Gaskets, Seals, and Packings

4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8

Face Seals Felt Seals Radial Lip Seals Seal Operating Procedures Axial Face Seals Selection Factors for Seals Split-ring Seals Circumferential Seals

4.12 Compression Packings 4.9 Metallic Gaskets 4.14 Nonmetallic Gaskets 4.10 Gasket Treatments and Coatings 4.16 Diaphragms 4.11 Sealants 4.12 Sealant Selection Factors 4.13 Inflatable Seals

Seal selection is often an imprecise and time-consuming process, involving numerous compromises. Some qualities a seal must have are obvious such as containing the fluids for which it is designed. Also, the seal must be compatible with the fluids it contacts to maintain its physical integrity. Dynamic seals must have good wear resistance to ensure long life. Other, not so obvious factors include having sufficient strength to resist extrusion under maximum temperature and pressure. Stability is required to resist twisting and deformation in the seal cavity. Finally, overall economics must be considered. Unfortunately, some compromise is almost always necessary because the desired features conflict with one another. Loading of a dynamic seal is a good example. High loading between seal and moving surface results in good sealability but also produces high friction and wear. Reducing this load increases seal life but permits more fluid to escape at low pressure. Seal selection is by no means an exact science. In any application, the designer must decide which factor has precedence. The seal often is so critical to the system that it should be considered early in the design. In struggling with these design factors, many OEM designers use the seal manufacturers' expertise.

Face seals Mechanical face seals are a good choice when minimum leakage of the sealed fluid is the most important criterion. The primary sealing interface is between rotating and stationary members that form a plane perpendicular to the shaft. The sealing area is a narrow ring where the two faces contact. One of the sealing faces is usually metal or ceramic and the other is usually graphite or plastic. To keep precision seal faces closed in the absence of hydraulic pressure, some form of loading device, usually a spring, is needed. Loading should be high enough to overcome friction and keep the faces closed under all operating conditions. Unnecessarily high loading will tend to shorten the useful life of the seal. The most common device for supplying a loading force to the seal face is a helical spring. Multiple helical springs, wave springs, bellows, and rubber elements are also used. Standard face seals have been used for pressures up to 3,000 psi, rotating speeds up to 50,000 rpm, and temperatures from -425 to 1,200F. Special face seals have been developed for pressures up to 10,000 psi. For extremely high pressures, two or more face seals can be lined up in tandem, splitting the pressure differential equally. Mechanical face seals usually cost more than radial oil seals or compression packings. However, the elimination of shaft wear may in some applications justify the increased cost.

Face seals usually take about the same space as packings, but substantially more room than radial seals. However, special face seals that take less space than conventional face seals are available. All face seals, because of their design configurations, tolerate only limited axial motion between shaft and housing. Thus, they cannot be used for long stroke, reciprocating-shaft applications. Another disadvantage of face seals is their precision. Face flatnesses of 11.6 in. and surface finishes of 2 in. are not uncommon, and the seals must be manufactured to cleanliness standards similar to those in the precision-bearing industry. As with most precision devices, rough or careless handling must be avoided. Compared with other types of dynamic seals, face seals have longer life and can reduce warranty and liability cost, downtime, and leakage. In addition, face seals are easy to sterilize and eliminate system contamination by packing fragments. Unbalanced face seals act like pistons. Fluid pressure from one direction loads the primary seal ring and mating ring against each other. Pressure from the opposite direction unloads -- and may even separate -- the rings. The result is either unnecessarily high friction, wear, heat generation, and power waste or else high leakage when the faces separate. Pressure balancing reduces the piston action, keeping contact load closer to the minimum for effective sealing and enabling the seal to stand larger pressure reversals. Unfortunately, there are also disadvantages to balanced seals. They typically cost 10 to 50% more than unbalanced seals for the same application because of closer tolerances and more complex seal shapes. They are subject to catastrophic failure if operating conditions do not closely match design conditions. And they usually require more space than unbalanced seals. Therefore, unbalanced seals are used whenever their frictional and pressure-reversal characteristics are acceptable. Split-ring seals Although split-ring seals are most often used for reciprocating motion, they are sometimes applied to hydraulic swivel joints and transmissions. They are compact, relatively inexpensive, and provide long life under harsh operating conditions. Expanding split-ring seals, or piston rings, are used in compressors, pumps, internal-combustion engines, hydraulic cylinders, and pneumatic cylinders. Contracting split-ring seals, or rod seals, are used in linear actuators where high pressure and temperature, radiation, thermal fatigue, and reliability requirements make packings undesirable. Everything said of piston rings has a counterpart in rod seals. Both expanding and contracting seals come as one, two, and three-piece seals. Single-ring straight-cut seals are the simplest and most economical, but they also leak the easiest. Standard step-cut seals are used for unidirectional sealing where leakage is not critical, at bore diameters down to 1 3/8 in. Special high-precision step seals are available for applications where leakage is critical. One-piece or two-piece seals with special joint designs are needed for bidirectional sealing. Three-piece seals are used for very small or very large cylinder diameters.

