Mike, I'm in ASME VIII Div.1 and I know there are rules for openings in flat head.
I don't have difficulties in calculating blind and its opening; as you can imagine, the problem is not the opening, but the blind itself, since the calculated thk in seating condition is quite higher than the installed one.
Sometimes, for small and simple vessels (like "mine"), it's difficult to make manufacturer understand the need of changing such little components because of Code rules and so on, so I'm doing my best to convince him to change the configuration (e.g. using a threaded coupling directly welded to the vessel wall, instead of a pipe+WN+Blind+threaded hole!!).
Except my efforts with manufacturer, I was just curious about the possibility to avoid the calculation (simply to learn something that I don't know).
Thanks for your feedback.
Regards
Cristiana