Frequently Asked Questions

Microsoft® Windows® 7 or later (x64 platform). For additional information, check the System Requirements section in ‘How To Install Pihasa Assistant’ topic.

The software is only available in English.

Downloading Pihasa Assistant will only take you a few moments!
Just follow the instructions on the download page.

Pihasa Assistant installed files are scoped to a single directory on disk (the directory you selected during the installation process).
If you want your installation to be backed up, at least you should include /database and /drawings subdirectories.

For further information, check Installed files.

Of course. Pihasa Assistant includes a cutting-edge CAD system that you can use from directly within the software to create 2D and 3D CAD files.

Yes. Loads can be entered in either kilograms or newtons, and the choice is set per project.

Internally the software always works in kilograms. Values entered in newtons are converted using a standard gravity of 9.807 m/s², and results are converted back for display. Lengths, travels and variability are not affected by the unit setting.

Of course. Log in to Pihasa Assistant. Afterwards open a project, click on Project > Edit and add your company logo.
Your company logo will be included in all reports generated by Pihasa Assistant.

No. Loads and thermal movements come from your pipe stress analysis and are entered as input. Pihasa Assistant selects and verifies a support that satisfies them, sizes the assembly and produces the documentation.

It does recalculate loads for springs if you choose to “add accessories” in the project preference, adding the dead weight of the ancillary items that follow the spring coil.

See How Pihasa Assistant calculates.

No. It verifies that loads stay within the tabulated capacities of the catalogue parts. It does not compute stresses in any component.

That is a decision for you to make. Pihasa Assistant always proposes a model if any candidate passes the load and travel filter, including candidates that fail other checks — it is more useful to show the closest option and flag the problem than to return nothing.

An automatic proposal is therefore not a validation. Read the warnings before accepting it.

See Troubleshooting calculation warnings.

Variability measures how much the load a variable spring applies changes between cold and hot conditions, as a percentage of the operating load. High variability means load is transferred to the piping system in quantities your stress analysis may not have anticipated.

The usual fix is a softer spring series. If even the softest exceeds the limit, the movement is too large for a variable spring and a constant support is the right choice.

See Hot load, cold load and variability.

Variable springs suit vertical movements up to roughly 50–75 mm. Above that, variability becomes difficult to keep within normal limits even on the softest series. A constant support carries the same load throughout its travel, so its variability is zero.

By design. The travel is sized with a margin above and below the required movement, then raised to the minimum travel that size and product line require, then rounded up. A constant support positioned with no margin has nowhere to absorb the difference between calculated and actual movement.

See Travel and travel reserves.

Not to complete a calculation — but if you leave it blank the check is not performed, and no warning tells you so.

On any line that will be pressure tested, that means an unchecked load case, often the heaviest the support will see. It is worth making the field part of your standard routine.

See Hydrostatic test check.

The software assigns a default based on the selected material quality, on the reasoning that an alloy steel was specified for a reason. The defaults are conservative, but they are assumptions.

Enter the temperature explicitly on anything above ambient. The datasheet records the value that was used.

Whichever you tell it. The Load Calculations field on the support datasheet selects between per support — the value is the total for the assembly — and per spring — the value is what each element carries.

Getting this wrong halves or doubles the design load, so it is worth checking explicitly on every double support.

Note that clamp bases work the other way round: the base carries the whole assembly, so in per spring mode it sees twice the value entered.

Enter it as a custom value in millimetres in Pipe Size. The software uses the closest standard equivalent for catalogue data. Not every nominal size between 1/2″ and 36″ appears in the standard list.

Most often because the lateral load exceeds the permitted fraction of the vertical load. The software does not reject the design — it applies a reinforcement, and the extra material shows up as weight.

It can also be because a dimension of the base differs from the catalogue standard, in which case the part is a special.

The calculation criteria are proprietary. This knowledge base documents what the software calculates, what it checks and how to interpret every result, which is what you need to use the output with confidence.

For a specific result you cannot reconcile, contact Pihasa with the project file and the support tag.