Custom Expansion Joints – Rubber

A flexible choice can adapt to permanent misalignment, preventing future damage.

Keeping aging facilities and equipment maintained is an ever-changing task that can jeopardize the goal of maximizing uptime. Years of thermal cycling, vibration or foundation settling can disorient piping or pumps. Piping engineers will use rubber expansion joints to account for these types of challenges in a rigid piping system. Permanent misalignment can set in after years of operation. The original-size expansion joint could no longer be the best fit when it comes time to replace.

Replacing a permanently misaligned expansion joint connection with the original part could lead to reduced service life and/or missed expectations of the new expansion joint. Determining the best way to accommodate this when it comes time to replace the existing expansion joint can have long-term effects on reliability. Since the original components may not fit in the newly disoriented flange connection, they are limited in their reliability.

Types of Customization & Benefits

Expansion joints are designed to withstand the pressure retention of rigid pipes, yet be flexible and absorb misalignment induced in these systems. However, there are limits to exactly how much flexibility can be absorbed before damage occurs. Using this flexibility to connect two misaligned pipe flanges will take away from how much movement can be absorbed during the actual operational period when the system is running.

Attempting to retrofit a standard-size expansion joint to connect a misaligned pipe connection can put excessive stress on the component and could lead to a shorter operational service life. For this reason, the Fluid Sealing Association (FSA) recommends no greater than ±1/8-inch misalignment of the pipe flanges during installation. Depending on the severity of misalignment, it can be advantageous to implement  custom expansion joints to minimize the stresses that cause these joints to fail or become damaged during installation.

Maintenance crews can also benefit by having a component that will fit precisely. Concerns for safety are present when attempting to put enormous pressure to compress, elongate or offset the joint so it will fit in place.

Face-to-Face Tailoring

Stress area stretched axially
Image 1. Stress area stretched axially during installation

Years of cycling, wear and other factors can contribute to the disorientation of a particular pipe connection. The length of an expansion joint, a dimension commonly referred to as face-to-face, bridges the gap between two parallel pipe flanges. A common industry problem is created when foundations settle and piping support structures transition lower than where it was originally constructed (Image 1). Expansion joints are designed to account for this, but choosing the correct replacement will make the difference between continued reliable service life or system failure.

Stretching an expansion joint to fit the changed flange connection often results in immediate damage that is only sometimes visual to the naked eye. A stress point on the outer cover of the expansion joint will usually become visible at the transition corner between the flat portion and the base of the arch in the form of a crack. The severity of cracking, elongation and settling will be aggravated when pressure in the pipeline is turned on.

Depending on nominal pipe size, industry standards will include standard face-to-face sizes of 6, 8, 10 or 12 inches, according to the FSA. When a standard 6-inch face-to-face joint is removed, the length between flanges could have been elongated to 7 inches or more. Many expansion joint consumers are not aware of the capability to build the expansion joint to the required nonstandard 7-inch face-to-face since it is not a standard offering. Building the replacement expansion joint to the nonstandard 7-inch face-to-face will eliminate any initial stress imposed on the joint.

picture of lateral expansion joint
Lateral offset expansion joint. and Angular offset expansion

Continue reading Custom Expansion Joints – Rubber

The Many Uses of Polytetrafluoroethylene Seals (Teflon)


Medical Uses



Moving away from the body, you’ll find PTFE or Teflon products in medical devices such as heart lung machines, rotary tools for cutting, and sealing devices for maintaining fluid streams for irrigation and pumping. Tiny fragments that may come loose during usage are not harmful to the body, and simply pass through the system.

Pharmaceutical Uses

In the pharmaceutical industry, Teflon is used in the processing of drugs for equipment used to manufacture such as mixers, presses, and bushings. Teflon is found in a variety of applications, as any debris from the seal will pass through the body without consequence.

When considering press machinery (which are often water driven to ensure any leakage will not spoil the product), Teflon seals are often used to help reduce friction — especially in repetitive presses where a build-up of heat would be detrimental to the seal and the product.

