Deflexions and stresses due to an in-plane bending moment have been measured on a 180° mitred pipe bend, in which the pipe factor was 0·1042, the pipe radius to bend radius ratio 0·3075 and the mitre angle 22·5°. There were some discrepancies between the experimental values and those calculated from a previous theoretical analysis involving the assumption that a segment of the bend flattened uniformly along its length. A simple modification to the analysis was found to predict the experimental stress pattern and to give an accuracy which would be acceptable in design. The range of parameters for which the analysis is likely to be valid has been discussed.