Rubber Gaskets

Open or Closed-Cell Gasket Material

Dec 07, 2015

When it comes to gasket material hardness the general advice is that softer is better, providing it seals the joint. Elastomeric gaskets used for sealing enclosures are a good example. When the enclosure door is closed there’s often a large and uneven gap remaining, (especially in the case of light-duty plastic enclosures.) A soft gasket compresses easily where the gap is smaller while filling the larger gaps, providing a seal all the way around the opening.

Interconnected cells

Many softer gasket materials, such as silicone, urethane and neoprene, are available with a cellular structure that makes them very soft. These cells are easily seen in cross-section. What gasket material buyers may not appreciate though is that these cells may be open or closed. This matters because it gives the gasket material different performance characteristics.

In a closed cell material, each cell is completely sealed off from its neighbors. That makes it feel harder because when compressed the air inside has no place to go. In an open material the cells are interconnected, so under compression the air moves through and out of the material, making it feel softer.

Different characteristics

Closed cell materials take on a compression set more readily than do open materials. This is because, under load the air inside permeates slowly through the cell walls. When the load is removed, although the material tries to spring-back it can’t draw air in, leaving the gasket material permanently deformed. In contrast, an open cell material “breathes,” drawing air back in to each cell as the material rebounds.

The weakness of open cell gasket materials is a lack of water-resistance. Just as in a sponge, the interconnected cells let water move through the structure. Although a load may close up the openings and provide some resistance, open cell gasket materials are not recommended for situations where water exposure is possible.

Consider the application

An open cell structure makes for a softer gasket, and one less likely to take a compression set. However, a closed cell material provides better water resistance. Select your gasket material based on the application.

 

 

FAQs, Rubber Gaskets
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Measuring Gasket Material Hardness

Nov 23, 2015

The hardness of elastomeric gasket materials is measured with a durometer. Knowing how this device is used helps in interpreting specifications and selecting gasket material.

Durometer Construction

Durometers come in two forms, analog and digital. Analog durometers look like the traditional stopwatch with a single hand that sweeps around the dial. This dial is mounted on a flat foot, from which protrudes a pin. The pin is spring-loaded, so when the foot is pressed against the gasket material the pin moves up into the body of the durometer. The harder the material, the more the pin moves into the body. Or to put it another way, softer materials let the pin press in deeper.

The dial is marked from zero to 100. These numbers have no units but are related to the spring load and the size and shape of the head of the pin, more properly called the ‘indenter.’

Shore Hardness

Spring strength and indenter geometry are specified in ASTM standard D2240. This fixes every aspect of rubber hardness testing, including the size of the ‘presser foot’, sample preparation, the duration for which the indentor is pressed into the material, and calculation and presentation of results.

Rubber and rubber-like materials can vary enormously in hardness, so ASTM D2240 defines a number of different scales. Each scale has its own indenter form and spring load. Gasket materials are typically measured on the Shore A scale. The ‘A’ indenter is a pin of 1.27mm (0.050”) diameter, tapered at 35 degrees to finish as a truncated cone with a flat area of 0.79mm (0.031”) diameter. At a reading of 100 (no indentation,) the spring force will be 8.05 Newtons.

Determining the Hardness Number

According to ASTM D2240, the test specimen should be at least 6.0mm (0.24”) thick. Hardness is calculated as the mean or median of five measurements taken at least 12.0mm (0.48”) from any edge.

A Comparative Measure

Being dimensionless, the Shore A number tells you little about the properties of an individual material. Its real value is as a standardized test method, allowing comparison of alternative materials for elastomeric gaskets.

Rubber Gaskets
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Understanding Gasket Material Hardness

Nov 09, 2015

The question of how hard a gasket should be comes up quite often. For an answer we need to look at what the gasket actually does.

Gasket function

The job of every gasket is to fill an uneven gap between two surfaces, forming a barrier that stops fluid moving to where it shouldn’t be. Larger gaps and more uneven surfaces need a softer gasket. For example, a gasket between two parallel machined pipe flanges can be hard, resisting loads as the joint faces are tightened together. In contrast, the gasket sealing an electrical enclosure needs to be softer and compress more because the enclosure door will tend to bend as it’s latched.

So a general rule is that a gasket should be as soft as possible in order to fill the gap between two surfaces. At the same time it must be strong enough to resist the lateral forces acting on it.

For elastomeric gasket materials two parameters define hardness: Shore hardness and compression force deflection (CFD.) Here’s what these two terms mean.

Shore hardness

Hardness in this context is a measure of how well a material resists a permanent indentation. The hardness of rubber and elastomeric materials is measured on a durometer and reported as a “Shore A” number. Very soft materials like a rubber band will be around 20, a pencil eraser is between 30 to 40, and car tires measure 60 to 70 Shore A.

Compression force deflection

CFD measures firmness and is defined in ASTM standard D1056 as the force needed to reduce the material in thickness by 25%. According to this standard materials are given a grade correlating to their firmness. Grade 0 material needs less than 2 psi to reduce its thickness by 25%, so is very soft. At the other end of the spectrum a grade 5 material needs at least 17 psi to achieve the same compression. A gasket material that compresses easily accommodates variation in the gap between two surfaces without needing more closing force than can be applied by the clamps or latches.

Rubber Gaskets
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