Expansion joints

Expansion joints are a flexible structure set on the vessel shell or pipeline to compensate for the additional stress caused by temperature difference and mechanical vibration.

Expansion joints are also customarily called compensators, or expansion joints. By constituting the main body of the bellows (an elastic element) and end pipe, bracket, flange, conduit and other accessories. Expansion joint is in order to compensate for the additional stress caused by temperature difference and mechanical vibration, and set in the container shell or pipeline on a flexible structure. The use of its work body bellows expansion and deformation, to absorb pipelines, conduits, containers, etc. by thermal expansion and contraction and other reasons for size changes, or to compensate for pipelines, conduits, containers, etc., axial, lateral and angular displacements. It can also be used for noise and vibration reduction. On heating, in order to prevent the pipeline from deformation or damage due to thermal elongation or temperature stress when the heating pipeline warms up, it is necessary to set up a compensator on the pipeline to compensate for the thermal elongation of the pipeline, so as to reduce the stress of the pipeline wall and the force acting on the structure of the valves or supports.

Since the expansion joint, as a kind of elastic compensation element that can freely expand and contract, has the advantages of working, good performance and compact structure, it has been widely used in the chemical industry, metallurgy, nuclear energy and other sectors. Expansion joints used on the container, there are a variety of forms, in terms of the shape of the corrugation, to the U-shaped expansion joints are widely used, followed by Ω-shaped and C-shaped and so on. Expansion joints used in pipelines are divided into pressure-balanced, hinged and universal joints in terms of structural compensation.