As part of formula electric in my first year at UBC I designed a gasket to seal the inverter enclosure for the car. The gasket was made from silicone which was injected as a liquid into a 3d printed mold. All four inverters were to be sealed in one 38cm by 42cm enclosure, meaning that the mold was printed in eight separate pieces as to fit them on the print bed. The CAD for the mold design is pictured below.
To cast the gasket two part silicone was mixed and then placed in a vacuum chamber to remove air bubbles. It was then injected into the bottom of the mold using a syringe. Doing so requires a lot of pressure so this was done by placing the syringe in a caulking gun.
The final gasket features bumps on the side as to press against the channel it sits in so that it can be held upside down without falling out. It has a compression ratio of 25%, which was determined to be ideal during prototype testing. Pictured below are a small-scale prototype, the gasket mold after casing, and the final gasket.
