Seal bellows
April 27, 2023

Bellows Systems Delivers High-Performance Metal Bellows for Aerospace Sealing Application

At Bellows Systems, we take pride in designing and manufacturing high-quality metal bellows and expansion joints for a wide range of industries. Recently, we delivered a batch of metal bellows that were specifically designed for aerospace sealing application.

Aerospace Seal Bellows
Aerospace Seal Bellows
Aerospace Seal Bellows

Our metal seal bellows are used in both static and dynamic sealing applications, and they are capable of withstanding operating pressures and temperatures that are beyond the capability of standard elastomeric seals. We can manufacture seal bellows in standard round, oval, and rectangular profiles. The standard material of construction can be stainless steels, high nickel alloys, copper alloys, titanium, and other metal alloys depending on the application.

For this project, our design team customized the design of the bellows to meet the specific needs of the space industry customer. We considered key factors such as the seal bellows spring rate, overall stiffness, and high-temperature resistance to ensure that our metal bellows would perform optimally in the challenging environment of aerospace sealing applications.

Our metal seal bellows are designed to provide superior performance and reliability under challenging service conditions ranging full vacuum and cryogenic temperatures to high pressure and temperatures.

 At Bellows Systems, we are committed to delivering high-quality metal bellows and expansion joints that meet the needs of our customers. Whether you need standard or customized solutions, our team of bellows and expansion joint experts are ready to work with you to design and manufacture the perfect product for your application.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about our metal bellows and expansion joints, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Alpha MahatvarajApril 27, 2023Expansion Joints, Metal Bellows
What is a bellows liner? And when to use one?
October 18, 2022

What is a bellows liner? And when to use one?

Bellows Liner is an internal sleeve that is used for the following cases,

  • To prevent flow induced resonant vibration of bellows due to high flow velocities
  • To reduce possibility of erosion from abrasive flow media 
  • To limit/ minimize the friction losses and create a smooth flow
  • To limit/ decrease the surface temperature of the bellows in high temperature applications. 

Recommendations for proper design and use of a flow liner?

  • The liner material should either be same as the bellows material or suitable for the application.
  • When sizing a flow liner proper considerations must be given for the flow velocity, liner length and temperature of the flow media.
  •  When there is possibility for reverse flow, or bi-directional flow use of telescoping liner is recommended.
  • When used in applications with abrasive media use thicker liner material to prevent failure in the liner and exposing the thinner bellows material to erosion.
  • When lateral deflection or angular rotation is present, the liner should be designed with sufficient radial clearance to prevent interference with ID of the bellows through the entire movement range.
  • When bellows are installed vertically in the direction of the flow, proper drain holes shall be provided on the liner to drain fluid from being trapped.

For our full range of bellows and exapnsions joint products

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Alpha MahatvarajOctober 18, 2022Metal Bellows
Why Choose Bellows Systems
April 20, 2021

Why Choose Bellows Systems?

Why Choose Bellows Systems?Bellows Systems is a single source for industry’s most complete line of METAL BELLOWS, EXPANSION JOINTS & EXHAUST MANIFOLD SYSTEMS!

We specialize in multi-ply, long life expansion joints and can provide engineering assistance for any of your expansion joint/ metal bellows needs. Bellows Systems also help our clients build integrated systems and assemblies.

  • Custom Engineered Solutions
  • Best in Class Customer Service
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Alpha Mahatvaraj0 commentApril 20, 2021Metal Bellows
January 27, 2021

What are Multi Ply Metal Bellows and where are they used?

Multi-ply bellows are made up of a multiple telescoping tube (or plys) of sheet metal. The telescoping tubes are formed (Expanded mandrel or hydraulic) together to form each convolution.

Multi ply Layer in the Metal bellow
Why are they better than single-ply bellows?
  • They offer redundance in the event of inner ply failure.
  • The offer much lower stiffness.
  • Leak detection measures can be incorporated to detect ply failure hence providing time to change out the existing expansion joint.
  • Much higher cycle life per corrugation.
  • Corrugated length can be much shorter to achieve similar movement and cycle life performance to that of a single ply bellows.
What are the drawbacks?
  • They have higher meridional bending stress.
  • They have less resilience to corrosion due to the individual wall thickness.
  • Higher ply count can result in slightly higher manufacturing cost.
  • Increased in-plane and column instability compared to a similar single ply construction.
  • Difficult to repair in the field due to the much thinner ply thickness.
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Alpha Mahatvaraj0 commentJanuary 27, 2021Metal Bellows
Single Ply Bellow Banner
January 20, 2021

What are Single Ply Metal Bellows and where are they used?

Single ply bellows are made up of a single tube (or ply) of sheet metal of a defined thickness.

Single Ply Bellow
Why are they better than multi-ply bellows?
  • The Expansion joint offers a simple construction and lower manufacturing.
  • They offer a higher pressure capacity compared to multi-ply expansion joints of a similar combined thickness
  • They more stable and less susceptible to in-plane and column squirm.
  • They are more resilient to corrosion due to their thicker wall.
What are the drawbacks?
  • They are generally stiffer than multi-ply bellows, which means they need more axial force per unit compression.
  • They have lower cycle life compared to a multi-ply bellows of similar wall thickness.
  • Preventive leak detection is not possible in many cases.
  • Longer convoluted lengths / taller convolutions are required compared to multi-ply bellows to provide similar movement compared to multi-ply bellows.
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Ebenesh Rabiraj0 commentJanuary 20, 2021Metal Bellows
What is Hydroforming
January 29, 2019

What is Hydroforming?

Hydroforming is a metal forming process that swells the material into a die using a high pressure fluid. This forming process is a practical demonstration of Pascal’s Law, which states that external static pressure exerted on a fluid is distributed evenly throughout the fluid. 

Hydroforming

Hydroforming is a metal forming process that swells the material into a die using a high pressure fluid. This forming process is a practical demonstration of Pascal’s Law, which states that external static pressure exerted on a fluid is distributed evenly throughout the fluid. This allows us to form complex shapes like the convolutions on a bellows with a high degree of consistency.

Hydroformed Metal Bellows
Hydroformed Metal Bellows

Bellows Systems manufactures the widely known, Kopperman™ Bellows using this method. It is composed of a light gauge metal tube of one or more ply formed into a series of corrugations. Kopperman Expansion Joints can be manufactured with bellows formed from any material which has the necessary drawing quality, and the corrosion resistance required by the operating conditions of the system in which they might be installed. The standard Type 115 Non-Equalizing Expansion Joint utilizes a close-pitch single ply bellows. The standard Self-Equalizing Type 109 and Type 127 Expansion Joint utilizes an open-pitch single ply bellows. The pitch and depth of draw of any bellows can be varied and the shape modified to meet special application requirements. Multi-ply bellows are used primarily on small expansion compensators as standard equipment, and also on other large diameter Expansion Joints where significant reductions in compressive forces are desired. Extreme caution must be employed when specifying multl-ply bellows because they tend to be unstable under certain conditions. Torroidal bellows are very often used where extremely high pressure applications are encounterd.
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Alpha Mahatvaraj0 commentJanuary 29, 2019Metal Bellows
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