An important variable considered in the sizing and design of pipelines is the absolute roughness of the pipe, with a default value of 1800 micro-inch (or 0.04572 mm) generally used in the industry. This value appears to have originated from studies carried out more than half a century ago while pipe manufacturing and treatment methods have since become more advanced. In this study, the absolute
... [Show full abstract] roughness of various commercial steel pipe samples of different diameters that had been manufactured and treated with various methods was measured using a Mitutoyo SJ-201 surface roughness gauge. All pipe roughness values recorded were less than the generally used 1800 micro-inch (or 0.04572 mm) value. This study also examines the impact of absolute roughness values in the design of a liquid and gas pipeline case study with results indicating that gas pipelines are more sensitive to changes in absolute roughness value.
