Performance estimation of dust wipers for hydraulic cylinders and optimization of geometric design variables

Hydraulic cylinders are widely used as actuators for construction machines, airplanes and military machines. In the case of these devices, due to their use under severe environmental conditions, such as excessive water, SiO2 and dust seals which has a high packing ability and long service life have normally been required. These characteristics are largely influenced by the material and geometries of seals, such as the approach angle, the round radius of a lip edge and interference. Recently, many studies have been undertaken regarding material, so that many materials have been developed. But the concrete studies including the relationship between the geometry of seals and sealing ability and the optimal geometry design of seals to obtain superior sealing ability have hardly been performed yet. Therefore, in this study, we predicted the deformation behavior and contact pressure distribution of dust seals with the variation of geometry of a seal lip using finite element analysis. Also, we estimated the effect of each design variable on the sealing effect and presented the engineered value of design variables, not experienced ones.