270

BUCKLING OF DOUBLE BELLOWS EXPANSION JOINTS

UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE
By D. E. Newland*
Corrugated bellows expansion joints may buckle under internal pressure in the same way
as an elastic strut may buckle under an axial load. This paper is concerned with the analysis
of this phenomenon for the ‘universal expansion joint’ which incorporates two bellows
joined by a length of rigid pipe. The principal conclusion is that, by providing a correctly
designed supporting structure, the critical buckling pressure can be increased to up to
four times its value for the same system with no supports.

INTRODUCTION depending on whether the ends of the strut are pin-

A TYPICAL PIPE LAYOUT incorporating two bellows expan-
sion joints is shown in Fig. 1. Such an arrangement is
often used in practice because the assembly can accommo-
date expansion of the connecting pipe and also lateral and
axial movement of the anchorages. The anchorages might
be two process vessels which have to be dircaly connected,
or perhaps a process vessel and a fixed pipe support. At a
high enough internal pressure an instability may occur in
which the connecting pipe moves off its centre-line and
the two bellows deform. This buckling phenomenon
involves motion of the connecting pipe and bellows only,
since it is assumed (as is usually the case) that the an-
chorages are infinitely rigid compared with the flexibility
of the bellows and the bellows supporting structure. T o
reduce the susceptibility to buckling, lateral supports may
be provided as shown in Fig. 1. These resist movement of
the ends of the connecting pipe away from its centre-line
while not resisting expansion of the connecting pipe or
small lateral or axial movements of the anchorages caused
by temperature changes. The problem is to predict the
maximum internal pressure that the system can withstand
without this buckling instability occurring.
Haringx ( ~ )has t considered the buckling of a single
bellows expansion joint. A conclusion of his work is that
the pressure buckling of a bellows is closely analogous to
the buckling of an axially loaded strut. For a strut it is well
known that buckling first occurs when the axial load (P,)
is given by
X2EI 42EI
P, = - or ~
jointed or clamped. These same formulae have been
shown to be applicable ta the buckling of a bellows under
internal pressure where, if D, is the mean bellows dia-
meter and p , is the internal gauge pressure when buckling
occurs,
The EI in the latter case is the equivalent bendkg stiffness
of the bellows. Some notes on the accuracy of this result
and on the calculation of EI for a corrugated bellows are
given in Appendix I.
T h e present paper is concerned with an extension of
Haringx’s theory to the more complicated case of the
‘universal expansion joint’ shown in Fig. 1. On account of
the above results, the problem can be reduced to the
analysis of the buckling of an axially loaded discontinuous
strut supported by lateral springs in two locations as shown
in Fig. 4a. Two uniform elastic members representing the
two bellows are joined by a rigid section representing the
connecting pipe. The two ends of the composite strut are
assumed to be rigidly clamped to represent the two fixed
anchorages at each end of the assembly. However, since
the loading now comes, not from internal pressure, but
from an equivalent external axial force, it is assumed in
this model that one of these clamped ends can move axially
to allow the external load to be applied. Two lateral springs,
one at each end of the rigid section, represent the sideways
stiffness of the supporting structure shown in Fig. 1.

Quite apart from its practical significance, the analysis

12 12
The M S . of this puper mas f i r s t recezved at the Institution on 14th
January 1964 and in i t s revised f o r m , as accepted by the Council
for publicutzon, on 16th April 3964.
* Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College,
London. Associate Member of the Institution.
t References are Riven in Appendix II.
J 0 U R N A L M E C HA h‘I C A L E N G I N E E R I X G S C I E N C E
of the buckling of this system is an interesting problem in
itself since different modes of buckling (different buckling
shapes) can occur. The important mode is the one which
occurs at the lowest pressure, and this changes as the
system parameters are altered.
VOI6 NO 3 1964
 BUCKLING OF DOUBLE BELLOWS EXPANSION JOINTS UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE 271

PIDE EXTENSION TO PRESSURE VESSEL SECTION OF STRAIGHT

CONNECTING PIPE PIPE EXTENSION TO
C ? O W E R RIGID ANCHORAGE
A RIGID ANCHORAGE

‘i
I
,’
1
<
\SLIDING
/ JOINT ALLOWS EXPANSION OF THE CORRUGATED STEEL BELLOWS
CONNECTING PIPE AND ALSO SMALL A X I A L EXPANSION JOINT
AND LATERAL MOVEMENTS OF THE ANCHORAGES,
B U T RESISTS M O V E M E N T OF THE CONNECTING
PIPE *‘NAY ‘RON I J S CENTRE-L N E IN BUCKLING

