The Vapour-effectiveness Of O-rings, Seals & Mastics

O-rings, gaskets and seals can be excellent at keeping out water, greases or liquids – but some of them have such low vapour resistance that gasses, such as water vapour, can pass through them virtually unhindered (e.g cellulose, EVOH or PVOH). This dramatically reduces their effectiveness.

Fortunately, Versaperm has launched an updated range of systems to measure vapour permeability for virtually all industrial and commercial applications and gasses. This provides users the tools needed for developing new materials and products as well as quality controlling their materials-in and production lines. It is particularly important for many of the new or multi-layer “designer” materials now being developed and used.

The latest Versaperm”s permeability meter range can deal with several samples, seals, O-rings or enclosures at a time, often give a reading in as little as 30 minutes. Both pressure and temperature are optionally controllable. Conventional gravimetric testing takes days or even weeks to produce a single result – and is significantly less reliable.

The control interfaces are simple and give results that can be used for pass-fail QC or output direct to QC or other software systems. The equipment needs no re-calibration and require, at most, minimal training to give results that are accurate in the PPM (Part Per Million) range and beyond. It can be used for virtually every gas – from water vapour to hydrocarbons and from solvents through to hydrogen, oxygen, CO2, helium etc..

As well as manufacturing the instruments, Versaperm offers a vapour permeability measurement laboratory service for companies that only need to test samples on an irregular basis.