Expansion Joints - Types of Expansion Joints

Expansion Joint Systems

An expansion joint or movement joint is an assembly designed to hold parts together while safely absorbing temperature-induced expansion and contraction of building materials, and vibration, or to allow movement due to ground settlement or seismic activity. They are commonly found between sections of buildings, bridges, sidewalks, railway tracks, piping systems, ships, and other structures.

Types of expansion joints

Below, we’ll briefly go through some types of expansion joints, and related products. Hopefully, this article would prove to be helpful to someone. Following are some of the essential types of expansion joint products:

Seismic joints are similar to expansion joints, but at the same time very different.  Expansion joints are introduced to accommodate building movements caused by shrinkage, creep, or temperature changes.

They are often one-way joints, that is, they are primarily intended to accommodate movements in the direction perpendicular to the joint.

Expansion joints are also commonly placed at some regular interval of length based on the expected rate of shrinkage or temperature movement expected to occur over the building length.  Seismic joints, on the other hand, must accommodate movement in both orthogonal directions simultaneously and their spacing is not typically affected by building length or size.  

Backing Rods occupy any and all spatial voids. Picture a series of garages behind a busy street. Water seepage problems are taking place between two units because of a crack in the wall. The obvious solution here is to close this gap at its source. Unfortunately, the gap is several centimetres wide.

On the bright side, there’s a sealant that’s up to the job, but it’s not going to properly fill the gap. That’s a job for the backing rods. Properly inserted, the pliable strip fills that linearly stretching gap. Then, once the void is occupied, the foam sealant has a backing surface it can be pushed against. That final joint is strong and entirely weatherproof.

Control joints are typically used in concrete masonry to reduce the occurrence of shrinkage-related cracking. A control joint is a continuous vertical joint filled with mortar, but with a bond breaker on one side so that tensile stress cannot develop across the joint.

If control joints are not provided, a concrete masonry wall may crack as it shrinks over time. Where control joints are provided in such a wall, they widen as the concrete masonry shrinks, preventing it from cracking.

Compression Seal Fitting, also known as a sealing gland, is intended to seal some type of element (probe, wire, conductor, pipe, tube, fiber optic cable, etc.) when the element must pass through a pressure or environmental boundary. A compression seal fitting may serve several purposes:

• It restrains the element from moving as a result of a pressure difference.

• It prohibits the leakage of gas or liquid media along the element.

• In some cases, it electrically isolates the element from the mounting device.

A compression seal fitting, unlike an epoxyseal or gasket, uses mechanical components and an axial force to compress a soft sealant inside a body which then creates a seal. An epoxy seal differs in that it is composed of some type of compound which is poured into a mold in an attempt to create a seal.

Neoprene foamis a closed cell foam, that is impermeable to air and water, providing superior sealingagainst ingress of liquids, including oils and chemicals. Neoprenefoamtape is commonly used in applications such as sealingand gasketing of electronics, especially those within automotive devices.

Trench and Access Covers provide easy access to sub-floor utilities and services for maintenance of plumbing, electrical, and other buried equipment in buildings like hospitals, schools, laboratories, refrigeration sections of supermarkets and warehouses, etc. Trench covers are linear and can run in multiple directions, provided with corners, tee conditions, and four-way junctions.

Why you should work with MBT

MBT has very long expertise & experience in providing architectural finishing products such as expansion joints and sealant products in UAE. From ordinary settings to complex systems, we offer it all. Passageways, foundation isolations, even staircase; MBT deals with lots of products that can meet various project requirements.

Modern Building Technologies Technical Services LLC is a leading provider of Expansion joints for clients in the Middle East area. MBT is a leading construction, maintenance provider and installation of different profiles in Dubai, UAE. We have supplied Expansion joints for different projects in the Saudi Arabia, U.A.E. and Qatar. We have been serving in this region for the last forty years, and provided quality products for use in various installations around this region.

You can view our previous products involving expansion joints and more, by clicking here.

MBT’s Ample Collection Of Past Projects

MBT has already worked with various reputable organizations. We’ve done many projects in the Emirates and Saudi Arabia. So, you know you can trust us with your work. No sweat.

We welcome you to click here, to browse through our previous projects on wall covering and more.

We have a diverse number of solutions. So you can easily choose from an array of designs, and functions. But we understand, that you may also prefer a very particular taste. So, we at MBT also welcome customized solutions. This means you can easily mix and match different products/services, per your preference.

 MBT deals with more Expansion joints and sealant products and also with Nystrom, Emseal, Arfen, Watson Bowman Acme, Ankara Teknik, MM Systems, Migua, Veda France, Willseal, Ankarateknik

We provide a Variety of Expansion Joints and Sealant Products:

• Movement Expansion Joints

• Seismic Expansion joints

• Fire resistant Expansion joints

• Control Expansion joints

• Heavy Duty Expansion Joints

• Parking Expansion Joints

• Water Tightening Expansion Joints

• Bridge Expansion Joints

• Roof Expansion Joint

• Exterior Wall Expansion Joints

• DSM System

• Quiet Joint

• Backing Rods

• Structural Movement Joints

• Compression Seal

• Epoxy Expansion Seal

• Neoprene Foam Seal

• Cover Plates

• Trench Access Covers

Reach Out to Us:

Contact us here, to acquire our services. Or browse a few more articles here.

Let us know what you think

Thanks for reading the article the article to the very end. We hope you got something out of it. You can contact us, for more information or to avail our services. You can also check out our other blogs, if you’re more of a reader.

Did you enjoy the article? Do you think we missed something? Would you like to add a suggestion? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.