It is quite possible that you have already encountered inflatable gaskets as a sealing solution, but do you know all the advantages they offer compared to other options? This blog will guide you through factors that make inflatable gaskets ideal for your use. Read on to learn how inflatable gaskets can enhance performance, safety, ease of usage, and a lot more.
Prolong the Life of Equipment
Another advantage you derive from inflatable gaskets is that they help increase the service longevity of your equipment. How so? It is used with elements such as inflatable seals and gaskets that transform to suit the movement of the components. This eliminates fatigue that would have been experienced through time between a stationary gasket and moving parts. The distribution of pressure on the mating surfaces is regular due to the feature of the inflatable gasket, and this prevents the surfaces from getting damaged.
Since the inflatable gasket is flexible, it shields the sealing surfaces from the effects of shifting, erosion, and subsequent leaks that are typical of rigid gaskets. This prevents the accumulation of dust, liquids, gas, or any other substance on the gasket side of the sealed materials, hence allowing longer service. In their proper functioning, inflatable gasket systems can run without requiring replacement for several decades. Switching to inflatable gaskets for doors, hatches, tubes, or any other closure can be worth it in terms of equipment durability.
Improve Safety
Thus, inflatable gaskets have their own substantial safety advantages over their counterparts. An advantage here is that they are capable of holding pressure, and in cases where they have to contain dangerous substances, they are capable of doing it safely. In the case of inflatable seal systems, the material used and the mechanical closure favored make it possible to apply a sealing pressure in equal proportion. This ensures that there are no leakages even when the equipment is in use or during transportation, expansion, or contraction.
Containment reliability becomes specifically important when handling dangerous materials such as toxic chemicals, radioactive material, compressed gases, or any other hazardous processing fluids. It means it can shape itself to fit various shapes and securely contain hazardous substances to protect people and things around them through a flexible inflatable gasket. Using these gaskets for replacing rigid closures contributes to risk reduction in the case of working with hazardous fluids or materials under pressure.
Simplify maintenance and repair
As with many other decisions, when considering different ways to seal doors, hatches, and other closures, the ease of maintenance and repair is yet another plus to inflatable gaskets. One of their advantages is that their sealing element can be easily changed between the maintenance intervals without much expense, as opposed to having to replace a rigid gasket assembly. Field maintenance is also quite uncomplicated—clean the seal surfaces, fit the new sealing element, inflate, and test. No need to pull out whole closure assemblies or replace hundreds of gasket parts.
The inflatable seal elements are also not affected by small flaws in the seal surface, which would greatly affect the performance of rigid or adhesive gaskets. This tolerance of imperfections during maintenance implies that the parts will not need rigorous scrubbing, precise milling, or grinding to acquire a hermetic surface after repairing. It is simply necessary to clean all the dirt so that the inflatable segment can touch along the entire intended sealing line. Minimizing the complex procedures for overhaul decreases the maintenance difficulty, price, and time.
Seal with irregular and variable surfaces
The second case where inflatable gaskets perform well is where it is challenging to achieve a sealing effect on the components with uneven or varying geometry. How? Unlike the sealing systems that have a mechanical interlock, inflatable gaskets and seals assume the contours of the sealing surfaces upon inflation. This enables them to establish uniform sealing pressure irrespective of the roughness of sealing faces or changes in dimension during operation.
Inflatable seals are suitable where it is difficult to create a sealing interface, for example, with very complex shapes, tapers, or if parts tend to shift, such as large hatches. They can also seal parts with irregular or smooth surface textures, from finely finished machined metals to rubber and plastics. No need to fit the gasket precisely into the irregular-shaped gasket as the inflatable gasket adapts to the precise shape upon inflation.
Quick and Simple Seal Assembly and Adjustment
However, one of the most critical factors that people fail to consider when selecting a gasket and seal for an application is the time required for installation. But this can greatly affect the maintenance workload, the cost of the downtime, and the leakage if the seals are not properly set. They excel here by allowing easy and fast seal configuration and control at the installation or repair point.
While the process of integrating the enclosure and the panel hardware might initially take a while, applying the inflatable seal itself only requires a few minutes and no heavy equipment or high torque. Hand tightening and inflation prove adequate in ensuring an airtight interface. This rapid install eliminates technicians getting tired when they are trying to use their hands to close heavy, rigid closures, and hence they do not get injured. It also reduces installation errors due to complex torque requirements or gasket alignment processes.
Similarly, the inflatable seals also help in field adjustments if there are leakages after installation of the structures. A technician can apply deflation, adjustment, or replacement of the flexible sealing element and re-inflate to form a corrected seal in less than one hour. This is much different from re-machining rigid gaskets or taking off heavy enclosures to alter alignment. For applications where ease of assembly and alignment are important factors for your sealing requirements, inflatable gaskets offer quick and easy installation and adjustment.
Allow for retrofitting and customization
When seals need to be retrofitted or where special enclosures are needed, inflatable gaskets again have a clear edge over such options as machined metal seals or multi-piece adapter plates. Why? Flexible seal elements are able to conform to existing component finishes as well as gaps without requiring further adjustment. Only mounting hardware for the inflated element and inflation system to be installed. No resurfacing items, fabricating adapter plates, or other time-consuming fabrication to fit a rigid seal.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, inflatable rubber diaphragms and seals have their advantages, such as their ability to conform to irregular surfaces, ease of installation, and long-term effectiveness with less requirement for frequent maintenance. You have now been introduced to the features of inflatable gasket systems as an added tool in your arsenal for specifying seal solutions for your challenging environments. Inflatable seals deserve consideration always when safety, equipment availability, and long service are important.
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