Good evening. I am up against a 42" slip joint in which I need to somehow account for what the manufacturer calls the "activation force", which is the force required to overcome the friction in the packing to get the joint to start slipping. I have also heard this called the breakaway force. This particular joint has an activation force of 20,000 lb.

I think the correct technique would be an expansion joint in conjunction with a bilinear restraint along the pipe axis, somehow. But I am struggling with how to set it up so it "works" properly. Have any of you done one of these in the past?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!