Isolating Vibration Risks With Custom Designed Expansion Joints The risks of unmanaged vibration - and how FlexCom expansion joints reduce them.

One of the potentially most serious problems that can occur along your application's ductwork is that of unmanaged vibration. As you consider your options for installing expansion joints in your system, isolating vibration risk poses an important engineering issue that should not be overlooked.

While ID (induced draft), FD (forced draft) and PA (primary air) fans account for most mechanically-caused vibrations transmitted along an operating ductwork, vibrations can also be caused by many other factors: gas or liquid turbulence, loose bolts or other parts, damaged or failing components, or even flaws in the original application design or construction. Transmitted along your metal ductwork, vibrations can shorten the lifespan of expensive components, raise maintenance costs and generally reduce the operating efficiency of your application. Finally, inadequately isolated vibrations ultimately reduce the predictability of a complex application - making it more difficult to accurately pinpoint responsibility in the event of a mechanical failure.

In addition to the costly risks they pose to critical running systems, unmanaged vibrations can also create significant health hazards for the people who regularly work around them. Vibrations in frequencies as low as 1 hz have been associated with human neurological impacts ranging from motion sickness and nausea to bone and joint lesions, cardiocirculatory problems and neurological damage. Additionally, vibrations occurring at frequencies between 12hz and 20khz cross into the normal human hearing range, creating noise that can not only be a nuisance but also a long term risk to hearing.

A well-designed expansion joint, placed in your ductwork immediately upstream or downstream fans, pumps and other common sources of mechanical vibration, can mitigate these risks by isolating the vibrations and preventing them from being transmitted along ductwork to other components.

The most effective solution for vibration-prone ductwork is often a fabric expansion joint, due to its decreased reliance on metallic components. However, a stainless steel metal bellows can also be designed to adequately mitigate vibrations. Varying the joint size and overall design, carefully selecting metal grades and opting for a multi-ply lightweight steel construction (rather than a single heavy ply) are all design strategies we at FlexCom use to develop metal expansion joints for these applications.

Should vibration risk be your primary concern in selecting a custom designed expansion joint? No. Vibration stands only as one of many important engineering concerns.

Your expansion joint must adequately compensate for ductwork movement due to thermal expansion, hold up against the external environment, protect against contaminants present within the gas stream, and reliably perform for years without failure. Since the engineering variables that achieve this balance of performance vary from one application to the next, it is essential that your joint is custom designed for your particular needs. In that effort, vibrations are not the sole challenge, but they can be a significant one - and one very much worth factoring into your thinking when making your decision.

Learn more about how custom expansion joint designs protect your industrial process from the many stresses commonly found along operating ductwork - and how FlexCom expansion joints deliver the superior performance you need.

To learn more about the FlexCom's series of U-belt expansion joint designs, visit us at www.flexcomonline.com!

Are you in search of a truly superior expansion joint for your industrial engineering needs? CLICK HERE to contact us today and request a quote!

FlexCom Inc. 6864 Chrisphalt Drive Bath, PA 18014 Phone: 610-837-3812 Toll Free: 888-376-FLEX

• Isolating Vibration Risks With Custom Designed Expansion Joints
• Our Products: FlexCom U-Belt Expansion Joints
• About FlexCom Inc.

FlexCom Metal Bellows and
Metallic Expansion Joints.

A FlexCom® metal bellows offers an ideal solution to the problem of high pressure (up to 300 psi) liquid or gas transfer: flexible movement compensation coupled with highly durable thermal resistance, ideal for applications such as wastewater handling and desalinization.

A well designed custom metal bellows such as this, carefully engineered to fit detailed application specifications, can improve system predictability, reduce faults and improve overall application efficiency.

We've Moved!

Since 1991, Flexible Compensators (FlexCom) Inc. has focused its energy and resources upon the single task of becoming the industry leader in robust, dependable fabric and metal expansion joints. In 2008 we took the next logical step: moving into a new state of the art manufacturing plant. Our new plant in Bath, Pennsylvania today serves as our fully integrated and full service engineering, manufacturing and test facility.

Two-thirds larger than our previous plant, this new facility has effectively doubled FlexCom's production capacity, enabling us to offer even greater cost efficiency, quality control, fast shipping and customer service.