Garter springs and axial springs can be added to any of the seals to ensure contact at sealing surfaces. Contact forces in both axial and radial directions must be large enough to overcome friction. Other things being equal, radial and axial forces should be about the same. Felt seals Unlike lip seals and squeeze packings, felt seals require relative little shaft pressure to function effectively. They are commonly used near ball and roller bearings as lubricant retainers. Advantages of felts seals include: Chemical resistance: Wool felt resists dilute mineral-acid solutions, unless continuously saturated and intermittently dried. It is damaged by alkalis. Untreated, it resists oil, greases, waxes, and most solvents. Mechanically interlocked synthetic-fiber felt seals withstand attack by strong acids and bases and are stable in water, common fuels, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, and solvents. Filtration: Wool felt seals, in a dry state, are highly effective as filters in removing particles of 0.7m size and larger. When saturated in lubricants, even smaller particles are trapped and retained. Oil wicking: Capillary properties of a felt seal ensure lubrication after long idle periods. Oil absorption: Storage capacity is largely a function of density. However, about 78% of the volume of a felt seal serves as oil storage. Resilience: Felt seals maintain constant sealing pressure in spite of wear, end play, minor misalignment, or out-of-roundness of metal assemblies. Shaft speeds: Top speed for felt seals is usually 2,000 fpm. There are applications operating at speeds as high as 4,000 fpm, where shafts are hard and smooth and where ample lubrication is present in the seal. Low friction: The coefficient of friction averages 0.22 for dry felt against steel and is substantially reduced when felt is presaturated with oil. Polishing action: Felt seals trap abrasive particles, which then penetrate into the felt. Thus, they protect surfaces by polishing them rather than scoring them. Temperature limit: The usual temperature limits of felt seals are -60 to 250F. However, synthetic-fiber felts offer a wide range of strength and chemical resistance at temperatures up to 400F. Felt seals are manufactured in two general types: plain and laminated. Plain felt seals are precision-cut washers fabricated from standard grades of felt. They are usually presaturated with lubricants of slightly greater viscosity than that used in the bearing. Plain felt seals afford positive bearing protection and provide a reservoir for lubricant storage -making it available as needed. If run dry, they protect and polish rather than score a shaft. They seldom fail through aging, embrittlement, or disintegration. At temperatures from -60 to 250F and operating speeds up to 2,000 fpm, plain felt seals are highly economical and require replacement only when the machines in which they are used are overhauled. These seals should not be used with oils of extremely low viscosity or to retain pressurized lubricants. For these applications, laminated or impregnated felt should be considered.

