The Engineered Materials Group of Parker Hannifin, the global leader in motion and control technologies, is presenting its extensive portfolio of large-size machined seals made of high-performance polymer materials from Parker Prädifa in diameters up to 4.5 meters, metallic C-Ring in diameters up to 7.6 meters and precision elastomer O-rings in practically any desired diameter.
In a wide range of industries, in addition to average-size and miniaturized equipment, large-scale systems are used that require components and sealing systems matching the size of the equipment. While average sealing systems rarely have diameters larger than 100 mm, diameters of several meters are not uncommon in some sectors. Examples include manufacturing plant and equipment, buildings and pipelines, tunnel construction and mining, energy, high-tech medicine, aerospace and many others.
The production of large seals for challenging application is not simply a matter of scaling up know-how of traditional seal design and machining. The reason is that XXL sizes not only pose particular handling challenges in the manufacturing process, but do so even earlier, in the design and testing stages. Using special compound, engineering design and process technology, Parker Prädifa is able to offer machined seals made of polymer materials such as PTFE or PEEK in diameters of up to 4.5 meters, metallic C-rings in diameters of up to 7.6 meters and precision O-rings in practically any desired diameter.
As a specialist in engineered materials, engineering design and process technology Parker Prädifa offers an extensive portfolio of large-size seals and molded parts made of polymers such as NBR, EPDM, FKM, PTFE and PEEK, as well as metal.
Precision O-rings are manufactured by vulcanization in a closed mold using compression or injection molding. This makes it possible to produce O-rings in small manufacturing tolerances and with good surface quality according to ISO 3601-1 and ISO 3601-3. Due to defined vulcanization parameters, precision O-rings exhibit consistently high mechanical properties across the entire circumference. This high quality level is an indispensable prerequisite for achieving consistently good sealing effects over a long period of time.
The innovative manufacturing technology of continuous vulcanization used by Parker Prädifa, which does not involve failure-prone joints, enables the cost-efficient production of precision-quality O-rings with high mechanical load resistance in nearly any desired diameter, i.e. >200 mm for industrial applications and >380 mm for special applications. The technical properties of continuously vulcanized O-rings are comparable with those of O-rings produced by conventional compression molding. As a result of being molded, these XXL O-rings are quality products for challenging applications.
In addition to precision-quality XXL O-rings, Parker Prädifa offers the development and production of customer-specific geometries in large diameters. A wide range of materials is available according to the application requirements.
Polymer materials like PTFE and PEEK are suitable for machining such as turning or milling. This makes it possible to economically manufacture both larger and smaller volumes because no additional tooling costs for molds are incurred.
Parker Prädifa has been producing complex machined polymer seals with diameters of up to 3 meters for decades. In the light of a growing demand for increasingly large seals Parker Prädifa has continually developed the manufacturing technology of machining further and is now able to offer diameters of up to 4.5 meters at the highest level of quality. The production of even larger diameters is currently in the pipeline.
The most important manufacturing technologies used to produce metal seals from stainless steel or nickel alloys are rolling, forming, CNC machining, welding, heat treatment and coating/plating. In its more than 60-year history of producing metal seals, Parker has continually tackled the challenge of manufacturing increasingly large metal seals. Currently, spring-energized C-rings with a diameter of up to 7.6 m can be produced for which special forming machines and patented welding techniques were developed. They are supported by optimized special heat treatment and electroplating processes that make it possible to manufacture high-quality products even in such large dimensions. Additionally, Parker offers non-rotationally symmetric metal seals. These E-, O- and C-seals can be produced in lengths of up to 2.3 m on machines specifically developed for this purpose.
Motion Systems