Analysis of contact force and thermal behaviour of lip seals

Abstract

Using the Mooney-Rivlin model, the contact force and thermal behaviour of a radial lip seal are studied numerically and experimentally as a function of the interference. The numerical and experimental results on the static contact forces show good correspondence with and without the garter spring. The FEM calculated results indicate that increased interference may increase the cracking of seal material due to the maximum contact stresses close to the contacting area of the seal lip and produce local separation between the seal lip and the shaft. Also a coupled thermal-mechanical analysis method will be a useful tool to predict the contact behaviour of rubber lip seals for small values of the interference. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.