Design of Experimental Setup for Investigation of Leakage in O-Rings

Elastomeric O-ring seals play a critical role in sealing fluids in variety of applications across the industries. In spite of their importance, systematic experimental leakage investigations on O-ring seals have been rarely conducted. In this paper, we design an experimental setup to conduct leakage experiments on O-ring seals at different amounts of compression and different gas pressures. The experimental setup is designed to measure different aspects of leakage such as leak initiation pressure, leak rate and circumferential leak distribution. Preliminary experiments are also conducted to measure leak initiation pressures for O-ring seals made of Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR), Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (HNBR) and fluoro elastomer (FKM). The test setup is expected to allow experimental investigations that help in modelling leakage and also in evaluating the performance of new, old and damaged seals