Hinged Expansion Joint

When there is only one plane of angular movement, hinges or angular expansion joints are used. An angular expansion occurs when an expansion joint bends about its centre, which is the midline and halfway between the ends of metal bellows.

These bellows are commonly utilised in scenes where the pipe direction changes. As a result, hinged joints are used in areas where pipe bending occurs. Because this bellow is hinged, only angular movement is permitted around the hinges. Because lateral movements occur, a piping joint exists between these two bellows.

A hinged expansion joint's ability to accommodate lateral deflection for a given angular movement is directly proportional to the distance between them. To properly employ a pair of hinged bellows, the space between them should be as large as feasible. When only two hinge joints are utilised, as indicated in the illustration, the pipe perpendicular to the hinge segment must deflect to absorb the thermal expansion of the spool containing these angular expansion joints.

A system with three hinged expansion joints may be employed when the pipework in a single plane system is not flexible enough to absorb the thermal expansion of the spool between the hinged joints. The combination of the three joints absorbs all of the heat expansion of the pipe system in this system, and no piping deflection is seen. This arrangement exerts the least amount of strain on the intermediate anchors and guides.

If thermal growth occurs in only one plane of the piping system, this joint provides the most efficient method for absorbing thermal deflections.