Design and analysis aspect of metal expansion bellows: A review

Abstract

Bellows are flexible structures and widely used in different industries to accommodate the internal pressure and deformations. This paper focuses an extensive review on analytical, numerical, and experimental approaches followed by various researchers with respect to the design aspects and applications of metal expansion bellows. The design aspect has been differentiated in three categories as mechanical design, thermal analysis, and forming process of bellows. While, the applications of bellows are categorized as automobile, piping systems, nuclear plant, and power generation units. In this paper, different stresses and deformations with internal and external boundary conditions are discussed. The effect of geometrical parameters on various design aspects will be the key attraction for leading researchers. It is found that various design aspects of bellows are related to deformation and stresses due to internal and external pressure, while a limited research work has been performed on the thermal study of bellows. This work will be useful for the bellows design for different applications.