An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
Piping Design & Analysis: Influence on Pipe Support Selection & Design
Practical guide to piping design and pipe supports
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 4,000
Starting From
08 Mar 2027
Piping Design & Analysis: Influence on Pipe Support Selection & Design
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Piping Design & Analysis: Influence on Pipe Support Selection & Design - SF-PDA-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF-PDA-PEA27 | 08 - 12 Mar 2027 | 10 AM CST | 5 Days |
Online |
USD |
4000 |
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Piping Design & Analysis Influence on Pipe Support Selection & Design
A specialist course on the relationship between piping design, stress analysis and pipe support engineering. It covers design codes and allowable stresses, layout and flexibility, sustained, thermal and occasional load cases, stress analysis principles, support types and their functions, support spacing and location, spring and constant effort supports, equipment nozzle load limits, dynamic effects, and support structural design and detailing.
Description
Pipe supports are usually treated as a detail to be settled after the piping is routed. They are not. The support scheme determines how the piping carries its own weight, how it accommodates thermal movement, how it responds to pressure surge and vibration, and what loads it imposes on the equipment it connects to. A layout that is flexible enough to absorb thermal expansion may sag unacceptably between supports; a layout stiffened to control sag may transmit unacceptable loads to a pump nozzle. Piping design, stress analysis and support design are one problem, and separating them produces systems that fail in service or that have to be corrected during commissioning at high cost.
This course treats them together. It covers the applicable piping codes and how allowable stresses are derived, pipe sizing and wall thickness, layout and routing practice for flexibility and supportability, the load cases that stress analysis addresses, stress categories and code compliance checking, expansion loops and expansion joints, support functions of rest, guide, anchor, line stop and hold-down, support types including rigid, variable spring and constant effort arrangements, support spacing rules and where those rules break down, support location relative to concentrated loads and equipment, allowable nozzle loads for pumps, compressors, exchangers, vessels and tanks, dynamic considerations including surge, slug flow, relief discharge, vibration and seismic loading, hot and cold piping considerations, and the structural design and detailing of supports themselves.
Piping systems in oil and gas facilities operate under a combination of loads. They carry internal pressure, they carry their own weight together with contents and insulation, they expand and contract as temperature changes, they are shaken by flow-induced and machinery-induced vibration, they take transient loads from valve closure, relief discharge and slug flow, and in some locations they are subject to wind and seismic loading. Each of these loads acts on a system whose flexibility depends entirely on how it is routed and supported.
The engineering objective is to keep stresses within code allowables, keep displacements within tolerable limits, keep loads on connected equipment within the manufacturer’s permitted values, and keep the system stable under dynamic excitation. These objectives conflict. Flexibility that relieves thermal stress adds deflection under weight. Anchors that control movement attract load. Restraints that suppress vibration restrict expansion. The resolution is not a formula but a design process, iterated between layout, analysis and support selection until all four objectives are satisfied simultaneously.
Getting this wrong has consequences that are visible in every operating facility: lines resting on temporary supports that were never replaced, springs travelling to their stops, guides that have been dragged out of alignment by thermal growth, small bore connections cracked by vibration, and pump alignment repeatedly disturbed by piping load. Most of these were designed in. This course is intended for engineers who want to design them out, and who need to understand the analysis well enough to interpret it and act on it.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Apply the relevant piping design codes and determine allowable stresses for the service conditions
- Determine pipe wall thickness for pressure, corrosion allowance and mechanical requirements
- Develop piping layouts that provide the flexibility and supportability the system requires
- Define load cases for sustained, thermal expansion, occasional and dynamic conditions
- Interpret stress analysis results and verify compliance with code stress categories
- Select support types and functions appropriate to each location in the system
- Determine support spacing and location including allowance for valves, flanges and concentrated loads
- Select and specify variable spring and constant effort supports for systems with vertical movement
- Evaluate loads imposed on equipment nozzles against allowable limits and modify the design where exceeded
- Design and detail support structures, attachments and shoes for the loads and movements they must carry
The course is delivered as an applied engineering programme moving between layout, analysis and support design. Each concept is developed from the governing code requirement and the physical behaviour involved, then applied to piping configurations of increasing complexity, from simple runs to hot lines connected to rotating equipment. Analysis output is interpreted rather than generated blindly, so participants learn to judge whether a result is credible and what to change when it is not. Field examples of support failures, excessive nozzle loads and vibration problems are examined together with the design decisions that caused them.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Reduce piping and support rework identified during construction and commissioning
- Reduce equipment damage and alignment problems caused by excessive piping loads
- Prevent vibration and fatigue failures, particularly at small bore connections
- Improve the technical review of piping and support designs from contractors and vendors
- Reduce over-design and unnecessary support cost through better analysis judgement
- Improve the reliability of hot piping systems and rotating equipment connections
Participants will:
- Understand how piping layout, stress analysis and support design interact
- Interpret stress analysis output and know what to change when a check fails
- Select and specify supports correctly for weight, thermal movement and dynamic loads
- Recognise support and piping problems in operating plant from their visible symptoms
- Communicate effectively with stress analysts, structural engineers and vendors
- Take responsibility for piping design and support decisions on projects
- Piping design engineers and piping designers
- Piping stress analysts and mechanical engineers
- Facilities and project engineers responsible for piping scope
- Structural engineers designing pipe support steelwork
- Plant, maintenance and integrity engineers dealing with piping problems
- Rotating equipment engineers concerned with nozzle loads and alignment
