Tribology of Sealing Elastomers: Outline

Tribology of Sealing
elastomers
Braham Prakash
Division of Machine Elements
Email: [email protected]
Tribology Days 2012 Örnsköldsvik

November 6-8, 2012
Outline
1. Introduction
2. Friction and wear under dry sliding conditions
3. Lubricated sliding friction
4. Two body abrasive wear in lubricated condition
5. Concluding remerks
1
Introduction
• Reciprocating and rotary seals are widely used in
various technological systems
• Elastomers are the preferred choice of materials
Sealing elastomers
Elastomers are the most popular seal
materials because of their:
 low modulus of elasticity & high

elongation-to-break; can deflect
significantly, follow the irregularities
and vibration of the sealed surface
without giving high contact stresses.
Unloaded Loaded in
coiled chains tension  high Poisson's ratio (close to 0.5) &
low shear modulus G, enabling an
Elastomers are polymeric
elastomeric seal to create its own
materials with high elasticity
sealing force automatically in
and fairly low cross-link
proportion to the pressure.
density, with links at random
intervals, usually of between
500 and 1000 monomers
2
Why tribology of elastomeric seals?
 Friction
 Leakage (due to wear)
 Service life (limited by wear)
 Seal-oil interaction
Chemical degradation
(performance deterioration)
*Seals account for major part of

bearing friction
(~ 75% of total bearing power loss)
Abrasive wear
*Patent, WO 2011/110360 A1
Challenges in tribological testing of elastomers!

• Large elastic deformation
• Low contact pressure, difficult to investigate the tribological behaviour
of elastomer in boundary or mixed lubrication
• Edge effects
• Absorption of oil and leaching
• Effect of cleaning agents
• Thermal effect
High frequency tests Low frequency tests
3
Dry friction of elastomers under
unidirectional sliding conditions
Experimental work
Normal Average contact

load (gr) pressure (Kpa)
150 ≈240
1000 ≈750
Elastomeric materials Hardness Tensile strength Elongation Density

(Shore A) (MPa) at break (%) (g/cm3)
Nitrile rubber (NBR) 76.1 25.4 466 1.31
Hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) 71.3 17.5 303 1.24
Acrylate rubber(ACM) 73.4 7.8 171 1.49
Fluoro rubber (FKM) 72.8 15.6 >900 2.03
Surface roughnesss of steel rings
4
Dry frictional behaviour at low load *
(Normal load: 1.5 N, Speed: 10 r.p.m.)
• Friction coefficient decreased after a running-in period and

the wear was insignificant.
• Longest running-in periods observed during sliding against
fine surfaces
Dry frictional behaviour: Influence of sliding speed

(Normal load: 1.5N, Ra: 0.35 ~ 0.55 μm)
Speed dependence of friction is quite anomalous;

different for different elastomers!
5
Dry friction and wear behaviour*
(Normal load: 10 N, Speed: 10 rpm, Ra: 0.35 ~ 0.55 μm)
FKM Worn particles
• Powdery worn particles observed on the ACM resulted lower friction

coefficient but for FKM and HNBR, worn particles with roll shapes
have been produced.
• Worn particles of FKM were significantly larger than those of the
other tested materials
Frictional behaviour of sealing elastomers

in different lubrication regimes
6
Experimental materials and lubricant
 Four different types of sealing elastomers NBR, HNBR, ACM and
FKM
(Rectangular sheets of 16 mm x 4 mm x 2 mm thickness)
• Paraffinic oil without any additive
(Viscosity: 34.1 cSt @40⁰C)
• Steel counterface
- AISI 52100 bearing steel
‐ Ra ≈ 380 nm, after removing
the cylindrical curvature
Experimental elastomers
Elastomeric Hardness Tensile strength Elongation Density
materials (Shore A) (MPa) at break (%) (g/cm3) Elastomers’
NBR 76.1 25.4 466 1.31 properties
HNBR 71.3 17.5 303 1.24
ACM 73.4 7.8 171 1.49
FKM 72.8 - - 2.03
Surface topography of
elastomeric samples
(Ra ≈ 80 nm)
7
Test apparatus and configuration
Bore tight coating
Case
Garter
Shaft spring
Main lip
Dust lip
Lubricant Lip contact
A block on ring test configuration was

chosen to simulate radial lip seal
operating under unidirectional
(rotational) sliding conditions
Test parameters and procedure
 Running in for 50 minutes at a sliding velocity of 18.33 mm/s to reach

more steady results and the sliding
 Tests at both increasing and decreasing speeds of 0.24, 0.33, 0.58,
1.03, 1.83, 3.26, 5.79, 10.30, 18.33, 32.58 mm/s
 Tests run for 10 min at each sliding speed
 Tests performed at room temperature (22 ± 2 °C).
 Experiments carried out at a normal load of 3.5 N
(contact pressure ~ 370 kPa)
8
Friction results
Purple lines show friction coefficients in tests in which oil and

elastomers have been in contact for longer duration.
Friction in full film (soft ehl) regime

