tips for your gasket

tips for your gasket, solid silicone rubber, r10460 sponge

In a blog I wrote in the past, I had discussed how to make your gasket more cost effective. At times, I feel like I have talked about everything about gasket design- one blog I have not talked about is a few tips on designing gaskets.

Tips:

1. Temperature Range

When you’re designing a gasket, the first thing I always consider is Temperature. 

  1. What is the service temperature of the gasket consistently
  2. Is it freezing, refreezing, heating up, cooling down?
  3. Is it intermittent temperatures of high, and lows? 
  4. One thing I see customers always overlook “is the gasket REALLY at those temperatures?” I see customers go “the application could see 500°F for a few seconds. Yeah, true. But, when I throw a pot roast in the oven, internally its not immediately at 325°F. 

High Temp Considerations:

-Silicone, Fluorosilicone, Viton, Kalrez

Low Temp:

-Silicone, EPDM, Fluorosilicone

2. Compression Set

As I mentioned above, when a gasket is heating up, and cooling down it can be a concern. This is because gaskets will take a compression “set” eventually. It can be a concern because the gasket will no longer seal properly. A good example of material that doesn’t take a set easily is silicone rubber. For more information on compression set, we have a blog on that too. 

3. How much Pressure is available?

When I’m talking about gaskets, I often refer to pressure as a luxury. Why do I call it that? Well, because it is. Pressure is something that once had can be reduced easier than can be installed. Usually this means you are talking about sponges/foams vs solid rubbers. Solid rubbers have more pressure to seal, sponges/foams are less pressure.

4. Other Environments

These are the wild card qualities that are separate polymers:

-Oils/Fuels 

-UV Exposure

-Ozone Resistance

-Other Chemical Resistance

Other Thoughts:

These tips are the first things to consider when considering gasket design. However, on the blog we wrote on cost effectiveness, those are secondary things to consider- and I urge the readers to go over there, and check it out. 

Adhesive Backed Gaskets:

We also wrote a blog on adhesive backed taped gaskets. When considering a tape, its a good idea to go check that out. 

More Information:

For more information on gaskets, or you are looking to design a gasket, please contact sales@nedc.com. NEDC is a die-cutter/waterjet-cutter of custom gasket products through build to print items.

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