Effect of stress relaxation on the sealing performance of O-rings in deep-sea hydraulic systems: A numerical investigation

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jestch.2024.101654
• Publication Date: 2024-02-19T11:00:15Z
• Authors: Jia-Bin Wu; Li Li; Pin-Jian Wang
• Keywords: Shrinkage; Subsea; Stress relaxation

A reliable O-ring seal is an important guarantee for the stable running of deep-sea hydraulic systems and execution completion subsea tasks. Stress relaxation rubber materials under low-temperature conditions has impact on sealing performance, especially when coping with a sudden sharp increase in clearance height. In this paper, physical stress characteristics nitrile at low temperature 4 °C were tested. On basis, finite element numerical model structure utilized was developed. Then, performance conditions, together height increase, simulated. study effect parameter changes also carried out. The results show that reliability structures continues to deteriorate due volume shrinkage material. safety margin decreases significantly occurs, little recovery achieved after long time. Compared standard structure, increasing initial compression can effectively enhance its reliability.