A. General

(a) Introduction

This section of the HEDH is a guide to the use of ASME VIII. The paragraphs that follow will encourage the designer to consider the full range of design issues and introduce some prompts to assist this process. It is not intended to provide solutions, which are always the responsibility of the designer and/or manufacturer of each piece of equipment.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) was founded in 1880 by prominent mechanical engineers led by Alexander Lyman Holey, Henry Rossiter Worthington and John Edson Sweet. The first organisational meeting was held on April 7^th of that year attended by around 80 engineers. Steam Power drove the technology of the day with locomotives, ships, factory machinery and mine equipment.

In 1909 ASME formed its research activities in areas such as steam tables, properties of gasses, properties of materials, and the effects of temperature on the strength of materials.