Gaskets stakeholders are sought to develop property standards with ASTM Task Group F03.95.03 on Gasket Material Characterization for Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The task group invites engineers, worldwide, specializing in gaskets for transportation, particularly in the automotive area.

Members of the Society of Automotive Engineers gasket committees are encouraged to join the ASTM task group, which intends to complement its efforts with SAE. Also sought are manufacturers of gasket materials, and finite-element-analysis software retailers, designers, and users.

The group will develop property standards that enable users of finite element analysis to insert required property values in their equations and conduct a credible finite element analysis, according to Pete Petrunich, the task group chairman.

“Our initial effort is to put a matrix together of items—properties needed, materials used, software employed—so that we understand what body of information we currently have and what needs we see already in terms of these properties,” Petrunich said.

The new group became official last fall when Committee F03 on Gaskets met in Dallas. Petrunich, who is technical director of the Fluid Sealing Association, Wayne, Pa., explained how standards developed by ASTM can benefit users as well as the gasket industry. “The initial drive is the auto industry,” he said, “because there is a perceived need in that industry, and in the transportation industry in general, to define and analyze gasket characteristics using finite element analysis. However, needs of the industrial sector will also be investigated.”

Will this make life easier for users and gasket manufacturers? “Yes,” he explained. “It allows for better definition of application and performance needs and therefore better definition of which products meet performance requirements.”

Part of ASTM Planning Subcommittee F03.95, the task group will cover finite-element-analysis issues for soft gasket material, molded rubber, and other material types, to advance their selection, behavior, and service-life prediction.

For further technical details, contact Peter S. Petrunich, Fluid Sealing Association, Simpsonville, S.C. (phone: 864/234-6626). Committee F03 meets April 23-25 in San Antonio, Texas. For membership or meeting information, contact Staff Manager Jim Olshefsky, ASTM (phone: 610/832-9714). //

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