ABSTRACT
O-ring type elastomer seals are common in different industries. Friction plays a critical role on the setting and actual performance of the components. Design for gland dimensions, compression levels, extrusion gap size and pressure ratings are well known in the industry. The viscoelastic effects however, are not commonly accounted for. Simulation packages use fixed friction coefficients, or pressure dependent ones. If this is the case, then dependence of frictional behaviour is purely obtained from the instantaneous stress response. Temperature changes are then only related to changes in elastic modulus, ignoring viscoelastic behaviour altogether. Also, polished surfaces still have a significant roughness contribution to friction at higher setting speeds (>10mm/s). An experimental O-ring friction testing is used to observe the effects temperature, surface roughness, speed and pressure on rubber friction. FEA is used to obtain the normal force to help calculate changes in the coefficient of friction.
