What are the factors that affect the sealing of silicone sealing rings?

One of the most important characteristics of silicone seals is their sealing performance, but what factors can affect the sealing performance of silicone seals? Once revealed, let‘s explore this issue.

In fact, the factors that affect the sealing of silicone sealing rings mainly include material selection, product design, manufacturing process, and usage environment. Why do you say that? Let me hear from the editor one by one.

Product design: The impact of product structure design on sealing cannot be ignored. In the early stages of development, if the dimensional interference of the product is not fully considered, it may lead to dimensional deviations during the processing. Due to the fact that silicone products belong to soft colloids, there may be a mismatch between the outer or inner wall assembly of the plug structure during assembly, which can affect the sealing performance.

Material selection: The compatibility, adhesion, temperature and humidity stability of silicone material are crucial for its sealing performance. If the compatibility between the selected silicone material and the substrate is poor, or the performance is unstable under different temperatures, humidity, and chemical environments, it may lead to a decrease in sealing performance.

Manufacturing process: Process control during the manufacturing process is also an important factor affecting sealing. If the parameters such as molding temperature and vulcanization time are set improperly, it may cause the silicone to not be fully vulcanized or flow, thereby affecting the tight bonding with the substrate. In addition, cleaning and treating the surface of hardware components is also crucial. Impurities such as oil stains and dust on the surface can reduce the adhesion between silicone and hardware components, thereby affecting the sealing effect.

Usage environment: The usage environment and conditions can also affect the sealing performance of silicone encapsulated precision parts. For example, certain media may be corrosive to silicone seals, causing material deterioration, expansion, dissolution, or corrosion, thereby reducing sealing performance. Meanwhile, long-term exposure to environmental factors such as oxidation and ultraviolet radiation may also lead to aging of silicone materials, resulting in hardening, brittleness, or softening, which in turn affects the sealing effect.