I'm not sure if I'm just unaware of a better method, but when models include expansion joints I find myself having to take the displacement report and putting them in an Excel sheet to calculate the deflections by direction for each case.

Is there an easier or pre-built method in the reports to do this? Or do most people just use the maximums for each direction and call it good?

It would be nice if there were an expansion joint report that pulled the specified stiffness data and then summarized the joint deflections in a nice report without additional work/input.

Hello anubis512,

Please check whether "Analysis -> Expansion Joint Rating" module available in CAESAR II main window is helpful. User documentation link below:
https://docs.hexagonppm.com/r/en-US/CAESAR-II-Users-Guide/Version-12/332353

If you still prefer to see an additional report exclusively for EJ's, please file a support case with a sample of output report you expect to see inside the software. For filing support cases, you may go to https://smartcommunity.hexagonppm.com/ and select "I am a new User" and fill out the form. You will be contacted with login credentials or the CRM group requesting more information. Once you get the credentials, login in, select Cases->Support Case Creation and follow the prompts for filing .

Alternatively, you may just email your regional support and ask for help. They will get you a support case filed and help you get access to Smart Community. Based on your location the email would be crm.ppm@hexagon.com

All of this information, as well as the other Regional Support lines, can be found at https://hexagonppm.com/support

The Product Center will review your request and evaluate the best way to implement the requested functionality in a future release. We do our best to balance the requests for product improvements from users around the world. If similar cases are reported, product development team will allocate more resources to elevate its priority.

_________________________
Denny Thomas
Hexagon PPM (CAS)

Denny,

I don't think that really does what I'm thinking. It seems like it could work where you go through and iteratively do each load case and then pick the worst case once it's all done.

I'm a bit surprised there just isn't an Expansion Joint Table under General Computed Results that automatically consolidates the needed information similar to the Hanger Sizing Table. It would show line size, input stiffnesses, worst case deflections from all operating cases, etc.

I'm assuming I'm missing something or possibly overcomplicating the exercise.

For example, if looking at the X directional deflections, a company engineer previously told me to not just use the max X deflection at either node and use that, since it could be overly conservative. So I have a spreadsheet that determines the X deflection for each case, and then identifies the case with the maximum value.

Is there some other method/approach others use?

I create a custom report for displacements summary, then bring it into Excel.
Then subtract node X displacements from node Y.

Considering directionality, I assign compression, tension, torsion, and calculate lateral displacement and bending.

Then I check every OPE load case to ensure the expansion joint's permissible individual axis movements haven't been exceeded, and then combine them to ensure their combined displacements don't exceed permissible.

It's not a bad idea to have an intermediate step of finding the load cases with largest individual components in the 4 directions and combine those into a fictitious scenario.

Doing so is more conservative than looking at each case individually.

Will it always be conservative for every piping routing conceived?

No.

There are an infinite number of pipe configurations imaginable that will result in higher deflections between T(install) and T1 that isn't accounted for.

For "reasonable" routings? Likely.