Food & Beverage Uses

Mixers are another area to ensure keeping grease and other contaminants from the motor to not descend into the product from the mixer shaft.

Another area is pressure vessels where two shells are clamped together to ensure product remains sealed inside. Failure of these seals usually results in loss of product.

Non-metal bearings that don’t requiring grease in rotary motion are an excellent place for Teflon style bushings. These bushings provide long life with very low friction while not contaminating the product. Shaft wear from the bushing may be eliminated with the use of Teflon.

Types of PTFE (Teflon) Seals

Seals in the medical field can be as simple as a static O-Ring, or a mechanical face seal which is costly and requires special consideration during installation. Most dynamic applications can be resolved with spring-energized style seals, which often have very low friction and can be clean in place (CIP) if required.

There are different styles of springs, such as cantilever or canted coil that provide varying loads. The cantilever-style spring-energized seal provides a linear load based on deflection providing a high level of seal-ability. It can be silicone-filled to provide CIP for ease of washing, and there are a variety of materials that are FDA compliant and that work well in both viscous and pure aqueous fluids.

Canted coil spring-energized seals provide a unique feature of controlling the load the spring exhibits on the sealing element. This allows for control of a device being manipulated during a procedure.

The polymer properties give the user materials with the lowest possible friction, while still sealing in an application. The load from a canted coil spring allows the user to feel a tool in a catheter while passing the catheter through a tube, and still retaining a seal.

As you can see, PTFE has a variety of uses across a broad range of industries. GFS’ partner, Eclipse Engineering, manufactures PTFE and can help provide solutions to customers facing both simple fixes or complex problems.

Contact us today to see if PTFE might be the right choice for your application.

For custom engineered parts, or for more information about a variety of PTFE seals we can provide, contact Gallagher Fluid Seals today.

The original article was written by Eclipse Engineering and can be found on their website.

What does a good seal engineering drawing look like?


Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Fred Fisher, technical sales engineer of the Engineered Materials Group.

seal drawingYou just spent 6 months testing, stretching, aging and exposing your new seal design to 12 different chemicals. Finally, you are done. So what does a good technical drawing for a seal include? For most companies, the drawing is simple. For an O-ring, we draw a generic circle and show an ID and width with some sort of material call out.

But now fast forward 20 years. Someone consults the drawing – how do they know the criteria you used to select the seal specified?

Just last week I asked my customer, who was having seal failure, about the issues on their engine sensor: “Was the original seal specified to be compatible with biodiesel?” The engineer consulted their drawing, but besides the generic circle, it lacked any background on what material compatibility was considered when the seal material was selected. The ASTM description on the drawing did not include a reference to or indicate compatibility with biodiesel.

Be specific with materials

Over time, the operating parameters of a system or product can change, so it is important to know what parameters were used for the original seal selection. The goal of the drawing is to assure that the engineers and procurement team understand what performance is required from the seal and why the specific elastomer was chosen.

So how do you make your drawing more valuable to your company?

  1. Define and list on your drawing all the operating conditions you anticipate the seal will see, such as temperature, pressure, and any other application specific operating conditions.
  2. Prepare a list of fluids as well as the concentrations of each fluid that your seal will be exposed to. Add these on your drawing. In addition, make sure you consider fluids that could come into contact with the seal indirectly through failure of other systems that are part of the product or even by cleaning the product.
  3. List the selected compound and manufacturer on the drawing. Clearly define what testing the compound was put through or what testing is required for approval.
  4. If you select a compound that was resistant to compression set, high temperatures or low temperatures, as well as explosive decompression, this should be clearly stated on the drawing.
  5. List clearly the industry standards the seal is required to meet, such as UL, FDA or NSF.

List fluid compatibility requirements

fluid compatabilityTime and time again, I see seal quality and performance failures when a new supplier is selected and the real requirements for the seal were either forgotten or not clearly defined. Clearly defining these parameters and making them transparent will allow your purchasing and technical team to understand, select, and evaluate the correct compound that meets your products sealing requirements.

