Parker O-Ring Selector simplifies seal selection

Motion and control giants Parker Hannifin have simplified the whole process of selecting O-rings simpler and easier with the introduction of their web-based engineering tool – the Parker O-Ring Selector. Process Industry Forum reports on how this new tool can benefit engineers.

Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 global leader in motion and control technologies. For 100 years the company has engineered the success of its customers in a wide range of diversified industrial and aerospace markets. Parker Hannifin’s Engineered Materials Group is a world leader in the production of sealing systems and engineered polymer components as well as EMI shielding and thermally conductive materials.

Precise selection of O-ring materials and sizes

The Parker O-Ring Selector enables precise selection of the right O-ring material and seals size according to the user’s application conditions. Close interlinking of material and size selection delivers reliable results, ensuring the desired performance of the O-ring in the subsequent application. The Parker O-Ring Selector covers both imperial and metric standards.

The handy tool combines a wide range of sealing materials with a calculation platform for O-ring seals. The selection of materials takes operating temperatures, fluids relevant to the sealing application, the polymer family and seal hardness, as well as required approvals and conformance, all into account.

Logical and easy to use selector

The dataset of the material that has been characterised this way is subsequently fed into the actual selection of the sealing system. In this step, the Parker O-Ring Selector offers the user extensive options to parameterise the sealing system such as thermal expansion coefficients of the seal and the hardware components, volume swelling of the seal and manufacturing tolerances for the hardware components.

In addition to the delivery of reliable results, high user friendliness was a key objective in the development of the Parker O-Ring Selector. The three-part structure – divided into “Service Conditions & Material Selector,” “Size Selector” and “Notes” as the main sections – is logical and clearly arranged, thus assuring ease of use.

The Parker O-Ring Selector is now available to all interested users at www.parker.com/o-ring-selector  in an English language version. Other languages are planned to follow at a later date.

For more information visit www.parker.com.