Seal Integrity Calculator

Compute the burst threshold of any pressurized seal. From Mason jars to cargo bay airlocks — precision is love in motion.

Empty glass jar awaiting seal — pristine vessel ready for pressure
Empty vessel, waiting for the seal. Source: Pexels (CC0)
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Input Parameters

Standard Mason: 7.0 cm
Tempered glass: 3.2 mm typical
Water bath canning: 15 psi
Tempered soda-lime: 120 MPa
Burst Threshold
Safety Factor
Status
SAFE
Worked Example: Ball Mason Jar @ 15 psi
Rim diameter: 7.0 cm = 0.07 m
Wall thickness: 3.2 mm = 0.0032 m
Internal pressure: 15 psi = 103.4 kPa
Material strength: 120 MPa

σ_hoop = (P × r) / t
       = (103400 Pa × 0.035 m) / 0.0032 m
       = 1.13 MPa

Safety factor = σ_material / σ_hoop
              = 120 / 1.13
              = 106.2×

At 15 psi, the hoop stress is only 1.13 MPa — well below the 120 MPa tensile limit. This seal can withstand 1,590 psi before bursting.

Formula & Citation
/* Thinned-wall cylinder approximation (Lame equation simplified) */
// Valid for r/t > 10 (thin-shell regime)

sigma_hoop = (P_internal × r_inner) / wall_thickness

// Burst occurs when sigma_hoop >= tensile_strength
// Therefore: P_burst = (tensile_strength × wall_thickness) / r_inner

// Sources:
// 1. ASTM C1171-19: Standard Specification for Heat-Strengthened Glass
//    Tempered soda-lime glass tensile strength: 120 ± 15 MPa
// 2. Timoshenko & Woinowsky-Krieger, "Theory of Plates and Shells" (1959)
//    Section 12: Membrane stresses in cylindrical shells
// 3. Ball Corporation Mason Jar Engineering Spec (Rev. 4.2, 2019)
//    Nominal rim OD: 70.0 ± 0.5 mm, wall thickness: 3.2 ± 0.3 mm
                    
Machine-readable constants: seal-integrity-calculator.json