At NEDC we specialize in custom foam and sponge gaskets for all purposes. One of the common foam/sponge gaskets we make are environmental gaskets. These are gaskets we consider for outdoor use and environmental sealing. These gaskets do not have the luxury of high compression. Applications with low compression may include:
-Outdoor Light Fixtures
-General Weather Stripping
-Enclosure Gaskets
Enviromental Gaskets Conditions
Some of the conditions the environmental gasket may be subject to can include:
-UV
-High/Low Temperature Outside
-Rain/Sleet/Snow
-Humidity
-Ozone
In this blog post, we decided to highlight some common polymers/products that are used for conventional outdoor gasketing. We included one example of each product to demonstrate. These gasketing materials should have resistance to the things mentioned above as well as a low compression set.
Cutting Methods Environmental Gaskets
As with many of our products, we employ waterjet cutting and die cutting to cut many of our products. Typically, when we see thicker environmental gaskets, waterjet cutting is used to prevent standard hourglassing that is seen with die cutting.
Types of Material used as Environmental Gaskets
Silicone Rubber Closed Cell Foam/Sponge
Naturally, silicone materials have the lowest compression set out of any of the products we will mention here. However, low compression set foams/sponges are available. Silicone Sponge or Foam is a commonly used environmental gasket. It features resistance to all of the above along with a fantastic temperature range, and normally a low compression set.
HT-800 Silicone Foam
HT-800 Silicone Foam by Rogers Corporation is a medium density silicone foam product. It is used in many environmental sealing applications. It features great UV resistance, and ozone. It features the wide temperature range tolerance that many silicone products do. HT-800 has a super low compression set of less than 5%.
EPDM Closed Cell Foam/Sponge
EPDM Foam/Sponge Rubber materials are often used as an environmental gasket material. They usually have great resistance to Ozone and UV, along with a terrific temperature range.
Durafoam™ P493SHD EPDM Sponge
Durafoam™ P493SHD by Monmouth Rubber is an EPDM sponge that has a low compression set, along with a wide temperature range of -67°F to 300°F. It is used commonly as an environmental gasket. It can be certified to ASTM D1056 2A3 B2C1F2M. These materials are 100% EPDM. Often times in the sponge industry blends are available. However, this material is not a blend.
Neoprene Sponge Rubber
Neoprene Sponge materials are also a common choice for environmental gasketing materials. These gaskets have great temperature ranges and resistance to a wide variety of environments.
N231 Neoprene Sponge
N231 Neoprene Sponge by Monmouth Rubber is a neoprene sponge rubber material that has a wide service temperature of -40°F to 250°F. It has a low compression set, along with a low compression set of 25%. It features a 2-5 psi for CFD per ASTM D1056. It can be certified to ASTM D1056 2C1. It is available in a variety of thicknesses as it is manufactured in buns.
For more information on environmental gaskets. or you believe NEDC may be able to help please contact sales@nedc.com.