Gaskets and seals can be manufactured in a number of different ways, but which is the best form for your application? In our blog, "An Engineer's Guide: 6 Key Questions for Gasket Fabrication", we discussed a number of different processes that could be used to cut your custom gasket or seal like rotary die cutting, laser cutting, waterjet cutting, and more.
This Enclosure Institute™ content from Marian and Rogers Corporation focuses on the difference between die-cut foam gaskets and three other sealing methods: o-rings, cure-in-place (CIP), and foam-in-place (FIP) gaskets.
Check out a summary of our content below or read the full article on Rogers’ website.
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*Disclaimer: The Enclosure Institute™ is a free educational resource created by Marian, Inc. and Rogers Corporation to help engineers navigate enclosure sealing with expert guidance.
Die-cut Foam Gaskets
Die-cut foam gaskets are produced using a variety of cutting methods including rotary, flatbed, punch press, matched metal, and more.
Die-cut gaskets offer unmatched design flexibility and scalability, making them an excellent option for applications requiring custom geometries. In applications requiring additional materials like adhesives, die-cut gaskets easily allow for a single, multi-layer component that has all materials laminated together. Gaskets can also be further designed with extended liners or pull-tabs and kiss-cut in rolls, cut into singluated pads, or packed loose to further simplify assembly processes.
The processes used to manufacture die-cut gaskets often involves hard tooling, making finished parts easily replicable regardless of the volume of finished parts required. Die-cut gaskets can also be produced in quantities as small quantities from prototyping to full-scale manufacturing quantities and offer some simple reworkability. Marian offers many different die-cut methods tailored to your application's specific needs, including rotary die cutting, flatbed die cutting, kiss cutting, match metal die cutting, and more.
BISCO® silicones and PORON® polyurethane foams are high-performance materials for applications that require a reliable seal and are designed to last for the life of the device.
Alternative Gasket Technologies
O-rings are ideal for simple, round geometries and repeated assembly, provided they’re integrated early in the enclosure design. They are relatively low-cost and reworkable. For applications that will use o-rings, there must be a channel for gasket to be placed.
Cure-in-place gaskets (CIP) form robust, bonded seals for complex designs but require automation and cannot be reworked. Because of this, cure-in-place gaskets are used in applications where the assembly won't be opened after placement.
Foam-in-place gaskets (also known as form-in-place gaskets) allow deferred assembly for high-volume production but can experience higher compression set and limited serviceability. It's also important to note that there are significant costs associated with the dispensing machinery used for both foam-in-place-and cure-in-place.
Across these four options, high-performance elastomeric foams often strike the best balance between performance, manufacturability, and total cost. Their resilience, compression recovery, and ease of replacement make them a practical choice for long-term enclosure sealing reliability.
Read the extended blog on Rogers’ website here.
Why Marian for Your Custom Die-Cut Gaskets
As a leading converter across the globe, Marian uses over 12,000 die cutting machines globally to convert and die-cut materials like foams and silicones for custom enclosure applications. We also work closely with customers on design for manufacturing to ensure that we not only manufacture the best solution, but also one that seamlessly integrates into and simplifies any existing processes. Learn more about our design for manufacturing capabilities.
Our precision converting capabilities also allow us to laminate adhesives and other high-performance materials to components for a custom multi-layer solution, corona treat materials to change their surface energy, and add assembly aids like pull-tabs, extended liners, and more for improved assembly and handling.
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Coming Up Next in Module 4 of the Enclosure Institute™
- Venting Considerations for Gasket Design
- Future Sealing Design Trends
- And much more!
Working on an enclosure application and not sure where to start or currently knee-deep in an active project and not sure what's next? Contact us and we'll put you in touch with a Sales Engineer in your area. Our technical teams can walk you through all the important considerations to make sure your application is ready to go to market without issues.