Laminated felt seals are made by combining grades of felt with layers of impervious elastomer. This sandwich construction permits use of two or more felt grades or densities in one seal; one grade for oil retention and a second for dust exclusion. The impervious layers of oil-resistant elastomer also stop leakage of low-viscosity liquids through the felt. To meet special requirements, either style can be impregnated with one of several materials. Paraffin, petroleum, or colloidal graphite increases the resistance of basic felt to water and mud, improves its resistance to pressurized lubricants, and lowers its coefficient of friction. Before installation, the felt should be saturated with oil or grease of slightly higher viscosity than that used as a lubricant. Radial lip seals Radial lip seals, also know as oil or shaft seals, are primarily used for retaining lubricants in equipment having rotating or oscillating shafts. The seals are relatively inexpensive, take little space, install easily, and can handle many types of sealing situations. They can be used with most oils and hydraulic fluids at moderate pressures over wide temperature ranges and are tolerant of misalignment, dynamic shaft runout, and variations in shaft speed.

Seal operating procedures In most lip seals, increasing fluid pressure increases lip-contact pressure. In a properly designed and installed seal, the lip rides on a thin film of lubricant. Because the film does the sealing, its thickness (usually about 0.0001 in.) must be controlled precisely by the mechanical pressure of the seal element and the shaft finish. If the film gets too thick, fluid leaks. If too thin, the lip wears, friction increases, and stick-slip oscillations can result. Stick-slip oscillations cause a surface wave in the seal, which permits leakage. Aside from mechanical pressure, the main factors affecting film thickness are sealed pressure and temperature. In most seals, as sealed pressure increases, lip contact pressure increases, reducing film thickness. Increasing temperature, which may stem from increasing shaft speed, reduces viscosity and, hence, film thickness. As the film gets thinner, friction increases, temperature increases, and film thickness continues to decrease. If this cycle continues, it can lead to seal failure. Maximum permissible pressure for radial lip seals range from 7 psi for shaft speeds below 1,000 fpm to 3 psi for shaft speeds above 2,000 fpm. >Although elastomeric lips can provide a constant shaft pressure under a given set of operating conditions, they are sensitive to pressure and temperature changes in the sealed fluid and tend to become harder with age. Therefore, a garter or finger spring is usually included in the seal assembly to maintain the desired shaft-contact pressure. Shaft condition also has a profound effect on sealing. Shafts should generally be hardened to at least Rc 30 and have a surface finish of 10 to 20 in. Finishes finer than 10 in. show no improvement in seal life and some laboratory evidence indicates that finishes of 2 in. or finer can shorten seal life because they cannot support an oil film. Finishes without spiral lead are preferred, but if lead is present it should tend to guide the sealed fluid inward. Correct shaft diameter is also important. An oversize shaft causes the seal lip to exert too much pressure, undersize shafts result in too little pressure. Overpressure leads to early failure and underpressure promotes leakage. Recommended tolerances range from 0.003 in. for 4-in.diameter shafts to 0.01 in. for 10-in.-diameter shafts and larger.

Axial face seals The function of an axial face seal, like felt radial seals, is to protect bearings from contaminants. It functions on a rotating or stationary shaft, but not an oscillating one. Rubber rotary-shaft axial face seals provide a contact seal to keep dirt, dust, and moisture from bearings and critical machine parts. A flexible lip is tolerant of angular misalignment, eccentricity, axial movement, yet produces lower friction than other contact-seal designs. The rotary-shaft axial face seal can be used as a primary seal for grease and oil, and against water splash, dirt, and other contaminants. In addition, it can be used as an auxiliary dirt seal to protect other radial-lip seals. One proprietary axial face seal is a one-piece ring of molded polymer. Slight undersizing of the seal ID allows it to constrict, holding it in place on the shaft. The sealing lip contacts the axial face to keep contaminants from protected machine parts. Up to about 1,600 fpm, no backup is required. From 1,600 to 2,400 fpm, a backup ring on the shaft is needed when the seal operates in the presence of lubricants. From 2,400 to 3,000 rpm, radial support is required to maintain constriction to the shaft. Above 3,000 fpm, centrifugal force may lift the finger away from the axial face. In this case, the seal should be mounted stationary so only the axial face rotates. Seal contact speeds are then possible to 20,000 fpm. Selection Factors for Seals

