Numerical Modeling of Contact Pressure in Vane Seals

The sealing contact pressure is one important parameter in evaluating the sealing performance of vane seals. The paper proposes a new numerical approximation method to calculate contact pressures in vane seals. The model considers the fact that the seal, made by the elastomeric rubber, is nearly incompressible and can’t be compressed in three principal directions at the same time. Being compressed in two of the three principle directions, e.g. in y and z directions, the seal expands in the third direction, namely, the x-direction. With reasonable results derived in the model, the width of the vane groove for the seal should be a little wider than the initial width of the seal. The results are in consistent with classical sealing theories and experiments on O-ring seals.Copyright © 2009 by ASME