Major factors to consider in designing Steel Pipe Racks

In Blog, Plant Design Engineering On February 24, 2015

Home Blog Plant Design Engineering Major factors to consider in designing Steel Pipe Racks

The most functional aspect of Pipe Rack is to provide maintenance access under the pipe routings but
critical issues arise in case of improper load combinations in designing steel pipe racks. These issues
deteriorate the overall capability of the structure and could also lead to safety challenges. Here we put
together some of the crucial aspects of Steel Pipe Rack designing that will help to create reliable
structures.
Typical requirement of the transverse frames are moment-resisting frames. The moment frames resist
gravity loads as well as lateral loads from either pipe loads or wind and seismic loads. The transverse
frames are connected using longitudinal struts with one bay braced. Longitudinal loads are transferred to
the longitudinal struts and carried to the braced bay. Pipe routing is not predominantly allowed above the
cable trays. Here is the typical pipe rack sketch used in an industrial facility,

Primary load cases and load combinations:

Pipe Racks are structures that have unique loading when compared to typical buildings and
structures. Pipe Rack design is not covered in any International and Indian codes. But, the design
philosophies should remain the same as that for all structures. Most companies follow design criteria
based on Process Industry Practices (PIP) documents which will list ASCE 7-05 or IBC as the basis for
load definition and load combinations. However, there are several primary loads which should be
considered in pipe rack design.
Typical primary load case and load combination considered for Indian project:
1.
Seismic in X-direction Sx
2.
Seismic in Z-direction Sz
3.
Seismic in Y-direction Sy
4.
Dead Load DS Dead Load of Structure (Ds)

5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.

Live Load LL- Live load (LL) for any operating platform
Pipe Empty Weight PE Pipe Empty load (Pe)
Pipe Operating load PO Pipe Operating load (Po)
Pipe test load PT Pipe Test load (Pt)
Equipment Empty Weight EE Equipment Empty (EE)
Equipment Operating load EO Equipment Operating (EO)
Equipment Test load ET Equipment Test (ET)
Wind Load in +ve X direction + WLX
Wind Load in -ve X direction WLX
Wind Load in +ve Z direction + WLZ
Wind Load in -ve Z direction WLZ
Friction load FR-Friction load more realistic value of 10% of operating dead load will be applied in
the longitudinal direction.
17.
Anchor load- AN-As per stress analysis. Local members should be checked for pipe anchor
loads.
Load combination:
The following minimum load conditions are to be considered in assessing the design and stability of
structures. Combinations are not limited. Designer holds the responsibility to check the most severe load
combinations.
CONDITION / LOAD
TYPE
DEAD
Structure
Finishes
Equipment SW
Internals
Piping
Platform
Insulation
Fireproofing
Operating Fluid
Test Fluid
LIVE
Floor LL(**)
Roof LL(**)
TEMPERATURE (*)
PIPE FRICTION
WIND (#)
EARTHQUAKE (#)

ERECTION

NORMAL
OPERATING

TEST

SHUT DOWN

50%

50%

50% Wind
NA

50% Wind
NA

50% Wind
NA

(#) For any load combination, wind and seismic need not be considered acting together.
Intermediate supports:
Intermediate support requirement varies from case to case. For small pipe lines, (depending upon piping
requirements) intermediate supports shall be introduced. For transverse bents at 7500 center and above,
there shall be two intermediate supports. Large diameter pipes shall be considered to span between main
so that only smaller lines throw light loading on intermediate supports.

Longitudinal beams:
Longitudinal beams shall be provided between the bents. Their function shall be to tie up main bents,
provide supports for intermediate supports and to distribute forces due to pipe anchors which cannot be
generally located at an early stage. This way longitudinal Forces are ultimately resisted by the braced
bays which need not necessarily be located directly below the pipe anchor.
Additional space requirement:
To be on the safer side, additional space requirement for all new pipe racks shall be 15% to 20% or based
on client requirement.
Column bases:
Column base plates in the transverse (moment frame) direction may be designed as either fixed or
pinned. Fixed column bases must be used for instructed pipe racks. In general, the fixed base condition
results in smaller structural steel sections and larger foundations with smaller calculated lateral frame
deflections. Pinned base conditions result in heavier structural steel sections and smaller foundations with
larger calculated lateral frame deflections. The most common practice is to assume that the base of the
column acts as a pinned connection.
Anchor bolt:
As per Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a minimum of four anchor rods required to
resist a small moment. To minimize layout errors, the base plate is usually squared with a square and
concentric anchor hole pattern.
Foundations:
The foundation type to be used will be decided based on site soil conditions. Foundation design
parameters are normally stated in the project design specifications based on a site geotechnical
investigation report. Typically, independent spread footings or pile caps are used at each column.
Combined foundation or grade beams could be used for the columns of transverse frames and/or braced
frames if the column spacing is not too large.