W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. has expanded its family of GORE® SKYFLEX® Aerospace Materials to include preformed gaskets for multi-face aircraft applications such as hole liners, flange joints, fastener seals and galley or restroom hard-mounts. These lightweight, non-hazardous gaskets ensure continuous protection between flat interfaces, around chamfers and inside a component’s mounting hole. By isolating dissimilar materials completely, these new gaskets significantly reduce the likelihood of galvanic corrosion, thereby increasing the life of the component.

GORE SKYFLEX Aerospace Materials do not require any curing time, which reduces downtime and facilitates replacement during component maintenance. Available in diameters from 3 to 150 millimeters, these new gaskets are formed to each customer’s dimensions, and they are easy to install without any special equipment or facilities needed.

The unique properties of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) — the key component in the gasket’s construction — enable them to last longer without hardening or becoming brittle. As a chemically inert, thermally stable material, ePTFE withstands the harsh conditions encountered in the aerospace environment. And like all GORE SKYFLEX Aerospace Materials, these new gaskets provide excellent protection against corrosion, water and other environmental contaminants, including fuels and oils.

According to Mark McKinnie, Aerospace Application Engineer at Gore, their customers had been isolating metals using GORE SKYFLEX Aerospace Material in a flat form for some time. However, the increasing use of composites in more complex stacks meant their customers needed to isolate materials in a multi-dimensional way with no joints. “Manipulating ePTFE has been the core of Gore’s business for over 40 years,” McKinnie explained. “This expertise enables us to meet our customer’s new challenges with minimal modifications to our material, which in turn simplifies any application-specific qualification work in the aircraft.”