GORE's New Low Friction Film for Dynamic Seals

Using GORE® Low Friction Film, a tissue-thin coating material made from graphite-filled expanded PTFE (ePTFE), enables a new level of performance in dynamic elastomer seals: Lower friction. Longer life. Better tightness.

GORE Low Friction Film – an innovative, tissue-thin coating material for dynamic elastomer seals – creates a permanent mechanical connection with the elastomer during the molding process.

Made from graphite-filled ePTFE (expanded polytetrafluoroethylene), this new solution opens up new opportunities and potentials in design, performance and application of dynamic seals. In automotive applications, it reduces friction and improves wear-resistance while maintaining excellent elasticity and sealability. Quite simply, this material is made for designing the future of mobility.

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The “e” makes all the difference!

The “e” in ePTFE stands for “expanded” – it’s Gore’s proprietary technology for transforming ordinary PTFE to create a world of new possibilities. By manipulating this expansion process, we can create a wide range of material structures that are unique at the micro level. Customizing these microstructures lets us adapt ePTFE’s properties and performance characteristics to meet very specific application needs. For example, the graphite filling in GORE Low Friction Film improves its wear-resistance even further.

Performance Advantages

GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS – WITH GORE LOW FRICTION FILM

In many industries, the future is evolving rapidly, confronting engineers with new challenges. That is why GORE developed a solution for friction-reduced dynamic seals that doesn’t compromise the benefits pure elastomers deliver: GORE Low Friction Film eliminates the compromises that have always plagued dynamic seals.

With GORE Low Friction Film, users don’t have to struggle with:

  1. Pure elastomer: Choosing the sealability of pure elastomer but living with high friction, which leads to higher power consumption/torque and potential part-reliability issues.
  2. Solid rings of conventional PTFE: Incorporating solid PTFE rings to reduce friction but facing high materials cost, design and production complexities as well as ongoing reliability concerns due to abrasion and wear.
  3. Composite with layer of conventional PTFE: Adding a layer of conventional PTFE to reduce friction but dealing with the consequences of its rigidity: more costly processing and loss of seal flexibility, rapid wear, potential leakage and bond failure.

GORE Low Friction Film now combines the best of both worlds: GORE has merged the performance advantages of pure elastomer and ePTFE, to help users design the future of mobility without tradeoffs. Here’s how it works:

ONE SOLUTION, FIVE FUTURE-FOCUSED PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES

GORE Low Friction Film is unique: materials from the past don’t offer this combination of advantages.

Excellent reduction in seal friction Using GORE Low Friction Film is the most efficient way to reduce torque in dynamic elastomer seals. Less torque leads to lower power consumption, which enables the use of smaller, less complex, lighter-weight motors to increase cost- and energy-efficiency.
Superior wear-resistance In terms of wear resistance, GORE Low Friction Film outperforms all alternatives – like conventional PTFE rings or layers, and even certain elastomers – in both dry and wet environments, by a factor of at least two. Greater wear-resistance means longer, more predictable seal lifespan, for more reliable parts/components.
Elastomer-like elasticity and sealability GORE Low Friction Film is thin and slightly stretchy: designed to bend and move in concert with the elastomer, it offers excellent elasticity and seal tightness to prevent leakage. GORE Low Friction Film will retain its surface integrity even after it has been bent many thousands of times. This makes seal handling and installation easier, too.
Permanent mechanical bond With GORE Low Friction Film, the elastomer penetrates the film’s unique microporous structure during the molding process. This creates a strong mechanical bond that is, unlike weaker chemical bonds created by gluing, literally inseparable.
Effortless integration into molding operations As the elastomer fills the mold, it compresses the GORE Low Friction Film, which conforms smoothly and completely to the mold’s geometry. Our film easily realizes the complex seal designs that ordinary thin-layer PTFE simply is not flexible enough to achieve — to transform the most advanced designs into a longer-wearing reality.

GORE LOW FRICTION FILM LIVES UP TO ITS PROMISES

GORE Low Friction Film effectively reduced friction (Test: ASTM D 1894), and it offers other performance advantages that PTFE lacks.
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Wet or dry, GORE Low Friction Film was the most wear-resistant (Test: ASTM G77).
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EXCELLENT CHEMICAL STABILITY FOR ELASTOMER SEALS

Due to its excellent chemical stability, GORE Low Friction Film’s bond with the elastomer will remain unaffected by exposure to varied media. Media exposure in these applications may include:

Coolants - Used in: Thermal Management valves
Refrigerants - Used in: Air conditioning valves
Hydraulic oils - Used in: Actuators
Transmission fluids - Used in: Electric motors, Gear shafts

To learn more about this product, or to see if it's right for your application, contact Gallagher Fluid Seals today.

The original content can be found on Gore's website here.

Gallagher Fluid Seals is an authorized distributor for GORE®. For more information about this film and if it's right for your application, contact Gallagher Fluid Seals today.