ABSTRACT
The importance of the chemist’s role in automotive design is illustrated well by the necessity for interaction between the mechanical and chemical fields in sealing and gasket design. The chemist’s knowledge of material and behavior under thermal and mechanical loads plays a key role in the design of these compounds. Maximum service use temperatures, compression set, flexural modulus, tear strength, dielectric properties, chemical resistance, ozone resistance, etc. are just some of the properties that must be considered by the material engineer or automotive chemist when designing a sealing system. Obviously, compression, tear, and service use temperatures have a higher weighted importance in seal and gasket applications. Seals and gaskets prevent fluid transfer between different regions of an operating system.