Fig. 1. Schematic view of a universal expansion joint incorporating two bellows units joined by a straa’ght length of rigid pipe

Notation the bellows. To a good approximation the end flanges of

Rotational spring stiffness (torque per unit angle). each bellows then remain parallel to each other, and the
Bellows inner diameter. problem reduces to the analysis of a single bellows whose
Bellows mean diameter. ends are constrained parallel to each other. Using Haringx’s
Bellows outer diameter. result, this in turn reduces to the analysis of the buckling
Young’s modulus. of an axially loaded strut whose ends are prevented from
Lateral shear force. rotation and which has a sideways stabilizing spring
Second moment of cross-sectional area about neutral (representing the supporting structure) as shown in Fig. 2.
axis of bending. Note: EZ for a corrugated bellows If the equivalent bending stiffness of the strut is EI,
is defined by analogy with the case for a uniform then with the symbols shown in Fig. 2, the deflection
elastic slender member. EZ = MI/+ where the equation for the strut is
uniform bending moment M causes the ends of a d2Y
bellows of length E to rotate through the angle 4. EZ-+P,y
dx2
= PcS-M-k6x . . (1)
Lateral spring stiffness (force per unit deflection).
Half length of rigid connecting pipe. The solution of this equation is
Length of bellows.
Bending moment. y = A cos ux+B sin ax----+6 kSx M
Pc pc
. (2)
Number of corrugations.
Equivalent axial load = (r/4)Dm2 (internal pressure). in which A and B are arbitrary constants, 6 is the unknown
Equivalent axial load at buckling. deflection and M the unknown bending moment at
Internal gauge pressure at buckling. x = 0, and a = d ( P c / E I ) . There are four boundary
Thickness of bellows wall. conditions :
Longitudinal (axial) co-ordinate.
Lateral (sideways) co-ordinate.
x=o, y=s . . . * (3)
L (P*/EZ).
Angular deflection.
Angular deflection. x=l, y=o . . , ’ (5)
Deflection of bellows end.
Poisson’s ratio.
Ratio of bellows diameters = Dl/Do.
Using equations ( 3 ) and (4) gives
A N A L Y S I S O F A SINGLE B E L L O W S
Consider the case when the length of the straight con- M
y = - (cos ax-
necting pipe (Fig. 1) is much greater than the length of pc
J 0 U R X A L A1E C H A N I C A L E N G I V E E R I N G S C I E N C E Vol6 NO 3 1964
272 D. E. NEWLAND

which with equations ( 5 ) gives

GUIDES P R E V E N T ROTATION
BUT PERMIT AXIAL
MOVE M ENT
and with equations (6) gives
m M k6
0 = -- a sin d+- (COS(YE-11) . . (8)
pc pc
Eliminating MiPCbetween equations (7) and (8) gives the
equation for the buckling load
SPRl NG
STIFFNESS k
+2(1-c0s cd) = 0 . (9)

This may be rewritten as

sin ul [u @--I)+ 2 tan 3 =0 . (gal

and it is consequently satisfied either by*
CCZ = 2 ~ ,47r, etc. . . . (9b)
or by
al

The first solutions of equations (9b) and (9c) are shown

Fig. 2. Model for the analysis of a single bellows whose
end jlanges are held parallel
graphically in Fig. 3. This is a graph of non-dimensional
buckling load (a1)2 = PCl2/EIplotted against non-dimen-
sional spring stiffness k13iEI. It shows that for small
* It can be seen that a1 = r, 37, ere., are not solutions since alzhougk
these values give sin al = 0 they also give tan alj2 = 3 to.

n
d
0

a
5
J
Y
V
3
m

00I__--____~
4-2

S P R I N G STIFFNESS, k13/€1
Fig. 3. Dependence of buckling loads on lateral spring sttxness for the model of Fig. 2
JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE I701 6 No 3 1964
 BUCKLING OF DOUBLE BELLOWS EXPANSION JOINTS UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE 273

