Ch05-H7880.

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Chapter Five
Piping Support Systems
for Process Plants

The support scheme of a piping system is critical to its function and the
equipment it is connected to. When equipment and piping increase in
temperature, they expand; likewise, for cold temperatures, they contract.
We have outlined the various failure mechanisms in piping in the last
two chapters. Now we will address what the plant engineer and inspector
routinely work with—pipe supports.

Spring Supports
Spring supports sustain a pipe that has undergone displacement. Simple
supports are no longer useful if the pipe rises off and loads are transferred
to other supports or fragile equipment nozzles. To ensure support for the
pipe as it moves, a support to compensate movement is desired. One very
practical device for this is the spring.
Springs come in two basic types—variable springs and constant springs.
The variable spring, which is by far the most common, provides loading
to a pipe at a constant spring rate, lb/in. (N/mm), but the amount of force
required to compress the spring varies with the amount of compression–
hence the name variable spring. The constant spring is a spring that will
provide the same spring rate for any force great enough to cause initial
displacement. Constant springs are used in critical installations where
loadings or displacements induced on or by the piping system are critical.
We will go into more detail later in the chapter.

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