Fabric expansion joints are extremely flexible and can be made from a variety of special woven fabrics coated or laminated with selected elastomers or fluoropolymers. Fabric expansion joints are used to insulate, to avoid mechanical loads and to protect against abrasion.
They also act as vibration isolators, shock absorbers and make up for minor misalignments of adjoining ducting or equipment. Further, they have almost no reactive forces and require little space. Fabric expansion joints are easy to customize to suit existing operating conditions and are easy to transport and install. In comparison to metallic expansion joints fabric offers almost unlimited flexibility, giving the pipe work designer more options.
Fabric expansion joints are installed in systems operating with low pressure and dry media.