Impact of Support Gaps on the Dynamic Response of Components

Abstract

Piping and other component supports usually have some gaps that are introduced due to construction tolerance and also by design in guide type and other supports with gap to accommodate thermal expansion. The gaps introduce non-linearity and to accurately account for the impact of these gaps a non-linear analysis is required, however in most linear analyses small gaps are generally ignored. This paper first briefly summarizes available relevant work in the literature on the impact of gaps on the dynamic response of piping and components and then provides results from an example analysis performed to assess the gap impact. From these, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made regarding the impact of the gaps on the dynamic response of support gaps and when it is conservative to ignore the gaps in the analyses and when the impact of gaps should not be ignored.