Rubber expansion joints advantages

Rubber expansion joints offer engineering advantages over metallic joints. Rubber expansion joints, which consist of flanged ends and a flexible section, can absorb within its free length more lateral movements, than any other similarly sized joint Expansion bellows are joints that have several sections. The flexible section of the rubber expansion joint/bellows is often a single fold which, because of the inherent flexibility of the rubber, can deal with large lateral movements with low force, a phenomenon which would require multiple folds in a similar metal component. 

The unique advantages of rubber expansion joints make them used in industrial settings where fluid and gas handling is a primary part of the process, e.g. waste management, or air pollution control. Wherever movements or vibrations from thermal expansion or mechanical equipment expansion occur, joints provide low cost and efficient solutions to leakage problems. 

At the low level of rubber, rubber concrete essentially functions like controlled concrete and it appears that one possible application is as a replacement for air entrained concrete. The results obtained from the test site in NAU indicate that, while it performs well in a cold climate, rubber concrete has the advantage of higher compressive strength than air entrained concrete. Also, while it has good ability to resist cracks, rubber concrete may be used as controlled concrete but with fewer or no expansion joints. 

As is known, rubber differs from steel in that it can accommodate large deformations when stressed, and its recovery is rapid and complete. Including arches or bends in expansion joint design takes advantage of the elasticity of rubber, and so increases its capacity to accommodate... 

---