A study on the pressure-bearing capacity of multiply metal bellows

Abstract To investigate the pressure-bearing capacity of multi-layer metallic bellows, the Corrugation form parameters of the bellows were first designed, and uniaxial tests were conducted on 0.5 mm thick 06Cr19Ni10 strips to obtain the material’s stress-strain curve. Finite element simulation calculations were then combined with experimental methods to study the corrugation pitch variation rate of metallic bellows under pressure testing and stability testing conditions. Additionally, the buckling mechanism of metallic bellows was explored. Through eigenvalue buckling analysis and nonlinear buckling analysis that accounts for manufacturing errors in the bellows, the critical instability pressure of multi-layer metallic bellows was determined. The study indicates that, compared to real experiments, the corrugation pitch variation rate in the pressure and stability tests using finite element analysis with idealized models is smaller, with an error within 20%. Nonlinear buckling analysis that accounts for manufacturing errors enhances the accuracy of the buckling calculations for multi-layer metallic bellows, controlling the error within 5%. This approach effectively predicts the instability pressure of the bellows with high precision.