Once you select a compound for your specific application, it is important to test and validate that the compound chosen is compatible with the fluids you are using. Parker can typically supply small compound samples for soak testing in the fluids your seal is exposed to. If you choose to list an alternate compound on your drawing, that compound must also be tested and validated for compatibility.

Remember when developing drawings standards, assure yourself that if someone consults a drawing that is 2 years old, 5 years old or even 20 years old, they will know the intent of the original seal design.

For more information about custom sealing solutions or information about Parker seals, please contact Gallagher’s engineering department.

A New Generation of Conductive Seals



Finding the conducting element




A new dynamic testing procedure



The original article can be found on Freudenberg’s website.


Heisman Winner… and Rubber Salesman?

Jay Berwanger, Heisman Winner.

To football aficionados, Jay Berwanger is well-known as the winner of the first Heisman Trophy and the first player chosen during the National Football League’s first draft. Less well-known is that he achieved his athletic successes at the University of Chicago, a school now more closely associated with Nobel prizes than big-time football. Berwanger, a halfback, played for the University of Chicago Maroons at a time when Chicago was a member of the Big Ten Conference–before Robert Hutchins, the University’s president, famously abolished varsity football in 1939.


Berwanger PosingIn 23 varsity games in three seasons with the Maroons, he scored 22 touchdowns and kicked 20 extra points. He gained 1,839 yards on 439 rushes for a 4.2 average. As a sophomore, he played 60 minutes of every Big Ten conference game and was voted the team’s MVP. During his collegiate career he returned 54 kickoffs and punts for a 31.8-yard average, completed 50 of 146 passes for 921 yards and caught 12 passes himself for 189 yards. He averaged 38 yards on 233 punts and 46.3 yards on 34 kickoffs. He once recorded 14 tackles playing linebacker in one half.



He was born John Jay Berwanger in 1914 in Dubuque, Iowa. In high school, he excelled at wrestling and track as well as football, winning renown as an all-state halfback. After graduation, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Purdue all tried to recruit him, but he opted for Chicago, which had offered only a basic tuition scholarship of $300 a year. To meet his expenses, Berwanger waited tables, cleaned the gymnasium, fixed leaky toilets, and operated elevators. “Times were tough then,” he said. “I wanted to attend a school that would give me a first-rate education in business, without special treatment, so that I would be prepared when opportunities were certain to return.”

During his freshman year, Berwanger was coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg, who helped define the game of football as we see it today. Berwanger’s first year at Chicago was Stagg’s last. As well as captain of the football team, Berwanger was captain of the track team, senior class president, and head of his fraternity, Psi Upsilon.

Berwanger was the only Heisman recipient who was ever tackled by a future president of the United States–Gerald Ford, during a 1934 game between Chicago and Michigan. “When I tackled Jay in the second quarter, I ended up with a bloody cut and I still have the scar to prove it,” President Ford recalled. “Jay was most deserving of his Heisman Trophy. He could do it all. He was an outstanding runner as well a passer, he could kick, punt, and make field goals–and in those days the ball was round so it was much harder to throw. He and I had met several times in the years since that game and I remember him fondly as one of the greatest athletes I’ve known.”

Berwanger was also the first player chosen for the National Football League during its first-ever draft in 1936. After the Philadelphia Eagles signed him, Coach George Halas of the Chicago Bears acquired the signing rights. But when Berwanger asked for $25,000 over two years, Halas decided that was too much money, so Berwanger took a job as a foam-rubber salesman.

Jay Berwanger, Rubber Salesman and Lieutenant Commander

Shortly after starting his job as a rubber salesman, Berwanger enrolled in the Navy’s flight training program and became a Naval officer during World War II. He eventually earned the rank of lieutenant commander.

After the war, Jay Berwanger founded Jay Berwanger, Inc., a manufacturers’ sales agency specializing in rubber, plastic, urethane and other elastomeric materials for car doors, trunks, and farm machinery. His company established a guiding philosophy to create superior value for all customers and principals through dedicated service and by providing integrated solutions to customers’ applications.  Jay sold his company in the early 1990’s when its annual revenue was $30 million.

