©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref.

MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

AND MAINTENANCE

EXPANSION JOINTS
INSTALLATION, START-UP
EXPANSION JOINTS
 CONFORMITY OF ASSESSMENT
(Declaration of Conformity in compliance to P.E.D – 97/23/EC)

Pressure Accessory Rubber Expansion Joints

MAWT: 120ºC – EPDM / 90ºC – NBR
MAWP: 16 bar – at room temperature**
Observe Pressure / Temperature Charts.
Harmonized Standard N/A

Engineering Standards Overall Length as stated in Technical data

Sheets.
Maximal Allowable Movements as stated in
Technical data Sheets.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

We declare that the range of Synthetic Rubber Expansion Joints as per above detailed technical specification
conforms to Article 3, Section 3 of the Pressure Equipment Directive nº 97/23/EC for fluids classified under Group
I, T.8 and incorporates manufacturing to Sound Engineering Practices as detailed in our Manufacturing Technical
File.

Our Company, with above liability address, is held responsible for the above detailed Pressure Accessory in the
European Market Place as long as there is evidence that the Pressure Accessory has been sold by our Company in
any direct or indirect way.

This statement is released at EL PUIG in April 2004.

For COMEVAL, S.L

Product Development. Quality Control.

Technical Section.
 EXPANSION JOINTS

3 Outer rubber layer;This outer

layer protects the bellows surface from
1 Flanges; Specially eventual Ozone attack, strikes and other
designed to accept the environmental aggressions. The standard
rubber bellows. Standard material is Neoprene® (Polychloroprene).
flange material grade is
cadmium steel ST-37, sized
DIN 2576 PN 10 and DIN
4 Inner Reinforcement;Placed
in between the outer and inner
2502 PN 16. Flanges are
layers, it is made as minimal
loose and can be easily
standard of Nylon plaited
disassembled to ease the
fabrics, which provide the
maintenance operations.
shell moulding resistance to
pressure.

6 Inner Rubber layer;

It is the joint meted part 5 End bellows
and can be provided in reinforcement; Hardened
diverse rubber qualities steel wires to provide a
depending on the duty. greater consistence to the
The standard grades bellows outer neck.
available in stock are
EPDM and NITRILE.
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04

2 Limit rods;Each set consists of 2 zinc

plated steel, 2 zinc plated clamps, 2 hex
nuts and 2 rubber washers.
 EXPANSION JOINTS

1. General Information

TORAFLEX® S10, S20 y S30 Expansion Joints are designed and devised to absorb
noise, vibrations and angular and lateral movements caused by pumps, compressors,
heating boilers and other equipment at any rigid piping system. They can also work as axial
movement absorbers caused by thermal changes at the pipe work.

TORAFLEX® Expansion Joints are designed, manufactured and inspected in accordance

with the strictest Quality Standards drawn by the EN-ISO 9001 System.

All Joints are compliant with PED 97/23/CE being classified under Category 3, Article. 3
of the Directive not being requested to be CE marked. All Joints are delivered with their
relevant Declaration of Conformity as dictated by the Directive.

All joints are subject to a strict Quality Control at our Workshop being our Hydro Test
procedures in compliance with EN 10.204 / 2.2. Usual testing medium is circulating water
at room temperature.

Each manufacturing batch is controlled by the Chemical & Engineering Section at the plant
and registered with Material Tests Reports as per EN-10.204/3.1B standard. Notify Bodies
or Third Parties Inspections can be arranged upon request.

Detailed Technical Specification can be found in our Data Sheets and Comprehensive
Catalogues. The Manufacturing Centre reserves the right to alter or make new entries
without notice. Should you required further information or materials, please contact your
nearest local distributor.
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

2. Guarantee

TORAFLEX® are guaranteed against any manufacturing fault provided they are properly
used and maintained for a period of 12 months after date of invoicing in accordance with
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04

our Standard General Sales Terms.

No claims caused by improper handling or misreading this Manual, Technical Data Sheets
or corresponding Regulations. The guarantee coverage will not apply to duties other than
stated at the order selection.