SUPPORT ALLOWS AXIAL

values of the stiffness k the solution (Sc), called mode lA, MOVEMENT ONLY
gives a smaller buckling load than the solution (9b),
called mode 1B. However, on increasing the stiffness
eventually the situation is reversed. Then the solution of
equation (9c) is a value of PcZ2/EXgreater than 4.71~.I n this
case the strut buckles first in mode 1B. The shapes of the
buckled strut corresponding to the two different solutions
of equation (9b), mode lB, and equation (Sc), mode lA,
are shown in the inset diagram in Fig. 3. The solution of
equation (Sc), mode lA, involves a sideways movement of
the end of the strut and causes a deflection of the lateral
stabilizing spring. Mode lB, on the other hand, involves
no movement of the end of the strut which behaves as
though it were rigidly built in at both ends. The conclusion
is thus that when the stiffness of the sideways spring k has
been increased to the limiting value given by
kP
- = 47p
EX MODE 1 : BUCKLING LOAD THE SAME AS FOR THE
M O D E L SHOWN I N FIGURE 2
the strut begins to act as though it were rigidly built in
at both ends, and further increase of k has no effect on the
(lowest) buckling load*.
ANALYSIS O F T W O B E L L O W S
For the general case in which the connecting pipe is not
necessarily long, the model analysed is shown in Fig. 4.
It consists of two elastic struts joined by a rigid section.
The supporting structure shown in Fig. 1 is represented
by the two lateral springs, one at each end of the centre M O D E 2: ANALYSED BY T H E M O D E L SHOWN BELOW

section. Under the axial load P there are now two basically
different buckling modcs, Fig. 46 and c. I n mode 1 the
rigid member always stays parallel to its original direction.
In mode 2 rotation of the centre member occurs. Since in d
mode 1 there is no rotation of the ends of the struts, the PIN JOINT AT
analysis already given above for a single bellows also
applies here. As before there are therefore two sub-modes
1A and 1B: in 1A there is sideways deflection of the centre
member; in 1B the centre member does not move. The 4-b
buckling loads in these two modes are given by equations Fig. 4. Model for the analysis of two bellows joined by a
(9b) and (9c). rigid pipe, showing different buckling modes
For the second mode involving rotation of the centre
member a new analysis is necessary. This can be greatly where A and B are again arbitrary constants, M is the
simplified by taking account of the symmetry of the
unknown bending moment and F the unknown shear
arrangement. The rigid connecting member must pivot
force at x = 0, and v. = 2/(Pc/EZ). The boundary condi-
about its centre point and there can be no bending moment
tions are
here. Hence the model at the bottom of Fig. 4, in which x=o, y = o
only half the system is shown with a pin-joint at its
centre, represents the new buckling situation. The deflec- x = o , -dY= o
tion equation for this model is, for the uniform elastic dx
strut, x=E, y=6
d2y
EZ-+PP,y
dx2
= M+Fx . . (10)

and its solution is From equation (11) and these four conditions it can be
M Fx shown that
y =A CQS ax+B sin EX+-+- . (11)

* A similar phenomenon
pc pc
holds for the buckling of a bar on elastic
supports arid is described by Timoshenko (2).
-=
P,
1
F 8 [a sin a ~ + z(1-cos a ~ )
[a1sin aZ- 2( 1-cos al)]
1 - (12)
JOURNAL MECHANICAL E N G I N E E R I N G SCIENCE .VoI 6 N o 3 1964
274 D. E. NEWLAND

and with the solutions of equation (9), shown dotted. It can

I sin ul
M -
-_ [
6 1--0s az+---
L UL
1.
P, [2(1-cos crZ)-uZ sin uZ]
There is also the equilibrium condition for the system as
a whole that
F(L+E)+M = k6L . . . (14)
Substituting for F and M from equations (12) and (13)
into equation (14) gives finally the equation for the buckling
load
.,
= kj2(1-cos d)-uZsin
When the length of the centre member is very great this
case becomes identical with that previously considered,
and when L + co it can be seen that equation (15) does
correctly reduce to the previous result, equation (9).
I n general, when L is finite, there are now the two
distinct buckling modes. I n mode 1 there is no rotation of
the centre member and the buckling load is given by
equation (9). There are two separate sub-modes 1A and
1R corresponding to the first two solutions of equation (9).
I n mode 2 there is rotation of the centre member and
equation (15) gives this buckling load. The first two solu-
tions of equation (15) are plotted in Fig. 5 and compared
be seen from Fig. 5, which is for the case Z/L = 0.1,
. (13)
that, except for a small range of very small values of h, the
lowest buckling mode now occurs in mode 2, and is the
first solution of equation (15). For very small lateral
spring stiffness k the system can buckle in mode 1A at a
very slightly lower load than the first solution in mode 2.
Fig. 6 is a family of curves showing the first solution of
equation (15), mode 2, for different values of the length
ratio ZIL. Since the curve for Z/L = 0 is also the solution
for mode lA, the other curves are terminated where they
cross this line because mode 1A then has the lowest
buckling load. For any given system in which the proper-
ties EI of the bellows and Fz of the supporting structure
are known, Fig. 6 may be used to estimate the maximum
rxl} (15) pressure that the expansion joint can withstand without
buclding.
CONCLUSIONS
Bellows expansion joints may buckle in the same way as
an axially loaded strut buckles. By modelling each bellows
as an equivalent axially loaded elastic strut, the buckling
pressure of the universal expansion joint shown in Fig. 1
has been derived. This depends on the length ratio 1/L
and on the lateral stiffness of the supporting structure k.
Fig. 6 shows a graph of the (non-dimensional) lowest
buckling load P,P/EI plotted as a function of the (non-
dimensional) spring stiffness kZ3/EIfor different values of

