Glass plants and pipeline should be supported correctly. To prevent inducing undesirable stresses in the glass, support should be rigid. When supported, glass should be in compression.
Generally, glass plant and equipment are supported in a rectangular tubular structure. This structure is formed of galvenised mild steel tubing with the cast iron fittings which are described in this catalogue. This type of structure provides enough flexibility for future modifications and is strong enough to support a glass unit.
Following rules should be followed while supporting a glass unit in a tubular structure:
1. The structure must be rigid. To give lateral support it must be braced back to the nearest wall or any rigid feature.
2. All glass columns are build up from a fixed point on which whole weight of the column should be taken. If total loads exceeds the permissible limits, counter balance supports should be used to relieve excessive weight.
3. With change in temperature, glass column and tubular structure expands at different rate. Therefore glass unit must be free for vertical movement above the fixed point. Hence, above the fixed point, guides supports should be used to give lateral support.
For forming the structure,”B” class galvanised tubes, Mild Steel with Epoxy Coated, Stainless Steel 304 & 316 are used in size of 1/2″, 1″, 1.1/4″, 1.1/2″ and 2″. Cut tubes are available in required length to form a standard size structure. Cut tubes are provided with rubber plug at both the ends.
Tube Size
NB Inches
NB mm
External Diameter
1/2″
15
19.5
1″
25
32.5
1.1/4″
30
41.5
1.1/2″
40
48.3
2″
50
60.3
Available cut lengths
Structure
NB (mm)
Dimension
15*
25*
30*
40*
50*
For Vertical installation
2500
–
2500
–
–
–
3000
–
3000
3000
–
–
3500
–
3500
3500
–
–
4000
–
–
4000
–
–
000
–
6000
6000
6000
6000
For Frames
400
–
365
355
345
335
500
–
465
455
445
435
600
–
565
555
545
535
800
–
765
755
745
735
1000
–
965
955
945
935
1200
–
1165
1155
1145
1135
1500
–
1465
1455
1445
1435
For Frames
400
435
445
445
455
465
500
535
545
545
555
565
600
635
645
645
655
665
800
835
845
845
855
865
1000
1035
1045
1045
1055
1065
1200
1235
1245
1245
1255
1265
1500
1535
1545
1545
1555
1565
STRUCTURE FITTINGS
Following structure fittings are available to use with galvanised tubes in order to form a tubular structure for a glass plant. These fittings are made of cast iron. Also available in Stainless Steel 304 & 316 and are suitable to the galvanised tubes described earlier.
These slidable fittings are provided with grub screws to fix it at required position on a galvanised tube.
These fittings are specially made to construct a tubular structure which provides enough flexibility for future modifications without involving any hammering and welding.