Automotive sealing solutions

Automotive

The choice for automotive seals

With excellent resistance to high temperatures and tolerance of stressful conditions, rubber is the perfect material for sealing and protecting in the automotive environment.

A wide variety of sealing solutions are used throughout today’s vehicles. These include O-Rings that withstand high pressures in shock absorbers, sophisticated gaskets in electronic control units (ECUs), safety-critical custom-moulded components in braking systems and seals that withstand extreme temperatures, pressures and aggressive media in fuel injectors.

There are a range of compounds offering tremendous advantages for automotive companies seeking to meet stringent industry requirements while providing opportunities for competitive advantage.

Suitable automotive materials

• Viton® / FKM – an all-round material for demanding fuel system and powertrain applications, with excellent resistance to fuels, oils, fluids and heat.
• AEM / Vamac® – a cost-effective material for challenging underhood applications including power steering, engine and transmission oil cooler hoses, ignition cable, spark plug boots and primary wiring.
• HNBR – widely used for dynamic and static seals, hoses and belts, with resistance to common automotive fluids including engine oil, coolant and fuel.
• FFKM – perfluoroelastomer compounds for aggressive chemical and high heat environments where other materials cannot meet application specifications.
• Neoprene – a reasonably priced, mid-performance polymer for under-hood and underbody parts requiring a balanced performance profile.
• FEP PTFE encapsulated O-Rings – corrosion-resistant and chemically inert seals with low absorption, non-permeability and wide temperature capability.

FEP and PTFE options

FEP encapsulated O-Rings comprise a Viton® or Silicone elastomer core seamlessly encapsulated in a PTFE fluoropolymer jacket. These O-Rings handle surface wear well and offer outstanding corrosion and abrasion resistance, non-permeability, chemical inertness and low absorption.

They can operate within a wide temperature variance of between -60°C to +200°C for silicone FEPs and -20°C to +200°C for Viton® FEPs.

Pure PTFE O-Rings are very rigid and hard to apply, which makes them more suited to static applications. PTFE O-Rings are often used in automotive steering devices and paint guns.

Automotive application demands

Consumers’ unique requirements often cannot be satisfied by standard sealing materials. Aesthetic and functional needs, along with regulatory restraints, demand more adaptable solutions. The manufacture of rubber parts, unlike plastic components, requires extensive experience to achieve the right result.

Modern high-performance engines require sealing solutions that deliver top performance in operating reliability and service life. Engine seals prevent leakage of fluids, coolant, oil and air from external or internal passages of the internal combustion engine, while cylinders must be tightly sealed to allow maximum compression.

Materials such as Viton® / FKM, HNBR and FFKM can provide resistance to fuel and high temperatures, making them suitable for fuel injection seals, fuel pump seals, manifold gaskets and diaphragms.

Transmission and engine sealing

Transmission fluid seals are primarily designed to stop fluid leakage in order to maintain the required pressure inside an engine. Automotive transmission seal material usage varies by manufacturer and, in some cases, by seal type within a transmission.

AEM (Vamac®) is the most common elastomer, although various fluorocarbon (Viton® / FKM) elastomers are also used. Both materials have advantages and disadvantages. AEM degrades faster than Viton®. Standard fluorocarbons offer good fluid resistance, but low temperature flexibility is poor, so specialist Viton® / FKM grades must be selected where required.

Eastern Seals capability

Hostile engine environments and tight emission regulations require the best quality rubber. Eastern Seals can offer a range of seals and gaskets that deliver high levels of performance.

From a general purpose elastomer such as standard Nitrile through to special grades of HNBR, Viton® and FFKM, our range of materials can support a wide variety of automotive applications.

Automotive seals can be supplied with Level 3 PPAP documentation, along with CPK and PPK controls.

PPAP submission levels

The Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) submission levels define the amount of documentation required to demonstrate that parts meet customer specifications and that manufacturing processes are properly controlled.