The scope of the guarantee excludes any maintenance labour, design tampering or
time wearing down. It is to be pointed out that rubber expansion joints are deformable
components clearly subject to a cycling wearing down. Their life span is quite dependable
on service conditions such as pressure – temperature, flow velocity, environmental
exposure, number of cycles and so on.

Always check that the joint is received in good condition, properly preserved and
corresponds with the order specifications. Should any problem was observed on
reception, you should claim immediately to the carrier or contact with the seller, otherwise
the right of claim could be rejected In case of doubt, our International Customer
Service Point would guide you about how to proceed, please dial +34 961 479 006.
 EXPANSION JOINTS

3. Essential Safety Guidelines.

Never proceed to install these joints without having read this Manual. This will avoid
unnecessary risk to your staff and property.
- Always use these joints for the established purposes and within allowed working
limitations as stated in our data Sheets. Keep all local labour regulations and plant
Safety procedures closely watched.
The products should be commissioned, started up and regularly maintained by qualified
personnel and work procedures.
- Any product design modification or deviation from our installation guidance should be
approved by TORAFLEX.

4. Preservation and storage recommendations.

All joints are individually wrapped into a cardboard box in order to protect them from
direct sun exposure. Do not accept joints that would not have been received inside their
original packing.
Always follow the following recommendations in order to properly preserve the joints
before commissioning:

• Avoid keeping the joints in places with following conditions: Environment

temperatures below –20ºC or above 40ºC, high air humidity or corrosive
atmosphere. Keep the joints away dust, rain or flames.
• Prevent the joints to be hit or excessive vibrations as well as not to pile up
excessive weight, which could deform their central bellow shell.
• Proper handling and lifting equipment should be used for transport. The joints
unit weight can be found in our Data Sheets.
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

5. Installation and commissioning recommendations

Check the suitability of the joints to the working conditions. Always observe the actual
working service conditions and confront them to the product performance limits. This
information can be found in our Data Sheets. Generally speaking, a flow velocity above
3 m/sec is regarded as excessive and leads to premature wearing down.
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04

Joints are flexible components, which balance the pipe work rigidity and care subject
to stress. It is therefore recommended to place each joint between two fix anchoring
points properly sized to absorb the pipe work reaction force resulting from the service
pressure and pipe surface area. Centrifugal force subject onto the pipe bends should
also be regarded if flow velocity was excessive. Also, the axial guides stress should be
observed.
- The main fix anchoring points are normally foreseen in the bending, ending line or flow
change sections of the pipe work. The intermediate fix points may be lighter than the
main anchoring points as they just have to absorb the innate stress caused by the joint
movements and their guiding sliding stress.
Hanging anchors that allow the pipe sliding movements should support the pipe work.
The hanging anchors cannot be considered in any way as fix points. Rubber expansion
joints are devised to absorb axial, angular and lateral movements depending the style
of joint. Our Data Sheets illustrate the allowable movements. Increasing temperatures
diminish the movement absorption and number of permissible cycles. The movement
combination can also reduce their capability.
Some recommendations about fix anchoring points and guides, with the joint absorbing
movements of the pipe are shown in fig. 1 :
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

Fig. 1
EXPANSION JOINTS
 EXPANSION JOINTS

-The joints should be mounted as close as possible to the pressure group in order to
avoid excessive vibrations caused by the pressure equipment, avoid extra angular
movements and noise inlet to the system. A fix point must be foreseen just immediately
after the joint to minimize effect of vibrations on to the pipe.at the end of the pipe work
to avoid residual vibrations on to the pipe.
- Changes in length of the pipe caused by thermal change must be absorbed separately
by other joints calculated for this purpose.
- The use of tie rods is at plant contractor’s criteria. They are recommended at high
working pressure, as they set a limit on the forces caused by the inner pipe pressure
to be absorbed by the fix points and equipment, and help to avoid the joint mounting
misalignments.
Fig nº 2 shows a lay out of a pump firmly anchored (without tightening) with main anchor
points and intermediate pipe work guides.

