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Hi Brent. Nice drawings.
A couple of thoughts though.
This rendering shows basically a flat gasket trapped between two ridges. It
won't operate like an "O" ring. It operates like a flat gasket. It would
probably seal at low pressure but loses it's sealing capacity at greater
pressures.
If a guy wanted to weld rings instead of cutting grooves ( for an "O" ring
) it seems it would be a lot easier to use square stock. The grooves
specified by the Parker "O" ring book call for rounded corners at the bottom. A
TIG weld would give you that radius. I considered that option when first
building my hatch. I just didn't think it would be nearly as strong as a
machined groove. For the $300 cost of the machining versus buying, welding, and
other work associated with the welded rings approach, It's pretty cheap for a
nice clean means of sealing the hatch.
I don't think the mating surfaces need to be perfect, as the "O" ring will
seal up a fairly large crack, and as the pressure increases the crack gets
smaller. Eventually the two mating surfaces are touching and the "O" ring is
forced into an almost rectangle shape. It still seals.
I think it's pretty well established that an "O" ring is the only way to
go, but it's good to keep looking at different ways to skin a cat.
Frank D.
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