Flexible Solutions

When choosing a foam for a product design, one feature that should be considered is the compression set resistance of the foam. C-Set is one of the most important characteristics to consider, and this blog post answers three basic questions to explain why. 

Imagine going 65 mph in your vehicle while on a road trip. The road you are driving on is old, so your vehicle bobs up and down the many dips and divots, your speakers are loud and are causing your rearview mirror to vibrate, making it hard to see, and your moon roof has a roaring noise sneaking through the cracks.

These foul disturbances are examples of NVH, also known as Noise Vibration Harshness.

Marian has a brand-new demonstration piece to share with the world! Strategically named "Test My Memory," the demo illustrates the impact of compression cycling over time with 4 different foams. Neoprene, Polyethelyne, PORON Urethane, and BISCO Silicone are tested by being compressed for 48 hours.

Foam Material Compression

In the demonstration, you will see that certain foams depreciate as they take on impact over time, whereas other foams resist the compression set by returning to their original thickness. The material characteristic of being able to take a compression set, also called compression force defection, is extremely important in long-term sealing applications. The ability of the material to "push back" to fill in any potential gaps that would allow water or dust to pass through is critical. This makes such materials an excellent option for sealing gaskets. We wrote an entire blog post about compression force deflection, you can read it here: Compression Force Deflection in Foam Gaskets: A Critical Property

Compression Force Deflection

Applications that experience periodic compression cycling over time may require a gasket that is capable of compression rebound. In the event that your application uses a material that does not resist compression force, the material may depreciate over time. When your gasket has dwindled or has deteriorated from all of the periodic compression cycling, your gasket will become ineffective and will need to be replaced. In a perfect world, your gasket should rebound to fill any potential gaps. Using a material with great compression resistance will guarantee a long-term sealing performance that will work just as effectively each time you reseal your application.