Are your bolts designed to handle the uplift from moments caused by external forces like wind and seismic loads? 

I commonly see equipment where only the operating case is checked and I’ve even seen cases where the bolt uplift calculation is ignored altogether. Don’t be fooled into ignoring this simple calculation as catastrophic bolt failure can cause severe damage to your equipment.

The empty condition often governs because process weight helps to prevent uplift. Please calculate all design conditions to determine the governing case.

Do you spend too much time looking up Gasket Factor (m) and Gasket Seating Stress Factor (y) values?

Whenever someone asks me to design a custom Appendix 2 or Part 4.16 flange I want to know the m and y factors of the gaskets they intend to use. A lot of times this crucial gasket design information is tough to track down. Thankfully COMPRESS has a great selection of pre-loaded gaskets to choose from including manufactures like Garlock, Flexitalic, Lamons, and Teadit. 

Use a manufacturer not listed in COMPRESS? It is easy to add new gaskets to the pre-loaded database.