Engineers is it Time to Automate your Gasketing Process?

New applications for FIPGs are constantly emerging as the electronics and wireless industries grow such as EMI and RFI Shielding in mobile phones and telecom devices, display panel support and light shielding in screen displays, acoustic vibration damping in handheld devices, navigation systems, optical equipment, thermal insulating or conducting in electronics and medical devices appliances.

What is Form-in-Place? Typically, precise beads of liquid gasketing material are directly dispensed to the surface of the part to be sealed, these beads are cured and bonded to the component for seamless sealing. FIP gaskets are a recognised, well proven, low cost and high speed cure alternative to manually applied O-rings or expensive, complex pre-moulded or die cut gaskets.

Some of the benefits of Form-in-Place Gaskets are:

• FIPGs can be dispensed efficiently onto complex enclosures eliminating the painstaking task of hand assembling pre-cut or moulded gaskets, saving both time and money
• Product designs can be made smaller and lighter
• Better resistance to heat differential expansion
• Parts may be dismantled and reassembled without affecting gasket integrity
• Reduces the risk of unwanted vibration between components
• With dozens of materials to choose from FIPGs can adhere to many surfaces such as aluminium, steel, plastics, ceramics, glass, plated surfaces and painted surfaces
• Shorter lead times and significant assembly cost savings when compared to O-ring or die-cut gasket installation
• Better reliability than conventional processes
• Reduced gasket component inventory

Techsil offer many Form-in-Place gasket solutions. Formulations include silicone liquids and pastes, flexible anaerobic gasket materials and UV and light curing gasket materials for an instant cure. 

Which Sealant to Use? Selection of the correct sealant for use when making an FIPG is determined by both the method of production and the end application.  The production methods will often dictate the properties of the sealant, either a paste or flowable product.  Other physical features of the sealant, such as flow rate, viscosity and extrusion rate, can affect both production speeds and the choice or design of the automated dispensing system.

Environmental operating conditions are also important to consider. What is the gasket providing a seal against, chemicals, oil, fuels, moisture, water etc?  Silicones have proven excellent in resisting harsh operating conditions and maintaining their physical properties, but some silicone sealants are better suited to certain conditions than others.  Extreme operating temperatures can degrade many gasket materials; this will result in a loss of elasticity which in turn will lead to product failures.

Other physical and electrical properties may be important and also add functionality to the gasket.  For example Silicone is naturally electrically insulating but can be formulated to be electrically conductive. Thermal conductivity may be required to dissipate heat through the gasket into a heat sink or some other device.  With many different factors to consider it is therefore, important to involve your adhesive supplier early in the design process.

Whatever your Gasketing requirement be it environmental sealing, shock absorption, EMI/RFI shielding, acoustic damping, thermal conducting or insulating, Techsil have expertise in a wide range of high performance adhesive sealants and many automated dispensing options to match your precise gasketing requirements.