expansión joints
What is an expansion joint?
When designing, producing and maintaining industrial pipe systems, different situations have to be taken into account. Such situations can be mechanical movements, vibrations, misalignments in pipes or movement caused by thermal expansion. All of these movements in the pipe are transmitted to the mounting and equipment connected to them, provoking deformations, failure and ruptures in the systems, which can lead to pricy production stops.
There are different ways to attack this situation, being the correct use of Expansion Joints in the pipes one of the most effective ones.
Expansion Joints are flexible devices designed to absorb movements generated by the pipe system because of variations in temperature and pressures. By absorbing those movements, the joints reduce the mechanical vibration caused by other equipment and diminish the noise of the pipes.
The essential part of an Expansion Joint, which allows the movement and flexibility, is the bellow. The bellow requires to be very resistant to support the pressure of the fluids handled, but also flexible enough to absorb the present movements such as axial, lateral, angular, rotations and vibrations.
