Gaskets and seals used for aerospace applications and equipment must be of premium quality and to a substantially high standard.
They are used across a range of applications such as radars, antennas, lighting, access panels, electrical conductivity, pressure sealing, and so much more.
This makes choosing the right aerospace gasket essential.
You need to ensure you have the right solution for the right application. Meeting all set criteria, as well as meeting several performance improvements compared to your average seal.
What to look for in commercial aerospace gaskets and sealings
A good rubber gasket all comes down to the type of material you use.
You need a gasket material that can withstand various levels of electrical resistance. A gasket that is corrosion-resistant offers shielding effectiveness, fluid resistance, and can still perform under wide fluctuations in temperature.
You need….
A gasket material is known as urethane-filled expanded aluminium.
This impressive gasket material offers everything you could want from a seal and more.
Its high surface affinity and the association with urethane binder systems help to create a sealing solution that fits perfectly within the fuselage and externally mounted aircraft devices.
What does this mean to you?
You can rest assured that you have the perfect seal and highest chemical resistance against all of the most commonly found aviation fluids.
What is also essential in aerospace gaskets and seals is that they must be suitable to withstand and survive lightning strikes.
This is why expanded aluminium is recommended to help improve electrical performance, eliminating electrical contact resistance.
Ultimately, the expanded metal provides highly efficient electrical systems, optimizing grounding performance, and more.
However, one of the most popular benefits of urethane-filled aluminium gaskets is that they help to reduce corrosion, providing a much longer lifespan.
For this reason, aircraft manufacturers can expect less component replacement and rework most associated with corrosion. Saving on both time and money.
What’s more, these gaskets are also easy to install.
Often we may also talk about aluminium alloys; these are the materials that provide a clear benefit to airframes, associated stress fatigue, and cracking. These particular gaskets act as a conductive medium, almost acting like a sacrificial entity, promoting even distribution of surface load, reducing and indeed eliminating stress points and pitting occurrences.
It may also be a requirement to opt for custom elasto proxy fabric gaskets, where this type of custom gasket is used in mass transit, military aerospace gasket and seals, medical, and aerospace applications.
Urethane-filled seals ultimately perform much better than other seals in the market, for all aerospace style applications.
This makes them the preferred aerospace application gasket due to their outstanding corrosion resistance, shielding efficiency (superior electrical conductivity is one of the main functions of shielding gaskets used in aerospace applications), fluid resistance, electrical resistance, as well as operating well under extensive temperature ranges.
Designers, therefore, rely on the sealing performance of these gaskets. Performing when subjected to specific torque values for aerospace devices, as well as providing more chemical resistivity and sealing efficiency against aviation fluids.
Due to urethane gaskets being resistant to corrosion, you can expect a reduction in aircraft TCO. Reducing water entry and the result of an electrolytic environment.
Components and indeed, fixings such as seals and gaskets used in the aviation sector should adhere to several requirements.
For example, these aviation devices require electromagnetic interference shielding materials that provide resistivity to unwanted radiation.
At Specialist Sealing Products, we offer a wide range of seals and gaskets available, manufactured in various materials. Trust us when we say we’re confident to have a seal suitable for a wide range of applications, and specialist applications found in the aviation sector.
For more information and to check availability on all industrial sealings, call 01535 274 776 or visit our dedicated pages online.
Reference video: Parker Hannifin
