By: Jim Ward, BRP Manufacturing Rubber products are generally composed of four resistance. Its temperature range is -40 to 220° Fahrenheit. major parts: A wide range of Neoprene products are offered within A) polymers (the ‘rubber” portion) the marketplace and used in many general applications B) processing oils including military, automotive and appliance. Neoprene C) carbon blacks and/or fillers is also used in the construction trade in high load bearing D) curing agents applications. In combining these items, you obtain the general Buna “N” (acrylonitrile butadiene) NBR: rubber products purchased within our industry. Polymer Buna “N” (sometimes referred to as nitrile or NBR) is the (rubber) selection is usually based upon application and least expensive polymer associated with fuel (gasoline) material specifications. The following information may resistance. It has excellent fuel and oil resistance including be used to assist you in selecting the right rubber for the petroleum based lubricating oils and transmission fluids, application. Please remember that these are suggestions good compression set, low gas permeation rates, and based upon historical uses; for proper consideration good low temperature flexibility. It has a very poor and accurate selections, please consult an applications ozone resistance. Its temperature range is -40 to 220° engineer. Fahrenheit. It is generally used where continuous exposure Natural Rubber (polyisoprene) NR & Synthetic to gasoline or oil is needed. The development of alcohol Natural Rubber (polyisoprene) IR: Natural rubber blended fuels, flex fuels and biodiesel products may was the “original” rubber product. Its first uses were present application issues when considering Buna “N” in footwear, protective coverings, and tubing. It has in those type applications. excellent abrasion and tear resistance with very high tensile EPDM (ethylene propylene polymer) EP: strengths. It has very poor heat, ozone, sunlight (UV), EPDM may also be referred to as EPT, EP or some oil, and fuel resistance. Its temperature range is -40 to variation in ethylene propylene. EPDM is generally 180° Fahrenheit. Its most common usages are in mining considered to be the most economic polymer with the and material conveyance (belting). Cost fluctuations due widest environmental resistance. It has excellent low to availability and market controls of this product make temperature, heat, coolant, water, steam, ozone, and it very price sensitive. sunlight (UV) resistance. It has virtually no resistance Synthetic natural rubber was developed during to oils or fuels. It is generally considered to be non- World War II to provide rubber products to the Allied staining to painted surfaces. Its temperature range is -60 countries while Japan controlled the Southeast Asian to 240° Fahrenheit. With a peroxide curing system, the rubber plantations. As a laboratory product, it is generally temperature range is raised to 300° Fahrenheit and above. higher in cost than NR. EPDM is commonly used in automotive and building SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) SBR: SBR applications, especially rubber roofing. was the first synthetic elastomer. It was also developed Butyl (isobutylene isoprene) IIR: Butyl rubber during WWII to replace the natural rubber used in tires. is noted for its extremely low air permeability with a good It has excellent abrasion resistance with good tensile tear resistance; one of its first uses was in the manufacture strength. It has moderate heat resistance and may be of tire inner tubes. It is still used today in the patch kits of compounded to offer some ozone resistance. It has very many cyclists. It has excellent water, steam, ozone, and poor oil and fuel resistance. Its temperature range is -40 alkali resistance. It has very poor oil and fuel resistance. to 210° Fahrenheit. SBR was used to blend with other Its temperature range is -40 to 240° Fahrenheit. Butyl polymers to help reduce cost, but skyrocketing market rubber is also very popular in the rubber roofing industry. costs and supply problems have minimized its use in HYPALON® (chlorosulfonated polyethylene) today’s market. It is still a key component in tires. CSM: HYPALON® is another DuPont registered Neoprene (polychloroprene) CR: Neoprene trademark rubber. As engine temperatures increased, was initially a trade name for one of the first synthetic HYPALON® filled a niche where higher temperature polymers developed by DuPont. It is a good general all ranges were needed in Neoprene type applications. purpose elastomer with moderate oil and ozone resistance It has excellent ozone, oxidation, and sunlight (UV) and good compression set. High content polychloroprene resistance with moderate resistance to alkalis and acids. has excellent fungus resistance, flame retardance, and It has similar oil resistance to Neoprene, but at higher bonding characteristics to metal. It has a very limited fuel operating temperatures. Its temperature range is -40 to Continued on Page 11... DECEMBER 2008 THE GASKET FABRICATOR PAGE 11
