Expansion Joint Systems

IAFD has over two decades of experience working on expansion joints in any location and application in a power generating facility. Our focus has shifted from simple boiler joints to the very challenging CT outlet joints as our expertise and exposure has matured. Not only have we worked on expansion joints on every gas turbine OEM in the North American market, but our products are active and operating successfully in those units today. Our engineering capabilities have allowed us to not only replace joints like-in-kind but solve active problems with the framework that connects the joints, cracking in the exhaust, heavy vibration damage, and recently a new focus on anti-flutter. We can design and manufacture the fabric attached to the current frames or supply a complete system replacement with new frames, fabrics and connection ductwork. 

Expansion joints may seem like simple components, but their purpose, assembly and installation are absolutely critical to their success in operation. A combined cycle power plant has many of these joints on the machine that can easily go unnoticed until there is a failure, then it’s critical to not only replace the fabric but also improve the design. IAFD includes a root cause analysis of each joint failure ensuring that our new product once installed will not see the same failure. Our systems include improvements to the insulation package internal to the joint, upgraded metal protection, hardware and of course more robust fabric options. Once an IAFD expansion joint is installed the original weak links are eliminated and the future life of the joint will be extended.