The primary factors affecting seal selection are temperature, wear resistance, abrasion, sealed pressure, face materials, vibration, and expected life. Usually, bellow seals are needed for hightemperature applications. Temperature affects all seal materials, but its most important effects are on the secondary seals. The general limitation on temperature for standard synthetics is about 225F although some are available for uses up to 600F. PTFE can be used over a temperature range of -400 to 550F, although most manufacturers rate PTFE seals on the basis of 500F maximum temperature. Asbestos elements have been used up to 650F. Above 650F, metal bellows, U-cups, or piston rings can be used, but these seals are considered specials. Lubrication can reduce heat generation at the seal interface, but care must be taken to prevent coking. Direct cooling with a cooling chamber and heat exchanger can help control thermal problems. In this method, an integral pumping ring on the rotating seal element circulates coolant through an inner chamber in the stuffing box. Wear resistance depends largely on temperature and chemical factors, and on abrasives. To minimize wear, the sealed fluid should be a good lubricant for the materials of the seal head and seat. Furthermore, all seal materials should be virtually impervious to corrosion by the sealed fluid. Face materials subject to dry running because of malfunctioning equipment can fail prematurely. Double seals with isolated liquid circulation avoid this hazard. For systems with external circulation, pressure drops can be detected with a pressure-sensitive switch. Abrasion is the bane of face seals. Faces should be cleaned before initial start-up to prevent premature failures. With liquids that form abrasives on contact with air, a buffer zone or quench

gland should be provided between the atmosphere and the seal faces. With liquids that form abrasives at certain temperatures, heating or cooling is necessary to dissolve abrasives near the seal faces. With liquids that are inherently abrasive, a neutral clean liquid can sometimes be injected into the seal chamber. If the sealed liquid cannot be contaminated, a double-seal design can be used, or a centrifugal separator should be inserted ahead of the seal. High sealed pressure can drastically shorten the life of the sealing faces and should be compensated by seal balancing. Face materials must be compatible with each other and the sealed fluid. Because of their good mechanical and thermal properties, graphites are generally used as one of the primary sealing elements. The opposing element can be made of ceramics, iron, bronze, stainless steel, tool steel, and various other metals plated with dense chrome. The ceramics are some of the hardest face materials available and have excellent wear and corrosion properties. However, they cannot stand tensile stress and are subject to cracking by thermal shock. Vibration can shorten the life of a seal, particularly if imposed vibration during operation has a frequency near the natural frequency of the seal. The basic precaution is to ensure the seal's natural frequency is higher than the highest imposed frequency. This precaution is particularly necessary with metal bellows. Life expectancy depends on both shelf life and operational life. The shelf life of metal bellows is practically unlimited, whereas organic secondary seals may have shorter shelf life, particularly at elevated temperatures. Within their temperature limits, elastomeric bellows have better operational life than metal bellows. However, metals withstand higher temperatures. Preventing leaks and contaminant ingression keeps a system operating as intended. Seal selection is often an imprecise and time-consuming process, involving numerous compromises. Some qualities a seal must have are obvious such as containing the fluids for which it is designed. Also, the seal must be compatible with the fluids it contacts to maintain its physical integrity. Dynamic seals must have good wear resistance to ensure long life. Other, not so obvious factors include having sufficient strength to resist extrusion under maximum temperature and pressure. Stability is required to resist twisting and deformation in the seal cavity. Finally, overall economics must be considered. Unfortunately, some compromise is almost always necessary because the desired features conflict with one another. Loading of a dynamic seal is a good example. High loading between seal and moving surface results in good sealability but also produces high friction and wear. Reducing this load increases seal life but permits more fluid to escape at low pressure. Seal selection is by no means an exact science. In any application, the designer must decide which factor has precedence. The seal often is so critical to the system that it should be considered early in the design. In struggling with these design factors, many OEM designers use the seal manufacturers' expertise. Circumferential seals These seals are quite similar to rod and piston seals, but are adapted to rotary motion. Circumferential seals are high-speed, low-leakage seals that require less space than face seals. The contacting types undergo high-velocity rubbing at their primary sealing surfaces, and often

require cooling. Hydrostatic and magnetic seals avoid this difficulty. Hydrostatic seals may also suffer from instability in the gas film. Some circumferential seals inhibit leakage in both directions. Primary sealing takes place at the cylindrical surface where high-speed relative motion takes place. A secondary leakage path exists at the housing surface where the seal is seated. Contacting circumferential seals are highly effective for sealing gases, but less effective with liquids, although they are used in some liquid applications. Hydrostatic seals can only be used with gases, while magnetic seals can be used with both liquids and gases.

