To support oversized and heavyweight piping, pipe shoes as well as other industrial clamps are used. Pipe shoes are designed to elevate the pipe at some height above the pipe support. A pipeline needs to be supported from a foundation or a structure. The piping loads will be acting on these foundations/structures. The pipe shoe is usually installed as a wear plate.
A pipe shoe can be installed in circumstances where there is a large amount of thermal cycles causing the pipe to expand and contract. The pipe show will prevent pipe thinning from the support and pipe rubbing together. There is no detrimental effect to the pipe that contains the pressure of the process, by using the shoe as a wear plate. Generally pipe shoes are custom made with a fast turnaround to suit specific site requirements.
More About Pipe Shoes:
In cases where a stainless steel line is required, it is less costly to install a carbon steel pipe support than it is to install a stainless steel pipe support. Therefore, the pipe and its support have dissimilar metals. If a thin wall pipe is used, material loss due to corrosion may cause severe damage and catastrophic effects.
The most common way to anchor a pipe is to weld the pipe directly to a support or structural member. First a pipe shoe is welded to the pipe if the pipe to be anchored is insulated, and then the shoe is welded to the steel structure. Pipe shoes can otherwise be termed as rigid pipe supports. Rigid pipe supports are those that have ‘little-to-no-flexibility’. Rigid pipe supports are designed to limit movement in certain directions and can act as an anchor, a rest, a guide or as a rest-guide. In order to accommodate the change in piping angles at critical locations, rigid supports can be adjustable as well. Examples of rigid supports include: pipe shoes, slide plates, pipe hangers, dummy legs and struts.
Considerations:
Always ensure that the pipe shoe is robust enough to support the pipe and the process. Use a clamped typed pipe shoe when installing pipe shoes on a line that is lined internally with a material that is sensitive to heat. Also, make sure that the length of the shoe that you’re going to install is long enough to allow for expansion and contraction of the pipe on the support.
If the shoe is too short, it could fall off the support. There could be catastrophic consequences if the pipe falls off the support, such as pipe failure or injury to personnel. Pipe shoes for use on a pipeline or long length of pipe can be manufactured by welding a T-shaped beam to a piece of pipe. It can also be made by cutting a Wide Flange Beam in half. It is easier to get wide flange beam than a T-shaped beam.
Before specifying a piece of steel to be used as a pipe shoe, it’s important to check with a structural engineer to ensure it is sized appropriately. We at Northern Weldarc, have professional steel fabricators who have been manufacturing pipe shoes for various projects. If you’re looking for the right shaped and sized pipe shoes for your requirement, you can always get in touch with our professionals at Northern Weldarc.
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