O ring retention in groove
O ring retention in groove
(OP)
We want to use some small o-rings, probably -011 (OD .441", .070" thickness), durometer A70. There will be a c'bore in a plate in which the o-ring will be placed. We want the OD of the c'bore to be slightly undersized such that when the o-ring is placed in the c'bore, it will stay in place when the plate is flipped upside down (for assembly with other parts). Any suggestions on how to size the c'bore to make this happen?





RE: O ring retention in groove
RE: O ring retention in groove
are you counter-boring (ie a recess 0.442" dia) or creating a groove for the O-ring ? how deep ? (0.05" ?, ie will the diameter of the O-ring be inside the groove/recess ?)
RE: O ring retention in groove
Just a cbore alone might lead to pinching/damaging the oring.
But if you want just make it slightly smaller than the OD.. taking any tolerances into account.
RE: O ring retention in groove
The title of this thread is deceiving, it is a c'bore, not a groove. diameter is TBD.
We would like 20% compression, so the depth for this .070" thick o-ring would be .070" * .8 = .056"
RE: O ring retention in groove
RE: O ring retention in groove
My first thought as to a solution was to use grease, as suggested by rb1957.
I have not seen a seal retained by squeeze from the OD, but have from the ID.
Technically, the glass is always full.
RE: O ring retention in groove
RE: O ring retention in groove
RE: O ring retention in groove
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
A word of caution about excessive grease used during assembly, and that is that additional problems can be propagated by it. A very light coating of lubricant that is compatible to whatever material the o-ring is made from is all that is recommended, and that even depends on the material that is being sealed against (acids, oxygen, etc)
O-ring sealing is almost mundane in that dimensions and tolerances for nearly all gland configurations are already well established. No need to re-engineer what has been time tested and proven. An o-ring will simply not fall out of a correctly sized gland.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: O ring retention in groove
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
The dovetail groove is really the best option for retention, unless you can find a compatible grease sticky enough to hold the ring, and as ornery says, you need to be sure that the grease that inevitable leaks/extrudes out, and the dirt and debris the mess attracts, won't mess up other parts of your system.
RE: O ring retention in groove
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
The o-ring is 0.441 OD and is required to form a quasi face seal. It is a bastardized gland requirement sine no inner wall retains the element. Hence the obvious need to grip by OD for retention under it's own weight. I would begin by presenting the argument that the circumference of the gland is 1/128 inch shorter than the circumference of the rubber. The reason for this is that the maximum allowable stretch of any elastomer is two to three percent, typically. Do the mathematics, this is 0.028 inches.
But we need almost full contact between the elastomer OD and wall on the counterbore. The two percent is far too large, my experience draws on one-fifth the allowable stretch, say 1/128 inch as mentioned. This means the new diameter is (0.441X3.14156-1/128)/3.14156 inch=0.43851 inch, say 0.438 inch.
I would maintain the typical face seal depth for the counterbore. Face seal gland depth on a 011 o-ring is 0.050/0.052 inch, Parker specification ORD5700 catalog.
So your counterbore specification is 0.438/0.437 OD X 0.050/0.052 inch deep.
Regards,
Cockroach
RE: O ring retention in groove
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
I'm surprised nobody suggested stretching the o-ring prior to installation to a C'BORE of equal circumference. The OP can still do this on the reduced diameter geometry as suggested. Again, allowable stretches are 2% t0 3%.
10% to 15% is not realistic.
Regards,
Cockroach
RE: O ring retention in groove
If it is possible, a face groove would work better than a counterbore. That way the o-ring could be a slightly tight fit around the ID of the groove, rather than the OD. It would seem to me that stretching the o-ring slightly would give a more uniform and consistent retention force than compressing the o-ring.
Regards,
Terry
RE: O ring retention in groove
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
Althougth having a interference between hardware an the o-ring is possitive to reach your target, it's even also possitive for the o-ring to work
As said, a "dove" housing is a good point to start on this case, mostly cases I see is just adding some grease.
This means, by the way, an "extra" step on pounting, but is you need an o-ring on your hardware it will be most likely you'll need some grease on any step on your installation.
Other ideas, maybe will be througth some "extra" steps.
In some cases we use to provide with a "trapped" o-ring, being an o-ring together with a washer (can be made on plastic or metal) in order toavoid this problem. But, basically, this is a solution we offer on this cases.
I don't know if you are prepared to get this solution, in this case, please, let me have a little sketch/drawing about how your idea on this housing will be.
http://www.hidromar.es
RE: O ring retention in groove
RE: O ring retention in groove
What I'm saying is that you could theoretically drill a c'bore of diameter 0.441, thus matching the elastomer OD, then stretch the o-ring. You will find this solution would work, in addition to my post.
The c'bore depth is the recommended value from Parker. I suggest following that for this application.
Regards,
Cockroach
RE: O ring retention in groove
Seal was be my first assumption, too, but that was not specified.
But could be for retention of something, or cushion for something.
We don't know for sure only that the o-ring was to be retained when the part is turned over.
Ted
RE: O ring retention in groove
Regards,
Cockroach
RE: O ring retention in groove