Pipe Stress Analysis

Far too often, systems that are subject to thermal expansion/contraction are designed by “rule of thumb” vs. stress analysis. Improper piping design can lead to a) excessive loads on equipment nozzles and terminations or b) excessives pipe loads with excessive deflections. In extreme cases catastrophic failure of steam piping may result in injury or death . If you are concerned about thermal pipe stresses in your piping system, let ISAT’s engineers help you. ISAT can provide an ASME B-31 stress analysis package for your piping system that accommodates both the thermal stresses and seismic loads, all in one analysis and design. A major benefit of ISAT’s Stress Analysis packages is often a drastic reduction in the frequency and cost of seismic bracing, expansion anchors and pipe guides. In most cases ISAT can eliminate all common pipe guides (i.e. “spider” guides) from the system, and replace them with a simple seismic brace.

ISAT’s analysis can also eliminate all expansion compensators from the system, eliminating nt only the cost of the compensators themselves but also the labor and warranty issues associated with them! Typically the material and labor savings can easily pay for the cost of this complex analysis. Whether the system stresses are imparted due to thermal loads, high pressure thrust loads (i.e. cryogen vents) or blast loads, we’ve got you covered! ISAT’s engineers literally helped write the codes that govern piping system design (ASME B-31), let us help you rest easy knowing your system has been designed to take the stresses it will be subjected to.