Pipeline Design Course

THRUST BLOCK DESIGN

9 November 2004

By: Marco van Dijk

Department of Civil & Biosystems
Engineering

Thrust Block Design

• Introduction
• Basic theory
• Calculation procedures
• Calculation of resultant force
• Calculation of restraining method
• Installation guidelines
• Examples
• Software program
• Hand calculation

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Introduction
• Piping systems are subject to unbalanced thrust
forces resulting from static and dynamic fluid
action on the pipe.
• These forces must be balanced if the piping system
is to maintain its integrity.
• Unbalanced thrust forces occur at change in
directions of flow such as elbows, tees, reducers,
valves and dead ends.
• Reactive forces can be provided in the form of
thrust blocks, or transmitting forces to the pipe
wall by restrained, harnessed, flanged or welded
joints (Forces from the pipe shell transferred to the
soil).

Basic theory
The fundamental equations of fluid dynamics:
1. Conservation of matter (mass)
mass flow entering = mass flow leaving
Q entering = Q leaving

2. Conservation of energy
p1 v12 p2 v22
+ + z1 = + + z2 + h f + hl
ρg 2 g ρg 2 g

3. Conservation of momentum
mdv
F= δF = ρQ(v2 − v1 )
dt

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Basic theory
Calculate the forces:

Pressure forces FPx = p x A

Momentum forces FMx = ρQ(V2x − V1x )

Reaction forces FMx = ∑ (FPx + FRx )

Calculation procedures
Z

Step 1: Select axis X

Y

Step 2: Determine the pressures, velocities and

flow rates at the specific point
Step 3: Determine the forces using the
fundamental equations of fluid dynamics
Step 4: Determine the soil conditions (if
underground installation)
Step 5: Calculate thrust block dimensions/weight

3
 Determine velocities
Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction
First find the three
velocities by continuity
Q
V1 = 1 = 1.886 m/s
A1
Q2
V2 = = 2.122 m/s
A2
Q3
V3 = = 4.775 m/s
A3

Determine pressures (energy equation)

Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction
Apply Bernoulli’s
equation to find pressure
p2 and p3
p1 V12 p V2
+ + z1 = 2 + 2 + z 2
ρg 2 g ρg 2 g
ρ (V12 − V22 )
p2 = p1 +
2
p2 = 499.53 kN/m²

4
 Determine pressures (energy equation)
Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction
Apply Bernoulli’s
equation to find pressure
p2 and p3
p1 V12 p V2
+ + z1 = 3 + 3 + z3
ρg 2 g ρg 2 g
ρ (V12 − V32 )
p3 = p1 +
2
p3 = 490.38 kN/m²

Determine pressures forces

Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction
FP2 Calculate pressure forces
X-direction:
FPx = FP1x + FP 2 x + FP 3 x
FPx = p1x A1 + 0 + 0
FPx = 79.95 kN
FP1
Y-direction:
FPy = FP1 y + FP 2 y + FP 3 y
FPy = 0 + (− p2 y A2 ) + ( p3 y A3 )
FP3 FPy = - 19.96 kN

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 Determine momentum forces
Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction
Calculate momentum
forces
X-direction:
V2
FMx = [0] − [ρQ1V1 ]

V1 FMx = − 0.566 kN

Y-direction:
FMy = [ρQ2V2 + ρQ3( − V3 )] − [0]
V3
FMy = - 0.40 kN

Determine resultant force

Calculation of resultant force
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the force
exerted by the T-junction Resultant force = - Reaction forces
Calculate reaction forces
X-direction:
FRx = FMx − FPx
FRx = − 80.09 kN
FRx
Y-direction:
θ
FRY FR FRy = FMy + FPy
FRy = 19.50 kN

FR = FRx2 + FRy2 = 82.43 kN

θ = tan −1 (FRy FRx ) = 13.7°

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Calculation of restraining method

• Thrust block (bearing area)

• Thrust block (friction between thrust
block and soil)
• Anchor rings / Puddle flange
• Harnessed joints (friction between soil and
pipe)
• Combination of these methods

Calculation of restraining method

Thrust block (bearing area)
Thrust force
Bearing area required =
Safe horizontal bearing capacity of soil
Fu
A=
Pbearing
Fu = total thrust force (kN)
A = bearing area of thrust block (m²)
Pbearing = bearing capacity of soil (kPa or kN/m²)

Safety factor ?

