Title

Incremental finite element method for thermomechanical contact part II: Application to elastomeric seals

Abstract

In Part I, an incremental finite element formulation was introduced to model thermomechanical contact, which is a type of boundary condition which occurs widely in pressure vessel applications, for example at supports. A new gap function was introduced and a compact expression was derived for the contribution of contact to the tangent stiffness matrix, which serves as the Jacobian matrix for solution by Newton iteration. Part II applies the formulation to elastomeric seals, which are essential components of pressure vessel systems. Of particular concern is the accuracy with which high pressures ensuing from confinement are modeled. A three field formulation is adopted, combing a displacement field, a temperature field, and a pressure field introduced to satisfy the constraint of nearincompressibility. Typically, commercial finite element codes model elastomers using a hyperelastic element, which is not coupled to the thermal field. Here, a thermohyperelastic constitutive model for nearincompressible elastomers, introduced by the authors, is used. The tangent modulus matrix ensuing from the constitutive model is derived in compact form using Kronecker product notation. An application of great interest is seals. A special purpose finite element code implementing the general formulation has been written and applied to a natural rubber seal which is subject to thermal and mechanical loading and confinement., say by being pressed into a well. The computations have been validated in various ways, and are illustrated in graphical form. In particular, pressure contours in the seal are shown as a function of degree of compression and of time. The great amplification of pressure due to confinement is captured.

Publication Date

12-1-1997

Publication Title

American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP

Volume

356

Number of Pages

9-12

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

Socpus ID

0030692158 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/0030692158

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS