You are currently viewing the James Walker Global website.

Close
Sewn bellows banner

Fabric expansion joints

Our fabric expansion joints ensure efficient, safe and prolonged plant operation.

Made using a 'multi-layer' fabric construction, our fabric expansion joints absorb the movements in the pipe or ducting systems they sit within, ensuring efficient, safe and prolonged plant operation. Fabric joints are designed to absorb the thermal growth and keep the gas media within the system and are typically designed to seal temperatures as high as 750°C.

Typical applications include:

  • Gas turbine exhausts
  • HRSG ducting and pipework
  • Industrial extraction systems
  • Boiler grate seals on waste to energy incineration plants

This type of joint is also seen in primary and secondary air processes, recirculation and flue gas (FGR) ducting along with ash systems, bag filters, economisers, dryers and heat exchangers. The design and materials used in construction are determined by the application and each application is considered individually.

There are many advantages of fabric expansion joints:

  • They can be supplied open for ‘splicing’ on site. This is usually done if flow plates / sleeves cannot be removed.
  • They can often be repaired in situ at short notice meaning costly downtime is mitigated.
  • They are typically less expensive to procure and replace than equivalents in other materials.
  • They can be designed to have a have high cycling ability and are capable of absorbing larger movements than other types of expansion joints.
  • They can be engineered into bespoke shapes for awkward applications such as boiler grate seals on EFW/W2E plants.
  • Pipe penetration seals can be made to take large lateral movements and extensions.

Our fabric expansion joints are manufactured for a large variety of applications across multiple industries. We work in partnership with our clients to develop expansion joints in order to meet the individual requirements of each application.

Discover

Frames, sleeves & flanges

James Walker designs, manufactures and installs associated steelwork for expansion joints. 

Find out more
Frames, sleeves & flanges
Discover

Expansion joint services

Installation, inspection and site surveys and are some of the services we can provide to support customers.

Find out more
Expansion joint services
Discover

Engineering & design

More than just manufacturing ‑ from initial design through to after‑sales support, consider James Walker an extension of your team.

Find out more
Engineering & design

Expert to Expert

Want to discuss your project, engineering or materials challenge expert to expert? Simply provide us with your contact details and a little information about the application you are working on, and one of our experts will contact you as soon as possible.

Contact us