Your Specialist for Custom Spring Energized Seals

Yoson has been providing spring-energized seals for more than 10 years. With these seals’ high quality and durable construction, we ensure a longer lifespan of the seals that will protect the system or application in all conditions. The design or application is subjected to extreme temperature, friction, or chemical attacks, and you will no longer have to worry about these ideal spring energized seals.

When materials like polyurethane-based seals start to malfunction because of operating limits, harsh environmental conditions, and equipment parameters that begin to give up, engineers often turn to spring energized seals for peace of mind.

What are spring energized seals?

This type of PTFE seal features a U-cup with various jacket profiles and spring types that are widely used in rotary seals, pistons, and rods. Spring-type energized seals are made from highly corrosive resistant alloys and stainless steel materials such as Hastelloy and Elgiloy.

These seals are an engineer’s best friend when standard elastomeric seals begin to fail because of chemicals, friction, or extreme temperature.

The seal’s unique feature and material components provide a wide variety of solutions to many demanding applications.

Here are some of their most remarkable benefits:

• Compatible with many chemicals
• Suitable for high temperatures up to 575 ℉
• Tolerance for cryogenic applications up to -425 ℉
• Reduced friction
• Best for high-speed and high-pressure services up to 30 psi
• Lasting elasticity and resistance to brittle, aging, and compression

Most seal jackets are made from different blends of chemicals, are highly resistant to extrusions, and operate in different temperature ranges.

When the resilience of standard polymers fails, the spring load will overcome the problem thanks to the corrosion-resistant metals used. The energized seal’s unique blend of materials and the design itself negates various issues related to most elastomeric seals and o-rings.

How important are spring seals in engineering?

This seal’s design increased the boundaries of polymer-based seals thanks to their highly effective capabilities such as:

• It helps achieve a reduction in emissions
• Offer air-tight sealing capabilities
• Meet environmental requirements

How Spring Energized Seals Are Designed

Different spring energized PTFE seal manufacturers aim at providing different designs and capabilities. Below are some seal design considerations that will help you choose an efficient product that will fulfill all your requirements;

• You might want to look into the spring type and the load characteristics.
• Seal lip designs are an essential factor to consider while purchasing spring energized PTFE seals.
• It is essential to look for the pressure capabilities of the spring energized seals that you are willing to buy.
• Also, look for its gland design and convenient installation.
• Choose according to your requirements that you want a symmetrical or non-symmetrical seal design.

They are made from polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE material with a combination of high-performance elastomers. A corrosion-resistant metal spring energizer strengthens this ultra-durable polymeric jacket.

The weight produced in the seal results in a highly-reliable air-tight barrier.

In perspective, spring-energized seals are very effective thanks to the combination of metallic sealing properties and elastomers

Energizers

These seals differ according to the product’s chemical properties of the fluid media that the seals come into contact with. As I mentioned earlier, stainless steel provides excellent, well-rounded service that’s almost a universal solution with exceptional resistance to chemicals.

The spring materials in available in PTFE seals are given below

• 301 SS (used for temperature up to 500 ℉)
• 302 SS (used for temperatures up to 500 ℉)
• 304 SS (used for temperatures up to 450 ℉)
• 316 SS (used for temperatures up to 400 ℉)
• Elgiloy (used for temperatures up to 600 ℉)
• 17-7 PH SS (for temperatures up to 500 ℉)
• Inconel 718 (for temperatures up to 600 ℉)
• Other materials (available to be used in other energizer materials.

However, using the suitable grade of the material is critical to ensure a longer lifespan of the spring seal. The most common metal used for spring energizers is type 301 stainless.

Jackets

There are various jacket materials found in PTFE seals including;

• Virgin PTFE (used in static applications)
• Graphite filled PTFE (used in dynamic applications)
• Carbon filled PTFE (recommended for high-pressure dynamic applications)
• Polymer filled PTFE (used in dynamic applications and long service life)
• Hytrel (used in abrasive media at temperatures up to 315 ℉)
• UHMW-Polyethylene (recommended for abrasive media at temperature up to 200 ℉)
• PEEK (recommended for temperatures up to 500℉)

PTFE is still considered the benchmark for these seals despite fluoroplastic compounds and engineered plastics for spring jackets, and this is because of their notable durability and high extrusion resistance.

On the other hand, virgin polyetheretherketone or PEEK is the best alternative for backup rings. These materials are also ideal for high-temperature applications. Similarly, UHMW-PE or ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene material is also suitable for dynamic applications.

PTFE Seal Jacket Benefits

PTFE-based spring energized seals are the most commonly used material for jackets, thanks to their excellent chemical and physical properties with the combination of value-for-money and durability.

Furthermore, PTFE can be enhanced using different fillers, resulting in increased tensile strength, wear resistance, and more. However, not everything can be grown as fillers can only be applied at around 5-40% weight.

Here are some of the most notable advantages of PTFE materials:

• Wide range of temperature resistance from -268 ℃ to +260 ℃
• Low friction
• Remarkable resistance to solvents and chemicals.
• Increased PV Factor up to 150,000
• Zero chemical swell
• Excellent weather and wear resistance
• Resistance to aging and degradation

How does Spring Energized Seal Work? 

Spring energy seals are installed in a cavity that is compressed. The compression allows the spring mechanism of the seal to create an air-tight barrier. Likewise, the pressure introduced by the radial tension energizes the jacket and enhances the sealing force, which means an excellent sealing capability is produced.

The sealing capabilities of spring energized seals are well suited for both low and high-pressure applications.

In addition, this type of seal is highly resistant to extrusions caused by high pressure and temperatures. During dynamic applications, shaving and nibbling may cause failure in the seals because of the stress produced.

However, other factors are at play in the extrusion of the seals, like speed and extrusion gap. This is why specialist spring-energized seals are manufactured in triangular and rectangular shapes for complex applications.

Spring energized seals work efficiently in applications and operating systems where other seals fail due to extreme temperature or chemical conditions. Spring energized seals are installed into the seal cavity that causes compression or deformation of the seal lips and seals energizer into a radial direction. With this, the jacket is energized by the seal that produces resilience to the lips. As the strength of the lip is triggered, the effective sealing of the device takes place in dynamic and static applications.

Where Are Spring-Energized Seals Used For?

This type of seal is precious in environments where the leakage is not an option. The best examples are cryogenics, space launch vehicles like thrusters, valves, fuel tanks, and high-temperature jet engines.

Thanks to the seal’s versatility, they’re widely used in other critical industries like robotics, in vitro diagnostics, liquid chromatography, microsurgical tools, offshore and onshore valves, to name a few.

Here are other industries where spring energized seals are commonly used:

• Chemical processing
• Gas or Oil industry
• Automotive
• Military
• Energy
• Medical
• Military
• Aerospace

Conclusion

Spring energized seals are critical components where standard rubber seals fail. They are engineers’ go-to rubber seals when this situation happens or when they want something to prevent it from happening. As the demand for sealing applications grows, solutions like spring rubber seals will continue their innovation to respond to the need.

If you need assistance choosing the right spring energized seal for your application, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our experts will guide you. Give us a call right now.