Understanding of bases for the allowable local thickness of straight pipes in ASME N597-2 code

It becomes a hot issue to assess the structural integrity of thin-walled pipes and pipe items. ASME Section XI Code Case N597-2 provides a criterion for acceptance of the pipes. But the code has several limitations for application and sometimes gives too conservative or non-conservative results. So works are in progress to modify and extend the code. For that purpose it is necessary to understand fully the technical bases of the code. In this paper technical bases are explained and the equations in the code are derived for the allowable local thickness of straight pipes. And some features of the code are also examined