Pipe Clamp Rail Assembly for Corrosion-Resistant Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pipe fastening devices in shipbuilding and offshore platforms struggle to maintain optimal resistance to contact corrosion, especially when pipes have angle deviations, leading to crevice corrosion and increased maintenance and replacement costs.
Innovation Solution
A device with adjustable clamps and bracing rails allows for precise concentric alignment of pipes even with angle deviations, utilizing elastomer strips with obtuse angles to enhance resistance to contact corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple clamps (multi-clamps) are used to fasten multiple pipes in tight spaces, then productivity and space utilization are improved, but the requirement for precise concentric alignment becomes more difficult to achieve, leading to increased risk of crevice corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp is divided into multiple independent clamp parts (first clamp part, second clamp part, etc.), each with its own passage for holding a pipe. This segmentation allows each clamp part to independently accommodate a pipe, reducing the impact of angle deviations on overall alignment precision while maintaining the ability to fasten multiple pipes simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp parts are designed with adjustable positioning capabilities along the bracing rails, allowing dynamic adaptation to different pipe positions and angle deviations. This dynamic adjustment ensures that each pipe can be properly aligned within its clamp passage even when multiple pipes are being fastened in tight spaces with varying orientations
2Reliability
If longitudinal ribs are configured as elastomer strips with obtuse angle end edges to achieve excellent resistance to contact corrosion, then reliability against crevice corrosion is improved, but the complexity of achieving precise concentric pipe progression through the clamp increases
Solution Approach 1:
The elastomer strips are specifically configured with obtuse angle end edges at the critical contact points with the pipe. This local geometric feature ensures proper drainage and ventilation at the most vulnerable areas for crevice corrosion, maintaining high reliability without requiring the entire clamp structure to be perfectly aligned
Solution Approach 2:
The use of elastomer material instead of rigid material allows for parameter changes in terms of flexibility and adaptability. The elastomer can deform to accommodate slight misalignments while maintaining the obtuse angle configuration at the end edges, thus preserving corrosion resistance properties even when perfect concentric alignment is not achieved
3Reliability
If corrosion protection tape or surface sealant is applied to improve corrosion protection, then resistance to crevice corrosion is improved, but the effort and expense increase significantly, and annual inspection becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The clamp design with longitudinal elastomer ribs and obtuse angle end edges creates a self-draining structure that passively prevents crevice corrosion through its geometry alone. The design itself provides the corrosion protection function without requiring additional protective coatings or sealants, thereby reducing manufacturing effort and expense while maintaining high reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the corrosion protection function from external additives (tape, sealant) and integrates it directly into the structural design of the clamp itself. By incorporating the obtuse angle elastomer ribs that facilitate drainage and ventilation, the corrosion resistance is inherent to the clamp structure, eliminating the need for separate corrosion protection measures
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device ensures high-quality resistance to contact erosion by maintaining precise alignment and ventilation at the fastening locations, reducing crevice corrosion and associated maintenance costs.
Implementation Method 1
By means of providing longitudinal ribs, good ventilation of the fastening locations is achieved, and thereby rapid drying out of moisture films is brought about
Implementation Method 2
the configuration as longitudinal ribs makes it possible for liquids to flow out of the pipe fastener to the side
Implementation Method 3
the first clamp part of the at least one clamp can be adjustably fixed in place on the first bracing rail, and the second clamp part of the at least one clamp can be adjustably fixed in place on the second bracing rail
Implementation Method 4
tensioning of the first and second clamp parts of the clamps that are arranged, against the pipes held by them, in each instance, is made possible
Implementation Method 5
It has proven to be decisive that the end edges of elastomer strips toward the pipe are structured in an obtuse angle
Data Source
AI summary
A device for fixing pipes, in particular in the field of shipbuilding and offshore platforms, includes at least one clamp which includes first and second clamp parts, each having a recess which, when assembled, form a passage for receiving a pipe, in which passage at least three longitudinal ribs, which extend in the longitudinal direction of the pipe, are arranged, at a distance from one another, to support a received pipe. Two bracing rails are arranged; the first clamp part can be adjustably fixed to the first bracing rail and the second clamp part can be adjustably fixed to the second bracing rail; and the two bracing rails are connected opposite one another by braces for bracing the bracing rails, as a result of which the first and second clamp parts arranged opposite one another can be braced against a pipe received by the clamp.