Compression packings Packings are seals that normally are packed around a shaft or rod and compressed to provide a sealing effect. A packing normally consists of many sections (or one long continuous strand wrapped several times to achieve a section effect); when compressed longitudinally, they expand radially to seal. Normally, packings are not designed to produce a leak-free seal. Instead, they are tightened enough to produce a minimum but positive leakage. In many applications, the leakage is intended to lubricate the packing material; some manufacturers advise the packings be lubricated if this leakage falls below specified minimums or if it is of a nonlubricating liquid. The modest leakage reduces friction and wear. Packing material may be supplied in many shapes, including impregnated yarn, continuous strands, or continuous strands of a compressed square-section material. Also, various types of interlocking packing shapes are provided; many of these shapes are proprietary developments of specific companies in the packing field. One very common style is the familiar V-packing, in which the seal-ring mating surfaces are designed to permit a void between each ring which acts as a lubrication reservoir. Many materials are used in packings, ranging from solid metal to flax or cotton. The more common varieties include aluminum, copper, and lead foil, aluminum and copper braided wire, PTFE elastomers (tapes and solid sections), leather, flax, cotton, flexible graphite, plastics, and formerly asbestos. Materials are selected on the basis of service temperature of the application and the process fluid to be used. Packing manufacturers provide detailed information on compatibility and on temperature capabilities of the different packing materials. An old rule of thumb states that optimum packing length is 1.5 times stem diameter, but like most rules of thumb, it has only limited validity. Metallic gaskets Metallic gaskets are used for pressure and temperature extremes that cannot be handled by nonmetallic gaskets. If the product of operating pressure in psi times operating temperature in F exceeds 250,000, metallic gaskets should be used. Metallic gaskets are also used for temperatures below -65F, above 850F, and for pressures above 1,200 psi. Other conditions calling for metallic gaskets include vacuum below 10-4 torr and radiation above 108 rad.

Nonmetallic gaskets A gasket provides a barrier against fluid transfer across mating static surfaces. Proper selection depends on how well the gasket material meets four basic requirements. Although many material combinations are suitable for gaskets, the most common are cork compositions, cork and rubber, plant and vegetable fibers, rubber, plastics, and paper. Flexible plastic foams and elastomeric sponge are coming into use, as is flexible graphite. Formerly, asbestos was widely used. These materials are often laminated with each other to combine the properties of a strong but relatively incompressible material with those of a highly compressible but weak material. For example, cork composition and vegetable fiber are often laminated together; depending on end use, either may serve as the center filler. Gasket treatments and coatings For many applications, gaskets are treated with various other metals to achieve better surface properties, encourage or discourage adhesion, or resist chemical or microbial attack. Adhesives are used where an immediate permanent bond is needed. They are usually a synthetic rubber, resin, or combination. Fungicides resist mold growth and may be an integral part of the gasket material or applied as surface treatment. Common fungicides are betanaphthol, pentachlorophenhol, salicylanilide and various compounds of copper and mercury. Graphite is applied as a dry flake, mixed with oil, or in a water emulsion to level surfaces and to inhibit adhesion. Oil and hot paraffin dip coats prevent loss of moisture during storage. Reflectors such as aluminum paint or lacquer offer some protection to gaskets located near heat sources. Rubber coatings such as neoprene are applied as a dip coat to reduce oil penetrations, loss of moisture, and installation breakage. Polysulfide coatings help level the surfaces and promote sealing contact of relatively hard-fiber sheet materials. Talc and mica dust are applied dry or in an adhesive vehicle to cut surface friction of gaskets. They are often used where mating parts must be rotated to close the joint.

