Finite Element Analysis supplies information to foretell how a seal product will perform beneath sure situations and may help identify areas the place the design may be improved with out having to check a number of prototypes.
Here we clarify how our engineers use FEA to design optimal sealing solutions for our buyer functions.
Why will we use Finite Element Analysis (FEA)?
Our engineers encounter many critical sealing functions with complicating influences. Envelope dimension, housing limitations, shaft speeds, pressure/temperature ratings and chemical media are all utility parameters that we should consider when designing a seal.
In isolation, the influence of these utility parameters is reasonably straightforward to foretell when designing a sealing resolution. However, whenever you compound numerous these components (whilst typically pushing some of them to their upper restrict when sealing) it is crucial to foretell what’s going to happen in real utility circumstances. Using FEA as a software, our engineers can confidently design after which manufacture sturdy, reliable, and cost-effective engineered sealing solutions for our clients.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) allows us to know and quantify the consequences of real-world conditions on a seal half or meeting. It can be used to determine potential causes the place sub-optimal sealing performance has been noticed and can also be used to information the design of surrounding elements; especially for merchandise such as diaphragms and boots the place contact with adjacent parts could must be averted.
The software program also allows force data to be extracted in order that compressive forces for static seals, and friction forces for dynamic seals could be accurately predicted to assist prospects in the ultimate design of their merchandise.
How will we use FEA?
Starting with a 2D or 3D model of the preliminary design concept, we apply the boundary situations and constraints provided by a customer; these can embrace strain, drive, temperatures, and any utilized displacements. A appropriate finite factor mesh is overlaid onto the seal design. เกจวัดแรงดันco2 ensures that the areas of most curiosity return accurate outcomes. We can use larger mesh sizes in areas with much less relevance (or decrease levels of displacement) to minimise the computing time required to solve the model.
Material properties are then assigned to the seal and hardware elements. Most sealing materials are non-linear; the amount they deflect under a rise in force varies relying on how giant that drive is. This is in contrast to the straight-line relationship for many metals and rigid plastics. This complicates the fabric mannequin and extends the processing time, but we use in-house tensile test amenities to precisely produce the stress-strain material fashions for our compounds to ensure the evaluation is as representative of real-world efficiency as possible.
What occurs with the FEA data?
The evaluation itself can take minutes or hours, relying on the complexity of the half and the vary of working conditions being modelled. Behind the scenes within the software program, many tons of of thousands of differential equations are being solved.
The outcomes are analysed by our skilled seal designers to establish areas where the design can be optimised to match the specific requirements of the application. Examples of these necessities could embody sealing at very low temperatures, a have to minimise friction ranges with a dynamic seal or the seal might have to face up to excessive pressures without extruding; whatever sealing system properties are most necessary to the client and the application.
Results for the finalised proposal could be presented to the shopper as force/temperature/stress/time dashboards, numerical data and animations exhibiting how a seal performs throughout the analysis. This data can be utilized as validation knowledge within the customer’s system design course of.
An instance of FEA
Faced with very tight packaging constraints, this buyer requested a diaphragm element for a valve application. By utilizing FEA, we had been capable of optimise the design; not only of the elastomer diaphragm itself, but additionally to propose modifications to the hardware elements that interfaced with it to extend the out there space for the diaphragm. This stored materials stress levels low to remove any possibility of fatigue failure of the diaphragm over the life of the valve.
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