Intermediate tube supports design for process coils are particularly demanding in case of high temperature acting on the supports.
We have carried out the design of many tube supports according to the API-560 standard.
The costruction cost can be an important part of the installation as special metals are often required to withstand the operating temperatures, thus an optimized design is an excellent way to reduce costs and increase earnings and performance. The Finite Element Modelling (FEM) is a good way to achieve the these goals.
The work begins with framing the problem, defining:
- Operative and Design temperatures
- Design Loads
- Design Boundaries
A parametrized FEM model is created for the first simulation. And with the information gained by the first try, a supervised optimization algorithm is performed several times to obtain the best solution in accordance with the customer requests.
Intermediate Tubesheet for the convection section 
Von Mises stress map for vertical casting under frictional loads in a Box Fired Heater 
Simulated Von Mises Stresses on a ITS installed in the Convection Section of a Fired Heater 
Von Mises stress on a convection section tubesheet under Frictional Load + Dead Load