the Code are issued accordingly.
It provides mechanical properties, heat treatment, heat and product chemical composition and analysis, test specimens, and methodologies of testing for welding rods, filler metals and electrodes used in the construction of pressure vessels.
It provides tables for the design stress values, tensile and yield stress values as well as tables for material properties (Modulus of Elasticity, Coefficient of heat transfer et al.)[13] Section III of the ASME Code Address the rules for construction of nuclear facility components and supports.
Section III provides requirements for new construction of nuclear power system considering mechanical and thermal stresses due to cyclic operation.
Deterioration, which may occur in service as result of radiation effects, corrosion, or instability of the material, is typically not addressed.
1 covers the mandatory requirements, specific prohibitions and nonmandatory guidance for materials, design, fabrication, inspection and testing, markings and reports, overpressure protection and certification of pressure vessels having an internal or external pressure which exceeds 15 psi (100 kPa).
The structure is as follows:[9] This division covers the mandatory requirements, specific prohibitions and nonmandatory guidance for materials, design, fabrication, inspection and testing, markings and reports, overpressure protection and certification of pressure vessels having an internal or external pressure which exceeds 3000 psi (20700 kPa) but less than 10,000 psi.
This division covers the mandatory requirements, specific prohibitions and nonmandatory guidance for materials, design, fabrication, inspection and testing, markings and reports, overpressure protection and certification of pressure vessels having an internal or external pressure which exceeds 10,000 psi (70,000 kPa).