Seal Damage Verification

Valve lip seals are commonly made out of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and elastomeric
compounds; these are typically used in compound state and not in its raw state. The typical
lip seal criteria that are considered in producing them are tensile strength, elongation at
break, hardness, 100% modulus (stress at 100% elongation), surface conditions and the
ability not to crack when flexed at 180° (Wang & Chung, 2013). The tolerance values of
these criterions vary depending on the medium the seals are exposed to during its
operation. Among all the mediums, gas medium has the least tolerance values in all aspects.
Compared to liquid gas has the highest tendency to leak through minimal gaps. This specific
condition of gas requires the seals that are associated to gas valves to have smooth surface
finishes and low gap tolerance. Hence, the seals dimensions are in a manner that it tightly
fits into the slots in the gas valves. Any variance in the seal dimensions will either cause the
seal to leak or the seals will not be able to be fitted into the valve slots.

Two (2) conditions can affect the elastomer dimension, (1) the storage temperature (Macon,
1997) and (2) the humidity (Salazar et al., 2003). Optimum storage temperature of an
elastomer varies from 15 degree Celsius (°C) to 25 °C. Hence, usually these elastomers are
stored at 20 °C with a tolerance of ±3 °C. This condition of the elastomer is maintained until
they are fixed unto the components. If in any conditions the temperatures go beyond 25 °C,
then an irreversible expansion of the elastomer will occur. Other than the temperature,
elastomers have the tendency to absorb moisture and swell, therefore the humidity is of
utmost importance. The storage humidity requirement varies depending on the elastomer
type and compound percentage.

In the case of MIR Valve Sdn Bhd (MVSB) it was observed that the flood had directly affected
one third (1/3) of the stored lip seals and the rest were indirectly affected by humidity from
the flood water. Due to both humidity and temperature all lip seals were observed to be
expanded. Due to the minimal gap tolerance value requirement at the valve sealing
surfaces, the expansion of the lip seals had rendered the lip seals to be too big to be fitted
into the seal slots of the valves. AFSB achieved this conclusion by randomly selecting the lip
seal samples and measuring the outer diameter of the seals and by reviewing the seal
tolerance value provided in the engineering drawing. Table 1 shows the details of the lip
seal damage verification by AFSB.

No Item Remarks
1  Original
specification at 169
mm
 Expanded
measurement at
170
 Based on 0.1 mm
Figure 1: Lip Seal Code 00LS-000973, outer diameter specification at tolerance
469 mm
exceeded
tolerance by 10%

Figure 2: Outer diameter measured at 470 mm

  Original
specification at
171.2 mm
 Expanded
measurement at
176.8 mm
 Based on 0.1 mm
tolerance
exceeded
Figure 3: Lip seal code 00LS-000291, outer diameter specification at tolerance by 56%
166.5 mm + 4.7 mm

Figure 4: Outer diameter measured at 176.8 mm

 Original
specification at
618.1 mm
 Expanded
measurement at
Figure 5: Lip seal code 00LS-000264, outer diameter specification 618.1
mm 638.5 mm
 Based on 0.1 mm
tolerance
exceeded
tolerance by 204%
 Figure 6: Outer diameter measurement at 638.5 mm

 Original
specification at 165
mm
 Expanded
measurement at
178.1 mm
Figure 7: Lip seal code 00LS-000486, outer diameter specification 165
mm  Based on 0.1 mm
tolerance
exceeded
tolerance by 131%

Figure 8: Outer diameter measurement at 178.1 mm

References
Macon, D. J. (1997). THERMAL AND MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF RUBBER SYSTEMS (Issue
February).

Salazar, M. R., Lightfoot, J. M., Russell, B. G., Rodin, W. A., McCarty, M., Wrobleski, D. A.,
 Orler, E. B., Spieker, D. A., Assink, R. A., & Pack, R. T. (2003). Degradation of a poly(ester
urethane) elastomer. III. Estane 5703 hydrolysis: Experiments and modeling. Journal of
Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry, 41(8), 1136–1151.
https://doi.org/10.1002/pola.10656

Wang, Q. ., & Chung, Y.-W. (2013). Encyclopedia of Tribology. In Encyclopedia of Tribology.

Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-
92897-5