GENERAL RUBBER GASKET FACTORS:
COMPOUNDS M, Y (Continued from Page 10...) By: Larry Pyle, LFP Technologies 240° Fahrenheit. With oil resistance in a wider temperature BACKGROUND: The Boiler and Pressure range come higher costs than with other oil resistant Vessel Code is the standard by which all such vessels products. are designed and built. The full code is contained in Epichlorohydrin ECO, ECH: Epichlorohydrin multiple volumes that is revised and published every is commonly referred to as ECO or ECH, the technical two years by the American Society of Mechanical abbreviation assigned by ASTM standards. It has a wide Engineers. Addendums are issued twice yearly. The temperature range with excellent resistance to oils and cost of a copy of the entire code is approximately fuels. It also exhibits good ozone and sunlight resistance. $13,500. Its temperature range is -60 to 240° Fahrenheit. Its high The code establishes rules of safety governing cost has prevented its use in many commercial applications, the design, fabrication, and inspection of boilers and but it is extremely popular in automotive fuel applications. pressure vessels, and nuclear power plant components Fluoroelastomer (fluorocarbon) FKM: The during constructions. The objective of the rules is most common trade names in the fluoroelastomer products to provide a margin for deterioration in service. are VITON®, FLUOREL®, and DYNEON®. The fluorine Advancements in design and material and the evidence content of this rubber product makes it almost universally of experience are constantly being added by Addenda. applicable to any rubber application, but its cost dictates Originating in 1914, the ASME Boiler and otherwise. It has excellent fuel, oil, and high temperature Pressure Vessel Code is now adopted in part or in its resistance as well as compression set, aging characteristics, entirety by 49 states and numerous municipalities and and flame retardance. Its major shortcoming is its very territories of the United States and all the provinces poor low temperature characteristics. Its temperature of Canada. The Boiler and Pressure Committee, a range is 0 to 450° Fahrenheit. It is extremely popular volunteer group of more than 950 engineers, keep in oil refining and electrical transformers where service the Code current. The Committee meets regularly to costs outweigh the cost of material. consider requests for interpretations, revision, and to Silicone: Silicone rubber products cover a very develop new rules. wide range of chemical compositions; in most cases, GASKET FACTORS: Gaskets for the use temperature values determine the proper chemical with these types of vessels governed by the Code are composition. Silicone rubber is best noted for its broad also carefully controlled. This brings us to the definition temperature range, excellent ozone resistance, and and use of the Gasket Factors that are used in the Code. excellent compression set. It has very poor tear strength Because the mechanical behavior as well as poor tensile strengths. It has a moderate oil characteristics of the gasket are complex and specific resistance. Its temperature range is -80 to 500° Farenheit. data are generally unavailable, the design of gasketed One of the most common usages for silicone is in joints has been reduced to a series of simplified food processing. The broad range of silicone products equations based on experimentally determined “gasket contributes to a very wide price range. factors”. The basic behavior of the gasket is supposedly Other Rubber Products and Trade Names defined by the gasket factors, which are tabulated in the Carboxylated Nitrile (XNBR) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Highly Saturated Nitrile (HNBR) This procedure has been successful and is still Fluorosilicone (FVMQ) widely used. Research in recent years, however, shows Polyacrylate (ACM) that the present Code gasket factors give an overly Ethylene Acrylate VAMAC® (AEM) simplified view of the behavior of a gasket. A far more Chloropolyethylene (CM) complete understanding is emerging but that may be Polysulfide THIOKOL® the subject of a future article. The y Factor: The y factor is the initial gasket Technical articles by GFA members that appeared stress or surface required to preload or seat the gasket in past issues can be downloaded on the website to prevent leaks in the joint as the system is pressurized at www.gasketfab.com/techinfo.asp. The m Factor: When the vessel is pressurized, the contact pressure on the gasket is reduced to some Continued on Page 13... DECEMBER 2008 THE GASKET FABRICATOR PAGE 13
GASKET FACTORS: M, Y (Continued from Page 11...)
