Tuesday, December 9, 2008

What is an O Ring?

An o-ring is an "O" shaped object usually made of an elastic material known as an elastomer. O-rings serve to create a seal between two mechanical components by preventing leakage and maintaining pressure through deforming to the shape of their surrounding cavity. This simple, cost-effective device was patented by 72 year old inventor and machinist Niels Christensen in 1937. His design proved critical to the US WWII effort, spreading rapidly throughout industry.

More about O-rings:

o-rings

Due to the elastic nature of their elastomeric material (called a rubber compound), o-rings exhibit the ability to be stretched larger than originally molded under stress, but return to original size once that stress is removed. Stretching an o-ring introduces stress at its contact surfaces. Fluid (gas or liquid) remains contained so long as the pressure of the fluid doesn't exceed the contact stress of the o-ring.

O-rings are usually characterized by material (or compound), durometer (Shore A hardness) and dash number. The dash number refers to a specific inner diameter (I.D.), outer diameter (O.D.), and cross section (C.S.) based on the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aerospace Size Standard for O-rings, or simply AS568 standard sizes. Other size standards do exist, including metric (in millimeters rather than inches) and Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS)

Radial O-ring Groove Design: One popular form of the o-ring is the radial or radial gland design. Variables to keep in mind are cross section (CS) diametral squeeze, gland depth (c), groove width (w),and radius (r).

radial o-ring

radial o-ring groove

Axial O-ring Groove Design: Another form of o-ring is the axial design. The variables involved are gland depth (c), groove width liquids (w) or groove width vacuum and gases (w1), and groove radius (r).

axial o-ring groove design

Note the difference for pressures internal and external in the two diagrams.

axial o-ring groove design #2


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