In one of the projects, we have two pipes 3" sch. 40 connected through a flexible hose. The pressure is 200psig.

Is there any pressure thrust force on the pipe similar to what we have in case of bellows?

Regards

MW

Technically, you'll always have a pressure thrust as long as you have pressure.

However, if the flexible hose is adequately flexible, the thrust is enacted through displacement of the hose, not the pipe.

How is the hose characterized? Is it long and U-shaped? Or is it short like an expansion joint?

Michael,
Thanks for your reply.

We have several long braided flexible hoses. Some of them are U-shaped.
We have similar hoses in existing piping arrangements but some are without any anchor or guided supports. There could be pressure thrust or the straightening force at the ends of the pipe.
MW

To clarify the situation a bit better:

The reason why bellows expand is because pressure acts normal to the ridges of the bellows, making them act not unlike a scissor joint. If you had ridges infinitely deep, but not infinitely rigid, you would have infinite area for any pressure to act upon and infinite load applied. The pressure thrust is a handy approximation for standard loading, in my opinion.

This is counter-intuitive because we don't calculate pressure loads at various apertures, and that makes expansion joints special.

For a braided hose, the same logic applies. There's a rubber hose that grows due to the bourdon effect inside of it, that's surrounded by steel braids whose tension keeps the hose in check.

So long as the hose is not in a position to act as a structural member, the loads it applies should be relatively minor to the capacity the pipe can handle, unless you're using very thin wall pipe.