MODE 2 (SOLID L I N E )
4172 ~

MODE 16 (DOTTED)

/ ,*- MODE 1A
7

i / MODE 18

o/----
0
~~~~ -
4
L T2
SPRING STIFFNESS, k 1 3 / € I

Fig. 5. Dependence of buckzing Zoads on Iateral spring stiflness for the modeZ of Fig. 4
JOURKAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE
Vol 6 hTo 3 1964
 BUCKLING OF DOUBLE BELLOWS EXPANSION JOINTS UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE 275

5 0 1 -~
--- 1
7 2
1 pc=p,Pc
1 WHERE
: pc =BUCKLING PRESSURE
~ D,,,=MEAN DIAMETER

iii
>
9~301- -
d
Q
3
0
f
Y
u20-..- -
3
m

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
SPRING STIFFNESS, kL3/EI

Fig. 6. Relation between the lowest buckling load and the lateral spring stiffness for a universal
expansion joint (shown diagrammatically in the inset view)

the length ratio l/L. With the interpretation that the buck- Exact values are shown in Fig. 6. The conclusion is thus
ling load is defined by the equation that a correctly designed supporting structure can in-
7r crease the buckling pressure by up to four times its value
,'l = -
4
D,'pc for the same system with no supports.
where D , is the mean bellows diameter and p , is the in- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
rcrnal gauge pressurc at buckling, and that Elis the equiva-
The author is grateful to the Badger Company, Inc., of
lent bending stiffness of the bellows (see Appendix I),
Cambridge, Massachusetts, for bringing his attention to
this allows the pressure at which buckling first occurs to
this problem, and also to Professor J. P. Den Hartog and
be estimated.
to Mr A. Samoiloff,Research Engineer, Badger Company,
If there is no supporting structure to stiffen the centre Inc., for the benefit of their helpful discussion and advice.
pipe against sideways movement (i.e. k = 0), then

APPENDIX I
NOTE O N THE ACCURACY OF THE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
where 1 is the length of one bellows. The provision of AND O N THE ESTIMATION O F THE BENDING
lateral stiffening increases this buckling load, the amount S T I F F N E S S EI
depending on the length ratio l/L. I n many practical cases T h e results of Haringx's paper (I) are really based on some earlier
IiL will be about 0.1 or smaller. The maximum buckling work of his (3). This considers the instability of thin-walled
load then approaches cylinders subjected t o internal pressure. It shows that Euler's
well-known buckling formulae apply where the effective axial
load includes both the force applied directly to the cylinder walls
and that applied indirectly by the internal pressure acting on the
cross-sectional area of the cylinder. The second paper (I) is
it the sideways stiffness (at one end of the centre member) concerned with calculating the magnitude of the total force which
15 made somewhat greater than acts, and also the effective bending stiffness of a corrugated
kl" - 4dEI bellows. Because of the complications of the calculation it is
_ - 4a2 or k =- restricted to a hypothetical bellows with rectangular-shaped
EI 13 corrugations.
Jot R K A I AIbLHANILAL EhGINEERING SCIENCE V d 6 No 3 I964
2 76 D. E. NEWLAND

In this paper it has been stated that the effective axial load to be The solution of this is
substituted in the Euler formula i s given by P, = 4.69c/l
for the first buckling load. Substituting c = 8EI/Z then gives for
the critical load P,
That this is a good approximation, at least for a special case, may P, = 373EI:P
be seen as follows. Consider the simplified case of a bellows with For a continuous strut the corresponding result is
rectangular-shaped corrugations made up of flat elastic rings
joined by rigid cylinders, Fig. 7. Exact results for this bellows are P, = 42EIi12 = 39.5EI/12
quoted in (I). T h e exact equation for the effective buckling load so that there is good agreement even for a bellows with only four
Pi is corrugations.
In order to use the results of this analysis quantitatively, the
(1 - p W - p4 +4pz In p )
%-

Pc = ;? Dm'Pc L l + P ) {( I - p 2 ) 2 -4pa(ln P ) ~ } I effective bending stiffness EZ of the bellows must be known. If the
axial spring stiffness of the bellows is known (this is an easily
