fluoroelastomers
- February 14, 2024
Video - Basics of Fluoroelastomers (FKM)
Fluroelastomers, also known as FKM are a class of synthetic rubber designed for very high temperature operation with excellent levels of chemical resistance. FKM is not a single entity but a family of fluoropolymer rubbers. FKM, sometimes referred to as Viton®, is a registered trademark for fluroelastomer by DuPont.
Fluoroelastomers differ from other elastomers in that it has fluorine linked to the polymer backbone.
In this video webinar, you can learn the differences between elastomers and fluoroelastomers, and how the amount of fluorine in an elastomer affects it's chemical resistance and properties.
0:35 Why is it Important ot Understand Elastomers?
1:43 What is an Elastomer?
2:30 What is a Fluoroelastomer
- December 15, 2020
Fluids play a critical role in sustaining life. Keeping animals and humans hydrated and helping plants grow are obvious ways. Less obvious ways include moving cargo around the world and keeping equipment operating (hydraulic oils, coolants, engine oils, etc.). All these applications require seals of some sort ranging from public water systems to hydraulic pumps. What happens when these fluids become aggressive? People typically think of acids as being an aggressive media, but for many fluoroelastomers, bases are more aggressive presenting severe challenges.
Using material science and technology, Parker has created a new class of Base Resistant (fluoro) Elastomer (BRE) compounds.
- August 21, 2018
Gallagher recently released our High Performance Elastomer Seals for the Instrumentation Industry White Paper. This was written by Russ Schnell, an Elastomer Consultant contracted by Gallagher Fluid Seals, and a former Senior Application Engineer with the Kalrez® perfluoroelastomer parts business at DuPont. This white paper is now available for download on our Resources page.
Below is the third and final section of the white paper, which will discuss the importance of proper seal and groove design.
Proper Seal & Groove Design
Proper seal design is a necessity for elastomer seals to perform reliably over the long term. Many of the instrument applications mentioned above use o-ring seals. The suggested compression for an elastomer o-ring seal to perform properly is typically a minimum of 16%, and a maximum of 30%. However, this range must also take into account the thermal expansion of an elastomer at elevated temperatures as well as any swell due to chemical exposure. Many of the elastomer seals used in instruments are small o-rings, which can create design issues. This is especially true for perfluoroelastomer parts which have a relatively high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). Fluoroelastomers have a lower CTE, making seal design easier at elevated temperatures.
- May 01, 2018
Gallagher Fluid Seals recently posted our new Fluoroelastomer Basics webinar on gallagherseals.com. This is the second section of our webinar, focusing on Fluoroelastomer Materials. The full video is now available on our Resources page.
This section of the video discusses different fluoroelastomer materials, along with their mechanical and physical properties, and in which applications they're normally found.
[embed]https://youtu.be/pukqRYUXtbw[/embed]
