Dear all,
I'm surprised the topic of flange supports hasn't been visited here in depth, yet.
This is what I found.
This is what some folks at eng-tips had to say.
Questions I would offer to the group:
1. How would you approach mathematical qualification such a design? Failure of the bolts or support plate is one thing, but qualifying this flange against leak is a separate issue.
2. It's common practice (amongst some end-users) to replace bolts on flanges in service, only one at a time. However, it looks like swapping out the support would be predicated by a shutdown. I see a few designs that attach to roughly half the bolts, and I see designs that attach to the bottom two bolts. Has anyone heard of any practice regarding the ability to disconnect two adjacent bolts while in service?
Thanks for taking the time to read and offering your thoughts.