Enhancement of seal life through carbon composite back-up rings under shock loading conditions in defence applications

The life of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) O-ring seal having shore hardness of A70 and A90 under shock loading conditions was investigated by a specially designed pneumo-hydraulic shock test rig. Shock tests have been carried out on bare seals, seal with conventional polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) back-up rings and seal with newly developed carbon composite back-up rings to study its behaviour under different operating conditions until failure. Experiments were conducted by varying annular gap ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 mm, oil temperature from 30 °C to 70 °C and rate of pressure rise from 600 to 2400 MPa/s. Significant enhancement in seal life was observed with carbon composite back-up ring at reduced annular clearances compared to seal life with conventional PTFE back-up ring and without back-up rings.