Finite element simulation of rotary shaft lip seals

Abstract

Radial lip seals operate between stationary machine body and rotating shaft during relative motion under continuously contacting to provide the sealing mechanism. Therefore, the complete modeling of a radial lip seal is very complicated. In this study, a hyperelastic elastomer based radial shaft lip seal mechanical simulations were performed using nonlinear explicit finite element analysis. The finite element analysis results under complex boundary and nonlinear material behavior conditions were obtained and compared with the experimental and theoretical results. According to obtained results, the radial force between the shaft and lip seal of finite element analysis simulation results fully confirms the experimental measurements and the theoretical calculations. perfectly. the obtained differences were less than 1.5%.