Hence, would you fellow engineers out there agree with the following approach to determine minimum displacements of the mating flange at the nozzle during the installation with the springs 'unlocked' to ensure allignment is met.

1. Once you have painstakingly brought the compressor nozzle loads down to within the allowable limits, save the CII file under say "flange disconnected"
2. Remove thermal displacements at the compressor nozzle or modelled anchor if compressor vendor has not provided any. Flanges would be considered disconnected in this scenario.
3. Simulate your springs in CII to be 'un-locked'.
4. Run the analysis and check only the sustain case displacements.
5. Ensure displacements at the flange when disconnected to be within +/- 3mm in lateral and vertical directions. 3mm is a thumb suck figure...

Once again, this is just my opinion and I am open to any criticism in order to learn.

Cheers