measured quantity, and it is generally tabulated by bellows manu-
where D , is the mean diameter of the corrugations and p = DiiDo,
where D, is the outer diameter and D, thc inner diameter (Fig. 7). facturers) then the bending stiffness can be deduced from its
I n a practical case p N 1.0. By putting p = (1 - 6 ) and then ex- value with good accuracy. By analogy with a thin-walled cylinder*
panding the quantity in square brackets as a power series in <, EI = +KDm21
it can be shown that this quantity is exactly unity when p = 1.0
and only slightly less than unity for p < 1.0.For the case p = + * For a thin-walled cylinder of mean diameter D, and wall thickness, t
it is 0.993, and thus, even for very deep corrugations, there is very
lictle error in assuming that
EI = E x t -Om3
P - z D,'p, 8
"-4
and K = Ert-D",
which is a considerable simplification. 1
The analyses of both Haringx's paper (I) and this paper assume Hence EIjK = +D.,"l as quoted above.
that the bellows can be treated as an elastic strut with uniformly
distributed properties. I n other words, strictly speaking the analysis
only applies for bellows with many corrugations. However, even
€or a bellows with only four corrugations the error involved is
small. Consider the bellows in Fig. 7. T h e total flexibility is
divided equally between the eight flat elastic rings. If c is the rota-
tional stiffness of one of these alone, the effective bending stiffness
EI is given by
EI = ell8
Instead of using the results for a continuous strut with this value
of EI, a new analysis may be made using the model shown in
Fig. 8. The new model is a strut made up of rigid links joined
Together by eight spring hinges, the stiffness of each hinge being c.
By symmetry the buckled shaped of this system will be as shown in
Fig. 8 (for the lowest buckling load). By writing down rhe equili-
brium conditions for the separate links, the following equation
for the buckling load may be obtained:
(P,Z)2-32~(P,l) +128c2 = 0

THICKNESS,f

T h e deformed shape at the lowest buckling load is also shown.

Fig. 7. Simplified bellows made up of j a t elastic rings Fig. 8. Model of the simpl$ied bellows of Fig. 7 made up
joined by straight rigid cylinders of rigid links joined by eight spring hinges
10V R S A L M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R IN G S C I E N C E
T'ol6 No 3 I964
 BUCKLING OF DOUBLE BELLOWS EXPANSION JOINTS UNDER INTERNAL PRESSURE 277

where K is the axial spring stiffness of the bellows, D, is its mean
diameter and I is its length. The accuracy of this expression may
again be checked by comparing it with the exact result for the
simplified bellows of Fig. 7. From the theory of bending of flat
rings the axial stiffness of the simplified bellows K is
2 4 1 - p Y 1 +pY 7
K=
where B is Young’s modulus, Y is Poisson’s ratio, t is the thickness
of the flat rings, D, is the mean diameter, and n is the number of
corrugations. The exact bending stiffness EI,,,,, can be calculated
from the results of Reissner (4) which are also quoted in ( I ) . It is
= - EPI 4 1 + P”)
(1 -Y”)n j6(p2-(1 +p2) In p-1)
where 1 is the length of the bellows.
If $KD,”I is calculated for comparison with this exact result,
Et3Z ‘ z(1-p2)(1+p)“
$KDm21= ___
(I - 3 ) n {lZ{(l -pp”)2-4p2(1n ,o)~}
Hence
T h e quantity in square brackets is unity for p = 1.0 and only
slightly less than unity for p < 1.0. Putting p = f gives
+KDm21= O.96(EIe,,,,)
and so the assumption that
EI = AKDm‘l
is also a w r y good approximation.
A P P E N D I X I1
REFERENCES
( I ) HARINGX,J. A. ‘Instability of bellows subjected to internal
pressure’, Philips Res. Rep. 1952 7, 189.
(2) TIMOSHENKO, S . P. and GEKE,J. M. Theory of elastic stability
second edition 1961, 74 (McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.,
New York).
(3) HARIMGX, J. A. ‘The instability of thin-walled cylinders
subjected to internal pressure’, Philips Res. Rep. 1952 7,
112.
(4) REISSNER, H. ‘Uber die unsymmetrische Biegung dunner
Kreisringplatten’, Ingenieur-Archiv 1929 1, 72.

JOURNAL MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SCIENCE