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Calculation of restraining method
Guidelines for bearing capacities
Soil type Bearing capacity (kPA)
ROCK
Hard sound rock - Broken with some difficulty and rig when struck. 10 000
Medium hard rock - Cannot be scraped or peeled with a knife: hand- held 5 000
specimen breaks with firm blow of the pick.
Soft rock - Can just be scraped with a knife: indentation of 2 to 4 mm with firm 2 000
blow of the pick point.
Very soft rock - Can be peeled with a knife: material crumbles under firm blows 1 000
with sharp end of a geological pick
NON-COHESIVE SOILS
Dense Well-graded Sand, Gravel and Sand-gravel mixture
Dry 400
Submerged 200
Loose Well-graded Sand, Gravel, Sand-gravel mixtures or Dense Uniform Sand
Dry 200
Submerged 100
Loose Uniform Sand
Dry 100
Submerged 40

Calculation of restraining method

Friction between thrust block and soil
Fs = µ (M c + M w + M s + M p ) g

Fs = total friction resistance between the thrust

block and soil (N)
Mc = mass of concrete thrust block (kg)
Mw = mass of water in pipe resting on thrust
block (kg)
Ms = mass of soil on top of thrust block (kg)
Mp = mass of pipe resting on thrust block (kg)
µ = friction coefficient between soil and
thrust block
g = gravitational acceleration (m/s²)

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Calculation of restraining method
Friction between thrust block and soil
Fs = µ (M c + M w + M s + M p ) g

Fs = total friction resistance between the thrust

block and soil (N)
Mc = mass of concrete thrust block (kg)
Mw = mass of water in pipe resting on thrust
block (kg)
Ms = mass of soil on top of thrust block (kg)
Mp = mass of pipe resting on thrust block (kg)
µ = friction coefficient between soil and
thrust block
g = gravitational acceleration (m/s²)

Calculation of restraining method

Friction between thrust block and soil
Soil Friction coefficient
(µ)
Clean hard rock 0.70
Clean gravel to coarse sand 0.55 to 0.60
Clean fine to medium sand, medium to coarse sand 0.45 to 0.55
with silt, gravel with silt or clay
Clean fine sand; fine to medium sand with silt or clay 0.35 to 0.45
Fine sand with silt; non-plastic silt 0.30 to 0.35
Very firm and hard clay 0.40 to 0.50
Medium to hard clay and clay with silt 0.30 to 0.35

Friction coefficient (µ) is affected by the degree of compaction

and moisture content

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Calculation of restraining method
Anchor rings / puddle flange

Calculation of restraining method

Anchor rings / Puddle flange
Pipe OD Ring width Ring thickness ty Minimum Permissible
(mm) A B (ty = ts + tr) weld tw load on ring
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (kN)
Maximum pipe pressure of 1034 kPa (150 Psi)
168 25 10 1.9 3.2 23
219 25 10 2.0 3.2 39
273 38 10 2.5 3.2 61
324 38 10 3.0 3.2 85
356 51 10 3.3 3.2 103
406 51 10 3.7 3.2 134
457 51 10 4.2 3.2 170
508 76 13 4.7 3.2 210
610 76 13 5.6 3.2 302
762 102 16 7.0 4.8 472
914 102 16 8.4 4.8 679

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Calculation of restraining method
Harnessed joints (friction between soil and pipe)

• Steel pipe – A guide for design and installation

(AWWA M11) 3rd edition
• Design for sleeve couplings
• Harness plate thickness, bolt tensile stress,
spacing around pipe, tightening procedure etc.

Calculation of restraining method

Harnessed joints (friction between soil and pipe)
Type P (smaller diameters)

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Calculation of restraining method
Harnessed joints (friction between soil and pipe)
Type RR (larger diameters)

Installation guidelines
Thrust blocks:

• The sides and bottoms of excavations against which thrust

blocks are cast shall be sound and undisturbed and all loose
material shall be removed
• Excess excavations shall be filled with concrete simultaneously
with the concrete of the thrust block
• All joints should be leaved accessible
• If it is a steel pipeline which is flanged or welded, no thrust
block is usually required
• Valves and plugs at stop-end pipes
must also be adequately anchored
• Compare pressure forces with
momentum forces
• Balance upward forces through the
mass of the block

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Examples
Above ground installation

Examples
T-piece underground

Nominal Dimentions
diameter D Z X Y Vol
(mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm) (m³)
300 1400 700 2700 1300 2.55
250 1300 650 2150 1100 1.50
200 1200 600 1600 800 0.77
150 1000 500 1300 650 0.42
100 1000 500 500 300 0.075
75 800 400 400 300 0.054

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Software options

• UP Thrust - Thrust block design program

(http://www.up.ac.za/academic/civil/divisions/water/software.html)

• AISI – Steel Water Pipe Design Software

(http://www.strucsoft.com)

Hand calculation
Water flows through a reducing 180o bend. The
bend is shown in plan. Determine the magnitude of
the force exerted on the bend in the x-direction.
Assume energy losses to be negligible.

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THRUST BLOCK
DESIGN

Thank you

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