- Construction and commissioning engineers verifying piping installation
Module 1 — Piping Design Codes and Requirements
- Applicable codes for process, liquid transportation and gas transmission piping
- Design pressure, design temperature and design conditions
- Allowable stress determination and material selection
- Pipe wall thickness calculation and corrosion allowance
- Pipe schedules, classes and specification breaks
- Fittings, flanges, ratings and their code basis
- Code requirements for supports and restraints
- Documentation: line lists, piping specifications and isometrics
Module 2 — Layout, Routing and Flexibility
- Routing principles for process, utility and relief piping
- Layout for operability, maintainability and access
- Building flexibility into the route: offsets, loops and changes of direction
- Expansion loops: sizing, location and cost implications
- Expansion joints and their limitations and risks
- Cold spring and its correct application
- Interaction between layout, support locations and structural steel
- Layout constraints in compact and offshore installations
Module 3 — Loads and Load Cases
- Sustained loads: pressure, weight of pipe, contents and insulation
- Thermal expansion and contraction loads
- Occasional loads: wind, seismic, relief discharge and surge
- Dynamic loads: slug flow, two-phase flow, machinery vibration
- Friction at supports and its effect on load distribution
- Settlement, subsidence and imposed displacement
- Load combination and code load case definition
- Operating, design and upset condition treatment
Module 4 — Stress Analysis Principles
- Stress categories: sustained, expansion and occasional
- Primary and secondary stress and the reason for their different treatment
- Stress intensification factors and flexibility factors
- Fatigue, stress range and cycle count
- Modelling principles: nodes, elements, restraints and boundary conditions
- Which lines require formal analysis and which do not
- Interpreting analysis output: stresses, displacements, forces and moments
- Common modelling errors and their effect on results
- Iterating between layout, support scheme and analysis
Module 5 — Pipe Support Functions and Types
- Support functions: rest, guide, anchor, line stop and hold-down
- Rigid supports: shoes, saddles, clamps, brackets and hangers
- Sliding supports, low friction arrangements and guides
- Anchors and their load attraction consequences
- Directional restraints and their placement logic
- Struts, sway braces and snubbers for dynamic control
- Support selection logic by line service and temperature
- Standard support details and when a special support is required
Module 6 — Support Spacing and Location
- Support spacing criteria for deflection and stress
- Standard span tables and their underlying assumptions
- Where span tables do not apply: two-phase, vibration and heavy components
- Support location relative to valves, flanges and concentrated loads
- Support at changes of direction and near equipment
- Vertical line support and riser clamp arrangements
- Small bore piping support and vibration prevention
- Field support of temporary and modified piping
Module 7 — Spring and Constant Effort Supports
- When a rigid support cannot be used
- Variable spring hanger selection and load variation
- Constant effort support principles and application
- Hot load, cold load and travel determination
- Spring rate selection and permissible load variation limits
- Setting, pinning and commissioning of spring supports
- Travel stops, over-travel and spring failure in service
- Inspection and maintenance of spring supports
Module 8 — Equipment Nozzle Loads
- Why nozzle load limits exist and what they protect
- Allowable loads for centrifugal pumps and their standards
- Compressor and turbine nozzle load requirements
- Heat exchanger, air cooler and vessel nozzle allowables
- Tank nozzle loads and settlement effects
- Local stress evaluation at vessel nozzles
- Reducing nozzle loads through layout, supports and expansion elements
- Alignment, pipe fit-up and load transfer during installation
- Verification of nozzle loads during commissioning
Module 9 — Dynamic and Special Considerations
- Flow induced vibration and its assessment
- Acoustic induced vibration in gas systems
- Machinery induced vibration and pulsation in reciprocating service
- Surge and water hammer loads from valve operation
- Relief valve reaction forces and discharge piping design
- Slug flow forces in two-phase lines
- Seismic design and support requirements
- Cryogenic and high temperature piping considerations
- Jacketed, lined and non-metallic piping support requirements
Module 10 — Support Structural Design, Detailing and Field Practice
- Transferring pipe loads into structural steel and civil structures
- Support steelwork design and connection detailing
- Attachment to the pipe: welded and clamped attachments
- Trunnion, dummy leg and lug design considerations
- Insulation, shoe height and vapour barrier detailing
- Material selection, coating and corrosion protection of supports
- Support drawings, schedules and installation tolerance
- Inspection of installed supports and common installation faults
- Diagnosing support problems in operating plant and correcting them
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
This course is led by a piping engineering and stress analysis specialist with more than 20 years in the oil and gas industry, built on designing the piping and the supports together, rather than fixing both later.
He currently holds piping engineering leadership responsibility with a major operator managing surface facilities projects, covering stress analysis, support design and equipment nozzle load management — the disciplines that keep piping systems reliable under operating conditions. Earlier in his career he served as a piping stress engineer on major facilities projects, leading pipe support design and analysis work on some of the industry's most demanding piping systems. Across two decades he has taken several piping systems from design through stress analysis into safe, reliable operation.
That operating background shapes how he teaches. Delegates learn not only how piping and supports are designed on paper, but how they behave together in the field — where support spacing decisions create unexpected loads, why flexibility and thermal effects get underestimated, what drives equipment nozzle load failures, how dynamic effects complicate support selection, and how piping and structural teams resolve these issues together. Every module is anchored in real stress analysis data, design decisions and lessons from operating piping systems.
His subject coverage spans the full piping design chain: code requirements, layout and flexibility, stress analysis, load cases, support types and functions, spacing and location, equipment nozzle loads, dynamic and thermal effects, and support detailing.
He has delivered piping design and stress analysis training for many years across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, working with mixed groups of piping engineers, stress engineers and technical staff at every level of experience. He is an active contributor to industry forums on piping engineering and pipe support design.
His approach is practical, discussion-led and grounded in real piping design experience — not the textbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
