How many supports?
Thread Content
Thank you to the two experts for their answers regarding the issue of 3 supports for horizontal containers. I have another question: is it true that the more supports a large horizontal pressure container has, the better? For example, 3, 4, 5... What is the reason behind this?
No. Multi-saddle structures have complex stress conditions. Use saddles whenever possible if two saddles are available; although sometimes using two saddles may not meet the calculation requirements, it is possible to adjust the saddle parameters to meet those requirements or add reinforcing rings – such adjustments are often better than using additional saddles. Of course, some cannot avoid having multiple saddles. As I recall, many vulcanization tanks have a multi-saddle structure.
By the way, it’s best to add it after the original post so that others can also see it
The calculation for 3 supports can refer to the calculation method in the HG combined edition
Multi-saddle structures have complex stress conditions; therefore, two saddles should be used whenever possible. If the calculations using two saddles do not meet the requirements, the saddle parameters can be adjusted or reinforcing rings can be added to meet the specifications
There are significant errors in the installation of multiple supports, resulting in uneven stress on each support
Let me answer: Horizontal containers are supported by saddles, and theoretically they can be simplified as beams supported by fulcrums. It seems that the more fulcrums there are, the better, but we also need to consider the other side of things: 1. The manufacturing of large, custom-made containers requires tighter control over the ellipticity and curvature of the cylinder, as well as over the levelness of its bottom surface after the saddles are fabricated and welded; this increases the difficulty. 2. The relative stiffness of different parts of the container against local deformation varies. 3. The settlement of each individual foundation supporting the container is uneven. For these reasons, multiple supports not only fail to demonstrate any advantages; rather, they increase the degree of uneven stress distribution, thereby having an adverse effect on the use of the container. By the way: multiple supports also lead to a significant increase in cost.