Trelleborg advances FEA to optimise semiconductor sealing materials

Stuttgart, Germany – Trelleborg Sealing Solutions (TSS) has developed a finite element analysis (FEA) technology to more accurately determine the lifetime of elastomeric seals used in the semiconductor industry.

The FEA approach focuses on compression set, Trelleborg explaining that sealing function and lifetime is often limited by the amount of permanent deformation under compression.

Unlike conventional computer modelling, the new TSS technology ‘feeds mechanical data from the material into the FEA tools’, said Kevin Kaufenberg, business development specialist, semiconductor.

According to Kaufenberg, this “cutting-edge capability” benefits customers at the design-phase by providing more accurate data about the longevity of a seal.

“Our FEA analysis can be expanded for dynamic applications and could also determine seal characteristics like viscoelasticity,” the TSS official said in a 1 Aug release.

Furthermore, the approach can be extended to predict other 'decay behaviours', such as abrasive wear or thermal effects, depending on the application.

TTS sees the FEA technology offering significant benefits for semiconductor customers, with the compression-set testing guiding their materials-selection processes.

The Swedish company's offerings here include materials optimised for aggressive front-end processes, such as deposition, etch, plasma cleaning and thermal processing.