SILICON to 6061-T6 ALUM. 3

[sensiblesteve]

To Whom it may concern,

I have designed a low level nuclear waste transportation vessel which has been tested and approved by all regulatory bodies. This container incorporates a 50 duro silicon o-ring gasket which must be reinstalled each time the unit is opened and closed.
In trying to reduce operator exposure time I would like to glue the gasket into place.
The mating material is 6061-T6 aluminum. (radiation levels are not a factor)
I have contacted a number of manufactuers (via. websites) and have yet to receive any form of reply. (5 days-no replies)

Does anyone have any recommendations as to which product will be the best for this application?
If so could you send me info. on this product or point me in the right direction? (ei: MSDS, mechanical / chemical properties, product name)
I would be grateful for any help in this matter.

 

[Compositepro]

RTV silcone will hold it in place but can make replacement of the o-ring difficult because the adhesive must be removed to ensure a good seal on a new ring. It is usually best to mechanically trap the o-ring. A slight dovetail of the groove can hold the ring very securely. Often friction is enough to hold the ring in a groove if the ring is made slightly larger or smaller that the groove or if the groove is slightly narrower than the o-ring. Silicone grease can help to tack the ring into place, but grease will also cause dirt to stick.

 

[unclesyd]

As stated above a mechanical solution would be the best.

Here is Super 77 spray that we use to hold some gaskets in place.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Super-77/Super77/

If you haven't tried these people I would give them a call as they have been quite helpful in the past.

http://www.nusil.com/index.aspx

 

[sensiblesteve]

Thank you, both for your replies.
The closure of this container is such that there is not enough material present to use a mechanical method.
A change in the design would mean I would have to retest the unit, both destructive and non-destructive testing.
This is both expensive and time consuming, its taken almost a year to qualify this design.
I'm afraid my only option is glue.
I will be looking into the products that you have mentioned and hopfully come up with something.
Once again, thank you.

 

[PatrickHenry]

You can also try DAPCO 3301 or 3303.

http://www.cytec.com

 

[btrueblood]

Plain old super glue (cyanoacrylate) works okay for tacking down O-rings, at least it does well for EPDM. Does the O-ring material have to be silicone?