Hydraulic cylinder seal has long pedigree

A Trelleborg Sealing Solutions UK product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 5, 2006

Developing a hydraulic cylinder sealing arrangement with certainty of performance over a wide range of applications has provided a long term engineering challenge.

Developing a hydraulic cylinder sealing arrangement with certainty of performance over a wide range of applications has provided a long term engineering challenge.

The first breakthrough was in the 1970s when Busak + Shamban, with the Turcon Stepseal, revolutionised fluid sealing in cylinder applications.

Through on-going research and development, Stepseal has been further refined and improved, with the latest version, Turcon Stepseal 2K, achieving new levels in cylinder sealing performance.

In hydraulic cylinders, used in everything from earth moving machinery to lifting platforms in the toughest working environments, the requirements for sealing are varied and difficult.

The seals must keep lubricants within the cylinder chamber and at the same time, keep abrasive media out.

The applications are dynamic, often operating at high speeds and significant pressures.

A single seal is rarely a good enough solution and in most cases a configuration of seals is required.

Typically, a cylinder configuration will comprise between three and five different dynamic seal and scraper types.

Turcon Stepseal changed the thinking behind the sealing of hydraulic cylinders and after its introduction in 1972, it quickly became a first choice for rod and single acting cylinder sealing for design engineers in major cylinder manufacturers, worldwide.

With Turcon Stepseal, it was possible for the first time to arrange several seals, one behind the other to create a static and dynamic sealing arrangement.

This double-acting tandem seal configuration was a major advance in fluid power technology, eliminating the build up of disruptive intermediate pressures between seals.

This had always been a major problem for engineers and caused loss of operating efficiency, destruction of seals and leakage.

The new seal was developed from a proprietary PTFE based material, Turcon which offers a low coefficient of friction and performs over a wide range of operating temperatures.

This resulted in greatly improved wear resistance compared with materials previously used.

In the 1980 Busak + Shamban introduced Turcon Stepseal K which had improved long term sealing performance.

However, Busak + Shamban was unwilling to accept that the basic Stepseal design was the optimal solution for fluid sealing and significant research and development resources were invested in developing its efficiency and application capability.

This was partly driven by cylinder manufactures changing the tolerance requirements between the rod and cylinder walls, along with the use of alternative hydraulic fluids and increasing temperatures and pressures.

The resulting product was Turcon Stepseal 2K.

Turcon Stepseal 2K has proved to enhance sealing efficiency.

Better extrusion resistance gives superior leakage control and allows larger hardware tolerances, making cylinder production more economic.

It also has more uniform, low friction characteristics throughout an extended life and even during the run in period, when friction forces can have the greatest effect on hydraulic seals.

Turcon Stepseal 2K is available in nine different compounds, offering unsurpassed sealing security when used with all lubricating and nonlubricating hydraulic fluids, including zinc-free oils and water-based hydraulic fluids.

They can also be matched to specific mating surfaces and media.

They are suitable for gas applications and seals can be specified to meet the precise degree of extrusion and abrasion tolerance required for an application.