A comprehensive model of wear, friction and contact temperature in radial shaft seals

•Interaction of seal wear, friction and contact temperature is modelled.•Pressure and temperature at the sealing interface can be studied during operation.•The solid friction decreases whereas the fluid friction increases during operation.

Radial shaft seals are used in a variety of applications, where rotating shafts in steady housings have to be sealed. Typical examples are crankshafts, camshafts, differential gear or hydraulic pumps. In the operating state the elastomeric seal ring and the shaft are separated by a lubrication film of just a few micrometers. Due to shear strain and fluid friction the contact area is subject to a higher temperature than the rest of the seal ring. The stiffness of the elastomeric material is intensely influenced by this temperature and thus contact pressure, friction and wear also strongly depend on the contact temperature. In order to simulate the contact behavior of elastomer seal rings it is essential to use a comprehensive approach which takes into consideration the interaction of temperature, friction and wear. Based on this idea a macroscopic simulation model has been developed at the MEGT. It combines a finite element approach for the simulation of contact pressure at different wear states, a semi-analytical approach for the calculation of contact temperature and an empirical approach for the calculation of friction. In this paper the model setup is presented, as well as simulation and experimental results.