Distributed supports provide continuous support along a length of pipe such as might be the case for pipes resting on the ground or buried in soil, although distributed supports may also be applied to frame objects. Distributed supports may be assigned to act in the axial, transverse, and longitudinal directions of the pipe (frame), and may have both linear and nonlinear stiffness. Distributed support properties can be different in each direction. Although distributed supports are specified as though the support is continuous, internally the modeling is done using discrete supports at finite spacing- see the Assign>Pipe>Automatic Pipe Mesh form for information on how the support spacing is calculated.
Distributed support local axes are aligned with the local axes of the piping to which they are assigned. Distributed supports are assigned on a per lineal unit basis using current units.