Hi Corne,

In my opinion D due to temperature should be separated with displacement due to settlement as I read from load case pdf file in our forum. I quote some as below:

Load Cases with thermal displacements and settlement:

For settlement, use a Cnode on any affected restraints. This Cnode must be a node number not used elsewhere in the model. Then place the settlement on the Cnode using a displacement vector not already used for thermal displacements. We will use D3 to describe restraint settlement in this example.

L1 W+T1+D1+D3+P1 (OPE)
L2 W+T2+D2+D3+P1 (OPE)
L3 W+P1 (SUS)
L4 L1-L3 (EXP) * effects of T1, D1, and settlement
L5 L2-L3 (EXP) * effects of T2, D2, and settlement
L6 L1-L2 (EXP) * full expansion stress range with settlement

Settlement is evaluated as an expansion load because it is strain-related with a half-cycle.

Note: For piping codes with no expansion stress computation simply add the thermal and settlement displacements to the operating cases as shown above.

* Use algebraic combination method under the Load Case Options tab.
** Use SRSS combination method under the Load Case Options tab.
*** Use ABS or Scalar combination method under the Load Case Options tab.