Simplified piping analysis methods with inelastic supports

Energy absorbing supports (EAS) which contain x-shaped plates or dampers with heavy viscous fluid can absorb a large amount of energy during vibratory motions. The response of piping systems supported by these types of energy absorbing devices can be markedly reduced as compared with ordinary supports using rigid rods, hangers or snubbers. In this paper, a simple multiple support response spectrum technique is presented, which would allow the energy dissipation nature of the EAS be factored in the piping response calculation. In the meantime, the effect of lower system frequencies due to the reduced support stiffness from local yielding is also included in the analysis. Numerical results obtained show that this technique is more conservative than the time history solution by an acceptable and realistic margin; and it has less than 10 percent of the computation cost