Post-Heisman and Rubber

Berwanger Heisman and FootballBerwanger was never sure what to do with his Heisman Trophy, which was too wide for a mantelpiece and too large for a coffee table. For years, his Aunt Gussie used it as a doorstop. Berwanger eventually gave the trophy to the University of Chicago where it is on display.


Berwanger died in the summer of 2002 and is survived by three children, three step-children, 20 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Information for this article was gathered from Sports Illustrated’s vault, the University of Chicago, and New York Times.

Gallagher has no relationship or partnership with Jay Berwanger Inc. If you liked this article or have an idea about another topic, please let us know!

The Proper Use of Lubrication and its Success with Bolted Flange Connections

Extra energy transmitted can produce larger sealing stress on the gasket.




Threads of a bolt
Image 1. The threads of a bolt essentially form an inclined plane




Image 2. Geometrical characteristics of a bolt that creates leverage









pt = pitch of the bolt thread = 0.10 inch
dt = mean contact diameter of thread = 0.685 inch
dn = mean contact diameter on nut spot face = 0.8738 inch
a = half thread angle = 30 degrees
ut = friction coefficient on threads = 0.13
T = torque, in. lbf.
Equation 1




Image 3. Input energy going into stretching the bolt, and energy lost to friction




For more information about the right sealing solution for your specific application, contact Gallagher Fluid Seals.

This original article was features on Pumps & Systems website and was written by Randy Wacker, P.E., consultant for Inertech Inc.

Angled Spring Grooves for Custom Spring Energized Ball Seats

A ball valve is a simple and robust valve used in applications and industries across the spectrum. It consists of a ball with a hole through the center that can be rotated 90°.

custom spring energized ball seat

The hole is either aligned with flow and open, or perpendicular to flow and closed. The straightforward, quarter-turn action is fast and simple to operate, and the position of the handle provides a clear indicator of whether the valve is open or closed.

Most ball valves are typically used as a shut-off valve. Many households likely use ball valves at some point in the water supply plumbing.

Not relegated to common plumbing, many industries use ball valves for critical control applications including aerospace and cryogenics. Their reliable operation and high-pressure handling ability make them an attractive solution for many specialty operations.

Seals Inside a Ball Valve

The seals inside the ball valve play an important role in their performance and reliability. There are two main seals in a common ball valve, which are referred to as seats.

The seats are typically machined or molded to match the diameter of the ball and are mechanically compressed against the ball face. Seat material varies by application needs, but virgin PTFE is frequently used for this application.

The Client’s Issue

The customer wanted a very specialized ball seat: utilizing a spring energizer in the seat. While easy to suggest, this would create a significant challenge in how the seal is manufactured.

The customer was looking for a sealing solution for a ball valve in their industrial gas processing plant. The ball valve would serve as a critical shut-off point in the system. The valve would be actuated by an electric motor, and could therefore be operated remotely.

The customer was looking for an improvement in the overall wear life of the ball seats, while still providing consistent and predictable actuation torque. Being motor activated, the torque required to move the ball open or closed was limited—so the friction generated by the ball seats would need to be carefully controlled.

Operating Conditions:

  • Ball Valve Seat
  • Ball Diameter: Ø2.500”
  • Media: Petroleum Processing Gases
  • Pressure: 100 PSI
  • Temperature: -40° to 175°F

The Challenge

Continue reading Angled Spring Grooves for Custom Spring Energized Ball Seats

How to Fight Leakage & Bearing Contamination with the Right Sealing Solution

Consider mechanical seals, gland packed seals, and lip seals.

The drive for operational efficiency, optimization of assets, and adherence to the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 Standard for environmental management systems and ISO-50001 standard for energy management systems must always be balanced against the bottom line.

However, it is fair to say in some cases this can lead to short-sightedness when it comes to selecting sealing solutions, with lower cost at point-of-purchase taking precedence over total cost of ownership.

