Contrary to all the flange types seen above, blind flanges do not have a center hole, and are used to blind or seal a pipeline, a valve/pressure vessel and block the flow of the fluid.
Blind flanges have to withstand remarkable mechanical stress due to the system pressure and the required bolting forces.
Blind flanges allow easy access to the pipeline, as they can be easily unbolted to let the operator execute activities inside the terminal end of the pipe (this is also the reason why the blind flange type is used as manhole for pressure vessels, at times).
It is maybe interesting to observe that, while this flanges type is easier to manufacture, they are sold at a premium average cost per kilogram compared to the other flange types.