Why Ceetak makes use of Finite Element Analysis

Finite Element Analysis provides information to predict how a seal product will operate under sure circumstances and might help identify areas where the design could be improved without having to check multiple prototypes.
Here we clarify how our engineers use FEA to design optimum sealing solutions for our customer purposes.
Why will we use Finite Element Analysis (FEA)?

Our engineers encounter many important sealing applications with complicating influences. Envelope size, housing limitations, shaft speeds, pressure/temperature ratings and chemical media are all utility parameters that we should think about when designing a seal.
In isolation, the impact of these application parameters within reason straightforward to predict when designing a sealing solution. However, when you compound numerous these elements (whilst usually pushing a few of them to their higher restrict when sealing) it’s essential to foretell what will occur in actual software conditions. Using FEA as a software, our engineers can confidently design after which manufacture strong, dependable, and cost-effective engineered sealing solutions for our prospects.
Finite Element Analysis (FEA) permits us to grasp and quantify the effects of real-world situations on a seal half or meeting. It can be used to establish potential causes the place sub-optimal sealing efficiency has been observed and can additionally be used to information the design of surrounding elements; particularly for products corresponding to diaphragms and boots the place contact with adjacent components could must be prevented.
The software program also allows pressure knowledge to be extracted in order that compressive forces for static seals, and friction forces for dynamic seals can be accurately predicted to assist clients within the ultimate design of their merchandise.
How do we use FEA?

Starting with a 2D or 3D model of the initial design concept, we apply the boundary circumstances and constraints provided by a buyer; these can include strain, force, temperatures, and any utilized displacements. A appropriate finite factor mesh is overlaid onto the seal design. This ensures that the areas of most curiosity return accurate results. We can use larger mesh sizes in areas with much less relevance (or decrease ranges of displacement) to minimise the computing time required to solve the model.
pressure gauge octa are then assigned to the seal and hardware parts. Most sealing supplies are non-linear; the quantity they deflect beneath an increase in drive varies depending on how large that force is. This is not like the straight-line relationship for many metals and rigid plastics. This complicates the fabric model and extends the processing time, but we use in-house tensile test facilities to accurately produce the stress-strain materials fashions for our compounds to ensure the analysis is as consultant of real-world efficiency as possible.
What happens with the FEA data?

The evaluation itself can take minutes or hours, relying on the complexity of the part and the vary of operating situations being modelled. Behind the scenes within the software, many hundreds of 1000’s of differential equations are being solved.
The outcomes are analysed by our experienced seal designers to establish areas the place the design may be optimised to match the precise requirements of the application. Examples of those requirements might embody sealing at very low temperatures, a have to minimise friction ranges with a dynamic seal or the seal may have to face up to high pressures with out extruding; no matter sealing system properties are most necessary to the client and the application.
Results for the finalised proposal could be introduced to the shopper as force/temperature/stress/time dashboards, numerical knowledge and animations exhibiting how a seal performs all through the evaluation. This information can be utilized as validation knowledge within the customer’s system design course of.
An example of FEA

Faced with very tight packaging constraints, this customer requested a diaphragm element for a valve software. By utilizing FEA, we have been capable of optimise the design; not only of the elastomer diaphragm itself, but also to propose modifications to the hardware components that interfaced with it to increase the out there space for the diaphragm. This kept material stress ranges low to take away any risk of fatigue failure of the diaphragm over the lifetime of the valve.
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