Piping

[1][2] Industrial process piping (and accompanying in-line components) can be manufactured from wood, fiberglass, glass, steel, aluminum, plastic, copper, and concrete.

Plumbing is a piping system with which most people are familiar, as it constitutes the form of fluid transportation that is used to provide potable water and fuels to their homes and businesses.

Fire sprinkler systems also use piping, and may transport nonpotable or potable water, or other fire-suppression fluids.

[4][5] This evaluation is usually performed with the assistance of a specialized (finite element) pipe stress analysis computer programs such as AutoPIPE,[6] CAEPIPE,[7] CAESAR,[8] PASS/START-PROF,[9] or ROHR2.

Steel structures will have areas of high stress that may be caused by sharp corners in the design, or inclusions in the material.

Stave pipes have the advantage that they are easily transported as a compact pile of parts on a wagon and then assembled as a hollow structure at the job site.