Bal Seal Engineering, a manufacturer of custom seals, springs, and contacts, has launched Seal Starter 3D, powered by CADENAS PARTsolutions. Seal Starter 3D is an online, mobile-friendly product configurator that streamlines the custom engineering process and helps designers discover solutions faster.
"With Seal Starter 3D, our goal was to make it easier for people to experience longer service life, more reliable operation, and the many other benefits of custom sealing," says Bal Seal Engineering's Marketing Director, Mark Halloran. "To do that, we combined the convenience of a DIY interface with the experience and support of an engineering team."
Seal Starter 3D contains a selection of popular Bal Seal spring-energized seals for rotary, reciprocating, and static service. In its virtual CAD environment, users can choose a seal series in U.S. Imperial or metric dimensions and begin customizing it within seconds to meet specific requirements for size, temperature and media resistance, pressure, and speed.
Based on hardware-related input, Seal Starter 3D's built-in logic offers seal jacket material recommendations that include PTFE, UHMWPE, PEEK, and other premium polymers. A visual toolbox enables users to change viewing angles, rotate a seal concept 360 degrees, and even examine its geometry in cross-section.
"We built Seal Starter 3D for the busy engineer who wants to pre-qualify a sealing solution before engaging in deeper conversations, trading emails, or making phone calls," says Halloran. "Once a user downloads the interactive .pdf containing their seal model and summary, they're connected with an experienced application engineer who can help them fine-tune it for the best possible result."
Halloran explains that this "hybrid approach" simplifies the customization process, enabling equipment designers to quickly solve sealing challenges and achieve performance breakthroughs.