Diaphragms Diaphragms are seals that span the gap between reciprocating and stationary members. Flat and convoluted diaphragms are used where there is relatively little motion involved. Rolling diaphragms are used for longer motions. Sealants

Sealants are categorized as hardening and nonhardening. Whether a sealant is hardening or nonhardening depends upon its chemical composition and curing characteristics rather than its initial form. Sealants generally come in nonsolid forms in a wide range of viscosities. Some epoxy sealers come in powdered form and must be melted to be applied. Certain asphalt-based sealers and waxes are solid and applied by a hot-melt system. Thermosetting film adhesives used for sealing also come in tape form and require heat and pressure for curing. Hardening sealants may be rigid or flexible depending on their composition. Nonhardening types are characterized by plasticizers that come to the surface continually, so the sealant stays "wet" after application. Nonhardening sealants are characterized by the "mastics" that are applied to seams with a trowel or brush. They cannot be depended on for joining, although some formulations are used as adhesives in very low-stress joints. Tapes are available in a variety of backings and with pressure-sensitive or solvent-activated adhesives. Some nonhardening sealants are so viscous they can be packaged in "tape" form. For purposes of this chapter, they are not considered to be sealing tapes but simply another form of a heavy-consistency nonhardening sealant. Sealant selection factors Many factors enter into the selection of a sealant, not the least of which are final application and cost. Minor changes in composition can cause major changes in properties. Thermal factors include temperature extremes and variations, and cyclic frequency of the variations. Chemical resistance to any specific agent can be obtained by proper formulation. Weatherability is important for sealants exposed to outdoor service conditions. Mechanical properties of importance include strength, elongation, compressibility, modulus of elasticity, tear resistance, and fatigue resistance. Abrasion resistance is usually highest among the flexible sealants, especially urethanes and neoprenes. Adhesion depends largely on the interaction between the sealant and the surface to which it is applied. Electrical characteristics vary widely among sealants. Proper formulation can to a large extent control dielectric strength, dielectric constant, volume and surface resistivities, and dissipation factor. Flameproof sealants are available for hazardous locations. Nontoxic formulations are available for equipment in contact with foodstuffs. Repairability is important in applications where the sealant may be broken during service. Some sealants, especially the nonhardening formulations, are easily replaced. Production procedures are important, because improperly applied sealants often fail in service.

What is an Inflatable Seal? An inflatable seal is a fabric-reinforced elastomeric tube custom molded in a concave, convoluted or flat configuration. It is designed to round out with the introduction of an inflation medium to form a tight barrier between a mounting and striking surface. For example, see the cross section illustration below. Position A shows the molded configuration and Position B depicts the inflated configuration. How Does an Inflatable Seal Work? Upon introduction of the inflation medium, it quickly expands to the striking surface, effecting a positive seal. When the inflation medium is removed, the seal retracts naturally to the deflated "memorized" configuration. This position provides clearance for free movement of one or both surfaces. How is and Inflatable Seal Inflated? The most common inflation medium is regulated air. The specific parameters of the application determine the optimum operating pressure. In some applications, liquid or gel may be used as the inflation medium. Introduction of the inflation medium is through a stem which is usually a flexible hose secured to an integrally molded fitting with a ferrule. A variety of fittings may be attached to the end of the hose. Why Use an Inflatable Seal? An inflatable seal has several advantages over other sealing methods: It provides a leak-proof closure, yet allows clearance when needed. It simplifies the design of the structure and hardware. It minimizes the need for close machining and/or fabricating tolerances. It is not subject to compression set which negates effectiveness of other seals. Inflatable Seal Geometry Inflatable seals can be installed in different planes; radially in, radially out, axially and any combination thereof. They will conform to many different contours. They are made in strips with closed ends or in continuous loops. The bend radii will vary from seal to seal and if a very sharp or mitered corner is necessary, the seal can be molded to the exact configuration.