By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor How long is a piece of string? So what? Did you think you’d get a straight answer on a subject like “what is the best cylinder piston seal?” There is no best piston seal, just like there is no best car (it’s the Mazda Miata, by the way). If you’re […]

Trelleborg has finalized the acquisition of the US-based company Minnesota Rubber & Plastics. Headquartered outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota Rubber & Plastics is a manufacturer of polymer and thermoplastic components and a system provider for technically demanding applications for several fast-growing industries such as medical equipment, water management, and food and beverage. The bolt-on acquisition furthers […]

Hallite Seals Americas recently promoted Erica Keeney to warehouse manager, reporting to Gustavo Giometti, senior customer service, and supply chain manager. In her new role, Erica directs and trains her team, oversees shipping and receiving practices and metrics, manages inventory and enterprise resource planning (ERP) accuracy, and handles products, storage, and logistics. “Erica brings invaluable […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions expands its unique capabilities in engineered performance polymer solutions by investing in the High-Performance Thermoplastics Technology and Development Center in Denver. The center delivers custom value-added capabilities for sealing, cushioning, and protection, using thermoplastics to replace metal components. This reduces mass and weight, eliminates corrosion, improves reliability, and lowers maintenance requirements. Previously […]

The European Union aims to expand the capacity for wind power generated at sea to at least 60 GW by 2030. With its sealing solutions for the foundation structures, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies helps ensure that new wind turbines reach a service life of at least 30 years or more despite the rough conditions at sea. […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions expands its Fluid Power Seals-Shop, an online ordering solution to new customers in Canada and Mexico. The Seals-Shop is an e-commerce platform for fast and easy procurement of high-performance seals and wear rings critical to the function of hydraulic components in fluid power applications. “Expanding the Fluid Power Seals-Shop to new customers […]

Contributed by Chuck White, Director of Sales & Marketing, Hallite Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) is widely used in fluid power seal applications and is a family of polymers formed using a combination of isocyanate and polyol crosslinked to create a homogeneous compound polymer. There are many different combinations of these chemicals that may be used to […]

Solvay is introducing to the market a new portfolio of high-performance Tecnoflon peroxide curable fluoroelastomers (FKM) produced without the use of fluorosurfactants (a type of PFAS used as process aids). The proprietary new technology, called NFS (non-fluorosurfactant), marks a breakthrough in FKM polymerization and aligns with the company’s sustainability roadmap Solvay One Planet as Solvay […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions launches a 3D virtual showroom environment to provide customers with an insight into its sealing technology. Interactive exhibits allow users to explore solutions for aerospace, automotive and eMobility, fluid power, food and beverage, and semiconductor industries in real-time, as well as view Trelleborg’s R&D and advanced manufacturing capabilities and value added ServicePLUS […]

NBR is an acronym for nitrile butadiene rubber but goes by many other names, such as nitrile or buna. NBR is a synthetic rubber compound made from acrylonitrile and butadiene. Buna is renowned for its natural resistance to oils, fuels, water and many other chemicals. You may use NBR for most hydraulic applications, especially those […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has always focused on pushing the capabilities of sealing technology for hydraulics, with a focus  on enhancing performance while making fluid power applications more sustainable. Lubrication Management not only extends seal life, minimizing scrap, but it also significantly reduces friction, lowering the energy required to power hydraulic systems and potentially allowing for […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions now offers quick delivery of many AS568 Standard Class A Specification O-rings across the Americas in nitrile rubber (NBR) and Fluoroelastomer (FKM), assuring customer that parts meet global compliance. According to Michael Cook, Global Segment Director Off-Highway & Americas Segment Manager Fluid Power, “Understanding the demands of our customers, we invested in […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions announces the launch of the Fluid Power Seals-Shop. The Seals-Shop, available to customers in North America, is an online solution for fast and easy procurement of high-performance seals and wear rings critical to the function of hydraulic components in fluid power applications. The 24/7 self-service platform for manufacturing and maintenance, repair, and […]

For any seal to function well in a fluid power application, it must resist the extreme forces attempting to squeeze the material through even the smallest gap like so much Playdoh. The gaps available to a seal to squeeze through are called extrusion gaps. To understand the extrusion gap, you must first understand the primary […]

Being the fluid power professional you are, you know that Teflon is used for more than making pans slippery. However, you may not know that Teflon is a registered trademark of DuPont, discovered accidentally many decades ago and associated with non-stock coatings. PTFE is an acronym for polytetrafluoroethylene, which is also a fluorocarbon. DuPont trademarked […]

Quadion LLC, d.b.a. Minnesota Rubber and Plastics, has announced it is building a state-of-the-art innovation center adjacent to the company’s corporate headquarters in Plymouth, Minn. The new 9,000 sq. ft. innovation center will provide customers with direct access to some of the industry’s foremost materials scientists and engineers in an immersive design-prototype-build-test process. Whether customers…

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions celebrated the grand opening of its new facility in Ontario, California, on August 18.  The Ontario site houses the West Coast warehouse for Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, as well as new aerospace and industrial ServicePLUS Centers, to serve the sealing needs of Trelleborg’s aerospace and industrial customers in Ontario and the surrounding areas. […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions announces CRC Distribution as an authorized Trelleborg distributor. This designation strengthens the decade-long partnership between the two companies and establishes CRC Distribution as the exclusive distributor of Trelleborg seals in the Southern and Western United States and for Orkot® products across the United States and Canada. Heather Castleman, Senior Director of Strategy […]

The environmental demands placed on the hydraulic systems in large, heavy equipment can be extreme. Pressure, abrasive fluids, extreme temperatures, and dirt can all impact the reliability and performance of the seals used to protect their mechanics. Fortunately for manufacturers producing construction, agricultural, and mining machinery – among other, heavy-duty industrial applications – Freudenberg Sealing […]

Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has begun manufacturing seals made from a new Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) material that successfully addresses a significant challenge in the aerospace industry — hydraulic seal leakage at high altitudes and low temperatures. The new material, 80 EPDM 426288, successfully seals hydraulic systems operating at temperatures as low as -85° F […]

By Josh Cosford, Contributing Editor Viton is actually a registered trademark of Chemours Company (previously of DuPont) and is a synthetic rubber used in seals. Viton is a family of fluoropolymer elastomers also identified as FKM, but the family offers various copolymers. Often green or brown, Viton finds itself used in various hydraulic applications requiring […]

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions launched a new elastomer sealing material, FoodPro E75F1. Demonstrating compliance with most comprehensive global food contact material regulations, it is specifically engineered for universal use in food and beverage processing applications. For manufacturers of food and beverage equipment, FoodPro E75F1 saves time and costs by making it easy to specify materials that […]

Trelleborg Group has upgraded its online presence over its more than 70 global websites. This monumental task has resulted in visual updates, but more importantly, it offers an improved and more responsive user experience and a platform that will allow further enhancements with even more interactive elements in the future. According to Richard Andersson, Group […]

Urethane (or polyurethane) seals are among the most versatile and durable materials used in fluid power sealing. Urethanes are cast into billets or molds to create the seals used in many of the hydraulic components you see every day, such as pump shaft seals, cylinder pistons and rod seals. The material benefits from countless possible […]

Contributed by Danny Nghieu, EIT, Colonial Seal Elastomers are widely used due to their relatively high strength, low abrasion rate, and resistance to water, oils, and other chemicals. The mechanical properties of elastomers, namely their tensile strength and hardness, can change over time when the product is sitting in storage. The storage environment will typically […]