Friction coefficients for different elastomers are different and this is due to
the different viscoelastic behaviour of the elastomers.
9
Two body abrasive wear and friction of sealing
elastomers in unidirectional lubricated sliding
Materials and test parameters

Materials:
• Four different types of sealing
elastomers (NBR, ACM and FKM)
• The lubricant was monoester
Tear tests
Abrasive wear tests
The samples aged in the lubricant for 2 weeks at 120ºC and then the changes
in their weights and tear strength were measured
10
Abrasive wear
6
5
Abrasive wear (mg)
3
2
1
0
NBR-1 NBR-2 FKM ACM
Dry Lubricated
Load: 10 N, Speed: 3.1 mm/s, Abrasive grit size: #500
Influence of lubricant on the abrasive wear, weight change, tear

strength and friction coefficient is most for ACM!
Wear particles examination
Wear particles (particularly from ACM) in dry sliding

get aggregated but in lubricated sliding dispersed!
11
Friction coefficient
1.5
Friction coefficient
1.2
0.9
0.6
0.3
0
NBR-1 NBR-2 FKM ACM
Dry Lubricated
Load: 10 N, Speed: 3.1 mm/s, Abrasive grit size: #500
• Apart from FKM, presence of the oil resulted in a decrease in

friction coefficient as well as the tear strength of the elastomers,
especially for ACM
Concluding remarks
• In boundary lubrication, the ACM and FKM have shown the lowest
and highest friction coefficients respectively.
• Friction coefficient of an elastomer in boundary lubrication may
decrease or increase with time and it may be due to the oil absorption
or extraction of some elastomer’s constituent respectively.
• In EHL regime, the friction coefficients of FKM and HNBR have the
lowest and highest values respectively.
• Depending on the wear mechanism and the oil-elastomer
compatibility, the presence of lubricant may decrease or increase the
wear of elastomers.
12
Concluding remarks
• Tribology of elastomer is highly complex; influenced by several
factors such as counterface surface topography, interaction with
lubricant etc.
In another study, we have found both leaching (extraction of

elastomer constituents by the lubricant) & absorption of
lubricant in elastomer material.
Salient publications
 Mofidi, M., Prakash, B., “The influence of lubrication on two body abrasive wear of
sealing elastomers”, Journal of Elastomers and Plastics, 2011, 4, 19-31.
 Mofidi, M., Prakash, B., Two body abrasive wear and frictional characteristics of
sealing elastomers under unidirectional lubricated sliding conditions, Tribology:
Materials, Surfaces & Interfaces, 2010, 4, 1, 26-37.
 Simmons, G. F., Mofidi, M., and Prakash B.,"Friction evaluation of elastomers in
lubricated contact: a comparison of different test methodologies", Lubrication
Science, 2009, 21, 10, 427-440.
• Mofidi, M., Prakash, B., Persson, B.N.J., Albohr, O., Rubber friction on (apparently)
smooth lubricated surfaces, J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 20 (2008) 085223 (8pp).
• Mofidi, M. R., and Prakash, B., “Influence of counterface topography on sliding
friction of some elastomers under dry sliding condition”, Proceedings of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers, Part J, Journal of Engineering Tribology (2008) 222, 5,
667-673.
• Mofidi, M. R., Kassfeldt, E. and Prakash, B., “Tribological behaviour of an elastomer
aged in different oils”, Tribiology International (2008), 41, 9-10, 860-866.
13
Thank you for your kind attention!
14

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Tribology of Sealing

Tribology Days 2012 Örnsköldsvik

 low modulus of elasticity & high

*Seals account for major part of

Challenges in tribological testing of elastomers!

Normal Average contact

Elastomeric materials Hardness Tensile strength Elongation Density

Surface roughnesss of steel rings

• Friction coefficient decreased after a running-in period and

Dry frictional behaviour: Influence of sliding speed

Speed dependence of friction is quite anomalous;

FKM Worn particles

• Powdery worn particles observed on the ACM resulted lower friction

Frictional behaviour of sealing elastomers

A block on ring test configuration was

Test parameters and procedure

 Running in for 50 minutes at a sliding velocity of 18.33 mm/s to reach

Purple lines show friction coefficients in tests in which oil and

Friction in full film (soft ehl) regime

Materials and test parameters

Influence of lubricant on the abrasive wear, weight change, tear

Wear particles examination

Wear particles (particularly from ACM) in dry sliding

• Apart from FKM, presence of the oil resulted in a decrease in

In another study, we have found both leaching (extraction of

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