Overview

Expansion joints absorb thermal growth, vibration, pressure fluctuation and misalignment within a piping system, relieving stress that would otherwise be carried by pumps, turbines, heat exchangers and the pipework itself. All units are designed to EJMA guidelines and, where required, ASME Section VIII Division 1. Seven configurations are available: Axial, Universal / Lateral, Hinged Angular, Gimbal Angular, Internal / Inline Pressure Balanced, External Pressure Balanced and Elbow Pressure Balanced. Selecting between them is largely a question of how pressure thrust is handled. A plain axial joint is the simplest and cheapest, but it imposes a real condition on the design: the piping must be properly anchored and guided, because an unrestrained axial joint will simply be extended by pressure thrust instead of absorbing movement. Tied universal, hinged and gimbal arrangements restrain that thrust within the joint hardware itself, which keeps anchor loads low and often makes them the practical choice where main anchors would otherwise be prohibitively large. Pressure-balanced designs go further, cancelling thrust internally so that large movement can be absorbed directly at equipment nozzles that cannot tolerate any thrust loading at all.

Advantages

• Superior build quality with premium materials.
• High resistance to extreme temperatures and pressures.
• Seamless integration with existing automation systems.
• Low maintenance requirements resulting in lower TCO.