Copper, Ductile Iron, Carbon Steel, Stainless Steel and Aluminum Piping Materials - Temperature Expansion
Thermal expansion of typical piping materials.
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Linear temperature expansion copper tubes, stainless steel pipes, carbon steel pipes, ductile iron pipes and aluminum tubes are indicated below.
| Temperature Change (oF) | Linear Temperature Expansion (in/100 ft) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copper | Stainless Steel | Carbon Steel | Ductile Iron | Aluminum | |
| 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| 20 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| 40 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| 50 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| 60 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| 70 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| 80 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 |
| 90 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1.4 |
| 100 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 |
| 120 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| 140 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| 160 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.5 |
| 180 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
| 200 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 3.2 |
| 220 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 3.5 |
| 240 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 3.8 |
| 260 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 4.1 |
| 280 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 4.4 |
| 300 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 4.8 |
| 320 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 5.1 |
| 340 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 5.4 |
| 360 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 5.7 |
| 380 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 6.0 |
| 400 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 3.7 | 3.6 | 6.3 |
- ΔT(oC) = 5/9 ΔT(oF)
- 1 ft (foot) = 0.3048 m
- 1 in (inch) = 25.4 mm
Example - Temperature Expansion of Copper Tube
A copper tube with length 35 m (115 ft) is heated from 20oC (68oF) to 60oC (140oF) - a temperature difference of 40oC (72oF). The linear expansion from the table above is approximately 0.13 m/100m (1.6 in/100ft).
The expansion of the tube can be calculated
dl = (35 m) (0.13 m/100 m) / (100 m)
= 0.05 m
Alternatively in Imperial units:
dl = (115 ft) (1.6 in/100 ft) / (100 ft)
= 1.8 in
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