Victaulic, the manufacturer of mechanical pipe-joining systems, has received type approvals from American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Bureau Veritas (BV), Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Korean Register and Lloyd’s Register for Vic-Press, a flame-free press system for joining small-diameter stainless steel pipe. With these new approvals, more shipbuilders will be able to take advantage of Vic-Press as a means of joining stainless steel pipe in new-vessel construction, retrofit and repair operations. The system is approved for use in class III piping systems for marine and offshore applications.
Vic-Press creates rigid, permanent, leak-tight joints in seconds. Pipe is cut to length and deburred, marked for visual verification of full insertion, then inserted into a coupling or fitting. A handheld pressing tool is used to compress the coupling/fitting onto the pipe-end. Patent-pending press-detection technology enables the installer to identify unpressed joints as the system is filled and tested. The Vic-Press system works with Schedule 10S Type 316 stainless steel pipe. The approved Vic-Press product range includes couplings, tees, elbows, reducers, end caps and adapters in sizes ranging from ½” to 2” (15mm to 50mm), with a maximum pressure rating of 232 psi (16 bar). Gasket materials are available in HNBR, EPDM and fluoroelastomer (BV and DNV only).