residual value, depending on the elastomeric behavior have shown that both of these gasket factors are equally of the gasket and its relationship to the elasticity of important. the joint. Experiments show that the liquid or gaseous FLANGED GASKETED JOINT DESIGN, pressure a joint will contain is proportional to the How to use m and y: Two design procedures are allowed amount of residual contact pressure exerted by the joint by the Code. Outlined below is the simpler of the two. surfaces on the gasket and that the contact pressure on This procedure is covered in Section VIII, Division 1, the gasket contained pressure is called the m factor and Appendix II of the Code. The more complex procedure may be different for must be larger than the pressure is also described in Section VIII, Division 2, of the Code being contained. The ratio of the contact pressure to the and allows the designer greater freedom of choice, but different types of gasket as suggested in the following requires a detailed design analysis. Those interested in table of some typical m and y factors. the more complex procedure can consult the Code. Some typical values for m and y are given in the The simpler procedure is described below. Refer table below. A complete list can be found in the Code to the figure below. (Section VIII, Division 1, Appendix II, Table 2-5.1). Because a full copy of the table would be too large for this publication, a full copy of the table can be provided to those interested.
fiber filled: Carbon 2.50 10000 Stainless/Monel 3.00 10000 1) The designer selects the general size and type of flange Elastomers without fabric or to be used. high percentage of mineral fiber: 2) Determines the following design conditions: Below 75A • Operating temperatures Shore durometer 0.50 0 • Operating pressures 75A or higher • Flange, bolt, and gasket materials Shore 1.00 200 • Allowable stress levels 3) Computes the loads which will be placed on the joint Solid flat metal: by the internal pressure. This consists of two components: Soft Aluminum 4.00 8800 the hydrostatic end force, HD, exerted on the closed Iron or soft steel 5.50 18000 end of the vessel or pipe system, and the pressure force HT which acts directly on the exposed inner face of the Note that the y and m factors, respectively, define flange surface. The end force reaches the flange through the amount of assembly stress that must be placed on the pipe and the hub. the gasket, and the amount of residual stress that must 4) Compute two bolt load: that required for the seating of be present to prevent a leak after the system has been the gasket, WM2 , and that required to prevent leaks when pressurized. Decades of experience and experiment the system is pressured, WM1. In so the experimentally
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PAGE 14 THE GASKET FABRICATOR DECEMBER 2008
GASKET FACTORS: M, Y (Continued from Page 13...) BENCHMARKING determined and published y and m factors discussed above are used. These calculations require an estimate of the REPORT effective width of the gasket, b, using rules given by the Code. Because of such things as flange rotation and non- Below are the results from the Benchmarking uniform loading of the gasket, there can be substantial Survey, which was undertaken to give GFA members change in the effective width. Note that the loaded gasket a thumbnail sketch of how other members are fairing exerts a reaction force, HG, on the flange, and that this at this time. force is in the same direction as the previously calculated pressure forces, HD and HT. The expression for seating (Wm2) and maintenance (Wm1) bolt loads is: We had 36 out of 78 Fabricator responses.
Wm2 = µbGy Wm1 = (µG2/4) P + 2µGbmP 1. Most Recent Quarter Sales Compared to Previous Quarter Where: G = diameter of the pressure vessel to the midpoint of the gasket UP DOWN SAME P = contained pressure (psi) 16 13 7 b = effective width of the gasket 44% 36% 19% m, y = gasket constants discussed earlier
Wm1 is the minimum required bolt load for the 2. Current Quarter Sales Projection operating conditions. Compared to Last Quarter Wm2 is simply the effective contact surface area of the gasket (µbG) times the recommended seating stress UP DOWN SAME (y, in psi). This defines the total clamping force the bolts 9 19 8 are expected to exert on the joint upon initial, room- 25% 53% 22% temperature assembly. There are more steps in the full and complete pro- cedure. What I have tried to provide here is the definition We had 25 out of 63 Supplier responses. and use of the Gasket Factors m and y. Those interested in the detailed design procedure should consult the full 1. Most Recent Quarter Sales Compared to Code. Previous Quarter
Resource material used: UP DOWN SAME
• 2007 Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, 11 7 7 Section VIII, Division 1, Appendix II 44% 28% 28% • An Introduction to the Design and Behavior of Bolted Joints, by John H. Bickford, published by 2. Current Quarter Sales Projection Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1990 Compared to Last Quarter
UP DOWN SAME If you have technical questions you would 5 16 4 like to see answered in future issues, 20% 64% 16% please send them by e-mail to lfptech@gmail.com.
