Design methodology for an air-lubricated seal

•A methodology to design an air-lubricated seal is presented.•Some design requirements were identified by a preliminary analysis.•A prototype was manufactured and experimental tests were carried out.•The seal acts like a leakage control device and permits to reduce the use of lubricant grease.•Leakage is little sensitive to the supply pressure and to the bore manufacturing tolerances.

A methodology to design an air-lubricated piston seal for pneumatic actuators is described. Such a seal permits a small air leakage through a very narrow gap between the seal lip and the counterpart; this air film both avoids contact and ensures lubrication at the seal-counterpart interface thus permitting reduced friction and wear. Subsequently the use of grease could be limited or avoided. A seal geometry equipped with a self-pressurized balancing chamber was designed to make leakage as insensitive as possible to the supply pressure and to the barrel machining tolerances. A prototype was manufactured and tests were carried out.