Door Seal Design & Test with I-Scan

Pressure Measurement of Door Seals

Soft seal bulb material deforms to produce a seal around the perimeter of a door, window or structure. Development engineers need a tool to confirm specifications, evaluate candidate bulbs in target applications, and troubleshoot problems. I-Scan^® sensors are paper-thin, so they can be inserted into areas of interest, such as over a weld point that affects contact between two surfaces. The sensors are flexible to roll around a simple curve, such as a cylinder. On a test bench, as position is advanced, bulb deformation occurs and contact area grows.

The resulting seal pressures are vividly displayed on a computer screen. Contact area and width across the intended seal is shown. The resulting movie can be analyzed with I-Scan's powerful graphical tools, stored for future reference, and exported to other applications. I-Scan pressure mapping system is portable, so it can be taken into the field or to assembly lines for on-site problem resolution.

In the study below, about the same total force is applied to two different door seals. The 3-D pressure display given by the I-Scan, with a 6300 sensor, shows a problem in Figure.1. The valley in the middle of the pressure profile indicates a weak spot in this seal, which represents a leakage path for air or water. Compared to Figure 2, which has lower peak pressure, and a more even distribution, making it the more effective design.

  Figure 1.                                                                       Figure 2.

Door Seal Pressure Measurement Applications

• Measure the ability of a bulb to seal over a weld point
• Development of new bulb materials
• Development of new bulb shapes
• Design comparisons             
• Validation testing
• Competitive benchmarking

Benefits of Choosing i-scan

• Document sealing pressure in engineering units
• Troubleshoot air and water leaks
• Confirm bulb meets design requirements

Typical Pressure Sensor Models used for Door Seal Pressure Measurement