Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of Seal Drag Force for Different Fluids

The present study discusses the determination of the Seal drag force in the application where an elastomeric seal is used with a metallic interface in the presence of different fluids. An analytical model was constructed to predict the seal drag force and an experimental test was performed to check the fidelity of the analytical model. A Design of Experiment (DoE) was utilized to perform an experimental test considering different factors affecting the Seal drag force. Statistical tools such as the Test for Equal Variances and One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to draw inferences for the population based on samples tested in the DoE test. It was observed that Glycol fluids lead to lubricant wash-off resulting in increased seal drag force. Additionally, non-lubricated seals tend to show higher seal drag force as compared to lubricated seals.