What are expansion joints?
The expansion joints are equipment that maintains a piping system. It protects system equipment by absorbing the magnitude of high stress on the pipes because of outer temperature that can influence contraction or expansion caused by changes in temperature in fluids, earthquake or wind pressure.
Expansion joints are one of the important as well as critical components in industrial applications that may include ducting or piping. There are a broad variety of materials along with designs that you can select but the right selection & accurate installation of these expansion joints are vital for ensuring safe operation without any hassle. Industrial and commercial installations that feature piping, pumping include movement joints or expansion joints.
The expansion joints help in alleviating the thermal expansion’s effects, external factors like ground settlement, seismic activity. The expansion joints act as the best safety components. These joints are made from a variety of materials like rubbers, stainless steel, PTFE. The expansion joints help in ensuring structural integrity. Expansion joints can terminate potential sources of failures.
What Is the Right Type Of Expansion Joint?
The rubber expansion joints have specific beneficial features because of their inherent flexibility, given they can meet the application pressure or temperature requirement. It makes the expansion joints suitable for several applications that include shock, thermal energy and absorption of sound.
The expansion joints are famous for their capability in withstanding extreme environments and durability. The expansion joints made of rubber are found commonly in harsh environments like the chemical processing industry, paper & pulp, mining & metal, water & wastewater and pumping stations. The expansion joints also help in reducing the noise of fluid from the rotating equipment with which they are attached.
The materials used in expansion joints are – Neoprene, EPDM, Hypalon, Nitrile and Natural rubbers amalgamated with a few other materials. In extreme environments like high or low Ph level chemical systems, the expansion joints are made from PTFE lined rubber or moulded PTFE. PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) has benefits and can be used for the chemical processing industry in which highly corrosive things are in play. Talking about the moulded PTFE lined expansion joints, they are designed for protecting pipes that come in contact with sturdy reactive materials.
Choosing the correct Expansion Joint for your system
You can understand that expansion joints are found to operate in rigorous processes like steel, power, paper & pulp, chemical & mining industry. Selecting the right expansion joints is the main thing. The expansion joints must ensure reliability, offer the best service life and at the same moment maximise performances.
Material selection & correct installation are two vital keys, where a failure of the expansion joint can lead to your system’s downtime. If expansion joints are incorrectly used at extreme temperatures, they can lose their flexibility because oils in the rubber can get lost. It will lead the joints to become more brittle and can even experience accelerated failure.
Another work before selecting expansion joints is to do a proper review of the performance of the manufacturer.
What are the initial considerations that you need to do before buying?
While choosing the right expansion joint, make sure it is accurately sized for your applications along with the given footprint. Expansion joints must suit the expected range of pressure and temperature that the tool has to experience during its operational work. Many other factors also include – the viscosity of fluid that is pumped.
Correct installation of Expansion Joint
The most expensive expansion joints can also become prone to failure if they are installed improperly. Installing the product accurately can extend your system’s life and enhance the whole system too. On the list of priorities, accurate piping alignment is a must. The expansion joints must be installed close to the fixed anchors. Enough pipe support has to be present and it is critical because the expansion joint must not carry equipment’s weight for operating finely.
Sirte selection of the joints is one of the main keys to consider, The expansion joints must not be installed in the places where inspection is almost impossible,
Maintenance of Expansion Joints
If expansion joints are specified, sized and installed correctly then you may not need any repairing or maintenance though a regular inspection is highly recommended. The inspection helps in identifying issues like corrosion, leaks and cracks in the expansion joints, Identifying the potential issues previously can reduce complete value at the risk.
If you follow the maintenance schedule of the manufacturer, optimal results can be yielded and will give maximised service life.
We hope that the blog has provided a brief understanding of the correct installation and selection of the expansion joints in your system. Use the joints correctly as it is an effective solution for managing movement, vibration & cyclic motion. Select the right one and ensure its correct installation.
