safety margin

Failure is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s exactly what you want. You might start with one component that’s been well tested with the existing system. It can be a simple clamp or a complicated swing valve (like the one pictured from DHV Industries). You probably tested it out when it was originally implemented and proved you had plenty of safety margin. But now your system has changed. Maybe you’re sending your system into freezing winter temperatures or hot, arid deserts. Maybe you’ve got a more powerful compressor that generates much higher pressures than you’d been dealing with before. So how do you test that component? Most standards would suggest you take your max operating conditions and increase the magnitude by 50% and test at those conditions. That proof test would verify your equipment can operate safely at your max conditions giving you a 1.5 safety margin. But in […]