What Are Pipe Wyes

Pipe Wyes

Materials used:

Pipe wyes are similar to tees, except for the angling of the branch line to reduce friction and turbulence. They are commonly used to attach a vertical drainpipe to a horizontal one. The connection is typically at a 45-degree, rather than 90 degrees; if a branch turns out further at the end to 90 degrees (perpendicular), the fitting becomes a combo tee. Pipe wyes and combo wyes follow a long-sweep pattern relative to sanitary tees and other short-sweep bends, which have a smaller radius and require less space. A wye may also be used to split a branch line equally in two directions, such as the splitting of a main line into two smaller branches.
Pipe wyes also have industrial applications. Although low-priced wyes are often spot-welded, industrial-strength wyes are flash-welded at each seam. In long-distance pipeline applications, a wye is used for pigging to maintain flow.

Various shapes of pipe wyes:

The pipe wyes (in the form of Y) can take various shapes. Below we give a diagrammatic representation of some pipe wyes.

As seen in the above figures, the first one is a standard pipe wye, exactly in the shape of the alphabet “Y” in a horizontal position. The second is a pipe wye in a vertical position with three branches. The third one is a special type of pipe wye in the shape of a standard tee with a 45° bend and particularly recommended to be used in large-diameter piping.