Rubberrubber

Nitrile Rubber (NBR)

The oil elastomer. It swells in nothing a hydraulic or fuel system runs on, which is why most oil seals, hose linings and O-rings in machinery are nitrile.

Stock forms — Sheet, moulded washer section and extruded cordtmoulded or calenderedsheetODCSwasher⌀ dcord
Nitrile Rubber (NBR) — stock formsSymbols only — no stock sizes are published

Properties

Family
Rubber
Category
rubber
Density
1 g/cm³ · 1000 kg/m³

Densityhow nitrile rubber (nbr) compares

Density of Nitrile Rubber (NBR) — 1 g/cm³Nitrile Rubber …1.00Water1.00Aluminium2.700369g/cm³
1 g/cm³ — 1000 kg/m³Water 1.00 · Aluminium 2.70

Rubber propertiesAcrylonitrile butadiene rubber · family range, not a compound guarantee

ASTM designation
NBR · D2000 BF
Shore A hardness
70 · the sealing default, selected for the gland rather than the polymer
Service temperature
-34 to 100 °C · -29 to 212 °F
Typical media
Mineral oils, hydraulic fluid, grease, water

Family screening range from Parker O-Ring Handbook ORD 5700, §2.2 — the range for the polymer family, not for any one compound. Within a family the filler and cure system move the limit by tens of degrees, so the compound data sheet governs the finished part.

The grey figures are converted at °F = °C × 9/5 + 32; the Celsius numbers are the published ones.

Applicationswhere nitrile rubber (nbr) is normally specified

Hydraulic seals and O-ringsOil and fuel hose liningsGasketsRoller coversBonded seals

Service & sealingtrade experience, not measured values

Oil & fuel
The reason to choose it. Resists petroleum oils, diesel, hydraulic fluid and grease at room temperature; swells in ketones, esters and aromatic solvents.
Weather & ozone
Poor. Ozone and UV crack it, so it needs carbon black and an antiozonant for anything left outdoors, and even then it is not the answer — EPDM is.
Sealing
The default dynamic seal: O-rings in hydraulic glands, rotary shaft seals, bonded washers. Pair it with a metal washer or a bonded plate wherever the joint carries preload.

These lines are not measurements: no units, no single source. They describe how the family is generally found to behave — which media it survives and what it will seal — rather than what any one compound is guaranteed to do. The media a joint will meet decides the family before the temperature does.

Practical notes

  • Poor ozone and weather resistance — it cracks in sunlight without an antiozonant
  • Not for ketones, esters, or strong acids
  • Ranges are for the polymer family; the compound data sheet governs the part

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