With the advent of sophisticated nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (FEA) codes, the rubber industry has taken a quantum leap towards design optimization. The seal companies are also advancing towards this design tool to guide them in shape optimization. In the past, both static and dynamic seals have been designed primarily on the basis of prior experience, part prototyping, and extensive experimental test data. Today, more than ever before, the market calls for a high performance, multifunctional seal at a very low cost. Such high performance seal demands must be met with the four major areas of sealing system, namely, material, design, process, and testing. Only a good interlink of these vital parameters can lead to an optimized seal design.

This paper places emphasis on the importance of nonlinear FEA in the design phase of a new seal shape. The use of nonlinear FEA for optimization of a PolyTetraFluoroEthylene (PTFE) seal is specifically discussed in this paper. Experimental procedure used to obtain the material properties is also discussed in detail. Finally, a correlation is shown between the nonlinear FEA on the PTFE Clutch Ring Seal with experimental results.

Subject
Stability, Test methods, Material properties, Materials, Finite element analysis, Extrusion, Polytetrafluoroethylene, Installation, Rolling, Stress, Mechanical failure, Yield strength, High temperature
© 1992 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1992
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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