Analysis of Radial Lip Seal Case Press Fit in Aluminum Housings

A critical area of radial lip seal design is retention of the seal in its housing. A common method of seal retention in the housing is the use of a steel seal case press-fit into housings of various materials. This method is very effective when ferrous housings are used, but in the case of aluminum housings press-fit retention may be lost at elevated temperatures due to the difference in thermal expansion between the seal case and the housing material. Typically, seal retention is predicted through the use of calculations based on theories such as the thick-walled cylinder theory, which provides only a rough approximation when the stamping and housing designs are complicated. This paper documents a finite element modeling method for performing this analysis, and compares this method to the calculated values and experimental data.