The effect of tapered edges on lubrication regimes in surface-textured elastomer seals

The paper focuses on modeling a hydraulic elastomer seal cross-section for improving the effect of surface texturing in Soft Elasto Hydrodynamic Lubrication. The model consists of textured elastomer seal having a cross section combined of composite tapered and flat land, sliding relative to a rigid smooth counterpart in the presence of viscous lubricant. The hydrodynamic lubrication and the elasticity problems are solved simultaneously. A parametric analysis is performed to obtain the optimum surface texturing parameters and the improved cross section. Ranges of different possible lubrication regimes are also discussed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.