# Pipes

In the flowsheet pipes (or tubes) are used to describe the connectivity between fluid equipment items. On the component palette, pipes are organized according to materials of construction. The following piping materials are available for your use: •ABS - Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene •Aluminium •Asbestos Cement •Cast Iron •Concrete •Copper •Ductile Iron •Flexible or corrugated hose •Glass •PE - Polyethylene •PVC - PolyVinylChloride •PP or PFA - Polypropylene, FluoroPlastics or lined pipe •Stainless Steel •Steel For each piping material there are many "nominal" pipe sizes and within the nominal size there are many pipe classes. FluidFlow stores size information in a database of pipes, together with other piping and piping material information. This additional piping information such as material conductivity, sizing data, economic data, etc., enables calculation of economical velocities, heat transfer, and other functions without the need for constant data entry by the user. An example of the data hierarchy for a pipe, following the Material -> Size -> Classification hierarchy, would be Steel -> 6" -> Schedule 40.