ANCHOR
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

FLOW TORAFLEX®
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04

ANCHOR
PUMP

ELBOW SUPPORT
PIPE GUIDES

SOLID BASE FOUNDATION

Fig 2:Typical piping layout utilizing TORAFLEX® Expansion

Joints when equipment and piping are propertly anchored.
 EXPANSION JOINTS

ANCHOR

PIPE GUIDES

TORAFLEX®
FLOW WITH CONTROL UNITS

ANCHOR
PUMP

ANCHOR
SOLID PIPE GUIDE
FOUNDATION

Fig. 2: Typical piping layout utilizing TORAFLEX® Expansion

Joints when proper system anchoring is limited.
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

- Rubber expansion joints may be installed in already compressed or expanded position

within their allowable range. In the event of frequent thermal changes, usual working
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04

conditions near the permissible limit and other parameters such as excessive flow
velocity and nature of fluids, it is to be known that the joint life span will surely be
horter.
- Out-door installed rubber joints may caused lesser life span due to damages on to the
rubber surface by the Ozone exposure. It is recommended to keep the joints away from
extreme climatic conditions as fas as it be possible.
- All preservation items used during transport and storage should be removed just before
to proceed with installation (not much earlier).
- It is recommended to foresee enough space to ensure maintenance operations.
- TORAFLEX® are bi-directional components and can be installed either horizontally or
vertically.
- Joints should be protected from welding sparks, hits, sprouting objects or other particles
that could damage the rubber surface.
- The rubber shell itself plays as a sealing gasket so no additional gaskets are required
in the installation. An excessive tightening of the bolts could lead to rubber deformation,
it is recommended to tighten the flange bolts diagonally and uniformly. A second tighten
can be given after the start up if leakage’s were observed. Recommended maximum
tightening torques are 60Nm till DN80 and 80Nm for DN100 and above. Ensure that the
counterflanges are not raised face as they could damage the rubber seat sealing and in no
 EXPANSION JOINTS

way allow the bolts end to get in touch with the rubber surface. As a general practice the
threaded side of the bolts should not overcome the flange hole.
When welding flanges, it is recommended to wait the pipe cooling down before installing
the rubber joint to avoid damage onto the rubber.
Do not subject joints to any rotation stress during commissioning. The pipe work shall
be designed in a perfectly aligned way to avoid unnecessary alignment stress. Special
care should be taken in the case of threaded ends joints. This could lead to early rupture
of the rubber shell..
- Before start up and first load at the plant all guides and anchoring points should be
firmly secured in their right position.
Water hammer strikes lead to joints rupture. In order to avoid the same, please take
care of foresee draining points and proper isolating in the steam pipe systems.
Do not paint the rubber shell as it may damage the rubber properties.
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04
 EXPANSION JOINTS

6. Maintenance and periodical Checking.

Maintenance and their intervals to be planned by the plant engineer / user in accordance
to the specific service conditions. Ensure that the line be cold and depressurised before
starting any maintenance operation; in case of toxic or hazardous fluids, the line should be
fully drained.

Always ensure that the product still keeps the material properties under which were
selected for the service.
Check that the joints still flex in the allowable movements as they were designed and
picked up for the installation.
Watch out any symptom of surface deterioration such as external corrosion on rubber,
wearing down on mechanical components (bolts, rods..) as well as the adequate state
of anchoring and fix points in the pipe system.
Check that the rubber joint is free of dust or other foreign particles that may clog the full
passage and movement.
In the event of symptoms of wearing, it is recommended to replace the rubber joint.
Should an atmospheric leakage through the joint shell was observed, it is recommended
to replace the joint as soon as possible.
Should swelling, scratching or similar surface defects were observed, it is recommended
to check out carefully the actual service conditions (pressure gauge readings,
temperature and other service parameters), once checked, proceed to the right
replacement.
- Should rubber bellows wish to be replaced while keeping the flanges, just remove the
whole joint from the pipe system and carefully anchor the joint onto the working bench.
With the help of a hooked ended wrench the rubber neck be skidded under the steel
Comeval, S.L. reserves the right to alter any technical data contained in this leaflet without prior notice.

flange. Repeat the same job at the other end. Replace the bellow newly. Check that the
newly set bellow have not suffered any damage during the operation.

Consult to your nearest TORAFLEX® product specialist for guarantee and technical back
up.
©COMEVAL, S.L. www.comeval.es Technical Dept. Ref. MEP-MAN-GOMA-01/04