Span Limits for Elevated Temperature Piping

Abstract

Pipe deflection due to self-weight quite often governs in the determination of the spacing between supports. Methods are readily available for calculation of elastic deflection of the pipe. However, such methods are not available for calculation of long-term deflection due to creep, which can be many times the initial elastic deflection for pipe operating in the creep regime of the material. Closed-form solutions for simple span conditions are presented which can be used by the analyst to develop charts for specific applications. These solutions provide insights into the problem of establishing span limits for elevated temperature pipe. [S0094-9930(00)01101-X]