O-rings
- February 14, 2020
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by William Pomeroy, applications engineer, Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.
There are many situations where an O-Ring may not last as long as one thinks that it should. When the expectation is realistic and yet the seal fails earlier than expected, Applications Engineering teams are often asked to help discover the seal failure mode(s).
Seal failure is often due to a combination of failure modes, making root cause difficult to uncover. When beginning a failure analysis, items usually asked for include: hardware information, how the seal is installed, application conditions (temp, fluids, and pressure
- January 31, 2020
Food, Beverage, and Pharmaceutical Regulations
Stringent government regulations mandate that food, beverage, and pharmaceutical manufacturers keep foreign material out of ingredients to ensure food and drug safety for consumers. Preventing foreign material from entering the processing stream is of the utmost concern but there must also be measures in place to detect contaminated product and quarantine it before distribution.
Component parts that are used in food and drug processing equipment can become damaged by improper installation and/or excessive shear experienced during operation that causes fragments of rubber, plastic, and metal to contaminate ingredients. Chemicals used for cleaning and sterilization of equipment can cause rubber seals to degrade, increasing
- January 24, 2020
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Thorsten Kleinert, Business Unit Manager, Composite Sealing Systems Engineered Materials Group, Europe.
When classic sealing materials reach their limits, such as temperature ranges above 300°C and below -50°C – alternative materials are sometimes required, such as metal seals with appropriate coating/plating.
Parker offers metal seals made of stainless steel or nickel alloys in
- November 07, 2019
Measuring an O-Ring is quite simple when you have the right tools at your disposal. All that is required is a clean, level surface; an o-ring; and a measuring device such as a caliper or other measuring tools such as cones, gauges, and size charts.
Directions to Measure an O-Ring
To measure an O-Ring, following the directions below:
- Place your o-ring on a flat surface clean of debris.
- Determine the inside diameter (ID) and outside diameter (OD) of the o-ring. The o-ring dimensions chart below illustrates where on the o-ring each dimension is measured.
- Measuring the width, or cross-section (CS), can be tricky and is measured by lightly pressing the caliper ends onto O-ring as shown in section A-A.
For more information on O-ring sizes click to see the JIS B 2401 Standard O-Ring Size Tables.
Dimensionally specifying an o-ring can typically be done with just
- October 29, 2019
Better and faster access to the seals you need to keep your production running.
King of Prussia, PA. October 29, 2019 /News and Updates/ -- Gallagher Fluid Seals (GFS) is excited to announce the launch of its e-commerce store, providing a brand new experience to shop for seals.
“It’s been a complete team effort,” says Chris Gallagher, CEO. “Our team has worked diligently over the past several months to prepare and deliver a state-of-the art e-commerce store for both new and returning customers.”
As the world’s economy has evolved to an online platform, GFS felt seal buying should be easier. Gone are the days of calling in and ordering a replacement seal - or sending an RFQ. This new online experience allows greater and faster access to the seals you need to keep your facility up-and-running.
“Maximizing the ease-of-purchase and visibility of fluid sealing products is imperative to the future of seal buying, and
- October 22, 2019
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Nathaniel Reis, Applications Engineer for Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.
In our semiconductor entry from last month, we noted that lowering the cost of ownership is a multi-faceted goal. We discussed how one of the areas for potential improvement
- September 17, 2019
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Nathaniel Reis, applications engineer, Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.
When it comes to semiconductor fabrication processes, reducing the cost of ownership is a multi-faceted goal approached from a variety of angles. Tool engineers and equipment technicians take pride in their ability to identify factors that limit tool uptime. One constant headache they face is the mechanical failure
- September 12, 2019
When it comes to food, Freudenberg wants to be sure that its sealing materials are free of harmful substances.
In the food processing industry, in order to guarantee food safety, both the food and the hardware that come into contact with it must meet particularly stringent criteria. These guidelines also apply to sealing materials.
In China, specific standards were created in 2016 with the two standards GB 4806 and GB 9685, which deviate from the existing relevant American and European regulations for food-grade materials. To meet the stringent Chinese regulations, FST has now successfully tested two proven VMQ materials: 70 VMQ 117055 and 60 VMQ 117117 for their conformity with Chinese guidelines.
The Chinese standard GB 9685
- August 06, 2019
Rubber seals are used in numerous industries to prevent the unwanted leakage of liquids and gases in various components such as pumps, valves, pipe fittings, and vacuum seals, to name only a few. However, all seals are not created equally. Rubber seal design consists of several elements to ensure that the seal delivers optimal performance in the given environment.
One of the most common types of industrial rubber seals, the O-ring, relies on mechanical compressive deformation to act as a barrier between mating surfaces, thus restricting the flow of fluid in predetermined areas. Several factors must, therefore, be taken into account in O-ring seal design to sustain the compressive force and maintain an effective seal.
Key Design Considerations
Rubber seals are available in a large number of material compositions, each with its own set of advantages and limitations. The selection of the appropriate material involves the consideration of specific factors including:
- July 23, 2019
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by members of the O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division. Jacob Ballard - research and development engineer, Jason Fairbanks - market manager, and Nathaniel Sowder - business development engineer.