Sealing Force Mesurement: Characterizing Materials and Configuration Responses

Sealing Force, or the Compressive Force exerted in sealing configurations and applications, can be checked with a range of different equipment and procedures, various different test configurations, and under different test conditions. But regardless of these variables, “the sealing force a specific material exerts, when it is cured to a defined state of cure, in a defined shape, deflected a defined amount in a controlled test configuration (Axially Loaded, Centered, Perpendicular to the Compression Faces, which are Parallel), when measured after a defined and controlled time and environmental exposure , should be the same regardless of the test equipment used” and “variations in this response are a result of material variability, configuration control, test environment control or timing”. This paper will attempt to evaluate a range of variables, from equipment capability, to test configuration variability, to environmental exposure condition control, to the test procedures, to note which factors can have the greatest effect on the quality of the measured response. The objective of this evaluation will be to define the minimum and optimum requirements for testing that will enable one to develop the best, most useful data, with the fewest number of specimens, in the least amount of time, and understand the factors that contribute to the quality of the information at the lowest reasonable cost.