Mechanical seals have been on the market for around 80 years, and while pump design has remained largely unaltered, sealing technology has evolved over time. This has resulted in advances in reliability, operational efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

Traditional sealing options like gland packed seals and lip seals are traditional for a reason. These products are comparatively inexpensive when taking the purchase price into account, and work well in many applications. This article will take a look at the differences between mechanical seals, gland packed seals and lip seals.

Excessive Wear

Leakage, product loss and bearing contamination that leads to premature failure are three common issues with traditional seals.

There is no reason why bearings should not last for their full predicted lifespan, which is typically calculated at roughly 15,250 operational hours. Leakage caused by inefficient sealing is the simple reason why they do not last. With research showing that water contamination of just 0.002 percent—a single drop—in a bearings chamber can reduce bearing life by almost half, it is easy to see why bearing failure is one of the most frequent causes of pump malfunction. The cost of regularly replacing damaged seals and bearings accumulates over time and can escalate if the pump shaft suffers wear damage and must be repaired or replaced.

Another key cost, which is often overlooked, is the number of hours demanded to maintain, repair and replace these components. Continue reading How to Fight Leakage & Bearing Contamination with the Right Sealing Solution

Semiconductor Fab Processes Benefit From Retention Ribbed EZ-Lok Seals


Original content can be found on Parker’s Website and was written by Nathaniel Reis, applications engineer, Parker O-Ring & Engineered Seals Division.

When it comes to semiconductor fabrication processes, reducing the cost of ownership is a multi-faceted goal approached from a variety of angles. Tool engineers and equipment technicians take pride in their ability to identify factors that limit tool uptime. One constant headache they face is the mechanical failure of seals in dynamic environments. This can lead to premature downtime or reduced preventative maintenance (PM) intervals, both of which lead to a higher cost of ownership. Fortunately, tool owners have begun to implement seal designs better suited for these dynamic environments: Parker EZ-Lok is a proven solution.

Spiral Failure

picture of spiral o-ring failure

One of the more extreme forms of mechanical failure to be prevented is twisting and spiraling of an O-ring during operation. This occurs with O-rings in dovetail glands where one of the sealing surfaces is a door that opens and closes against the seal. The combination of stiction to the door and stretch in the gland causes the O-ring to roll and twist repeatedly with each cycle, resulting in permanent cyclic deformation. This means that a seal profile with a flat contact surface is vital for this type of dynamic function.

Other designs

The basic D-profile is the fundamental simple shape that serves as the basis of the EZ-Lok solution. The flat portion of the “D” holds the seal in place and prevents rolling, while the opposite, round contact surface focuses the sealing force and helps keep volume requirements at a minimum. These geometric features make for sound sealing function while preventing the drastic spiral damage seen so often in the industry.

picture of d-profile

A standard D-ring is still more limited by volume requirements than traditional seals like O-rings. In addition, a D-ring’s sharp corners can become difficult to install past the top groove radii if the seal is made much wider than the groove opening. On the other hand, a seal made any narrower would be easily removed without intention, such as that induced by stiction to the door. These reasons are why the basic D-profile alone is not the answer to these failure modes.

The Solution

picture of Parker EZ-Lok seal

The solution to these dilemmas is a unique D-shaped profile with a geometry that lends itself to the spacial constrictions of dovetail glands, prevents rolling, and locks into place: the Parker EZ-Lok seal. These seals are designed with special retention ribs placed with precise frequency around the seal circumference that allows for smooth installation and keeps the seal retained in the gland. This design also removes any tendency to stretch the seal during installation, which is often seen with more conventional seals.

The combination of retention ribs with a fundamental D-ring profile makes EZ-Lok the ideal geometry for effective use of the high-performance compounds typically required for aggressive semiconductor chemistries. EZ-Lok seals allow for lower cost of ownership through PM-minimization and reduced seal overhead costs, made possible by effective mechanical design. This is an example of how Parker’s effective design engineering can reduce the cost of ownership and bring premier solutions to the table.

For more information about Parker’s full suite of solutions and sealing products, contact Gallagher Fluid Seals’ engineering department.

Freudenberg Announces New VMQ Materials





Global food approvals require extensive testing




