Example of Technology Transfer of Hyperelastic Seal Simulation



Figure 1. SolidWorks Geometry

 DRD assisted a Fortune 500 company in simulating the performance of a hyperelastic seal under high operating pressures. DRD first performed the analysis and then trained engineers from our customer to do this type of analysis themselves. Training involved the transfer of SolidWorks geometry to ANSYS, hyperelastic model selection, model setup and solution, and results verification.

A 3D assembly was provided to DRD in the form of a SolidWorks file (Figure 1). DRD used ANSYS to create the finite element model and perform the simulation.

The assembly had an initial interference from the assembly process that had to be resolved before the internal pressure was applied to determine the seal performance.

The analysis involved large deflections, nonlinear contact, and hyperelastic strains greater that 250%. An animation of one-quarter of the seal while the pressure is ramped up is shown in Figure 2 (pipe walls removed for clairity).

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Figure 2. One-Quarter Seal Model

Figure 3. Two Dimensional Animation		 Figure 3 contains a 2D cross section animation of the seal. Shown with gray lines are the pipe walls that the seal was pushed against.

DRD can simulate elastomers with many different types of higher order material laws such as Mooney-Rivlin, Ogden, Gent, Yeoh, Polynomial, Neo-Hookian, and Arruda-Boyce.