IMPLEMENTING VIRTUAL PROTOTYPING IN RUBBER SEAL MANUFACTURING

AND TESTING
1 1 2
Philippe KLEIN , Frédéric FRADET , Hossam Metwally
1
GAMMA POINT, Saint Avold, France
2
ANSYS, Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA

ABSTRACT The second step after the seal has been

designed is the manufacturing, typically
This case study highlights the entire design and extrusion, process. Rubbers and TPE do swell
testing process, virtual prototyping, of an upon extrusion. Hence, predicting what the
extruded automotive aluminum reinforced rubber required shape of an extrusion die needs to be,
seal. First, the expected deformation of two to obtain the final seal cross section, is not a
similar shapes of the rubber seal will be trivial task. This is especially the case when
analyzed. The design that will result in a more multiple materials are used in the same seal.
uniform deformation and hence better sealing Typical, multiple die design iterations are used
performance will be chosen for production. to reach the correct die design that will give the
Then, to obtain the required extrusion die profile required shape. This can be an expensive and
that will be used to manufacture that seal shape, time consuming process in terms of time, labor,
the process of inverse die design will be and material.
implemented. In this procedure, the final seal
cross section is used to obtain what the required The current case study demonstrates how the
die lip shape should be so that after die swell the process of virtual prototyping can be very
final profile is obtained. Finally, to verify the successfully implemented in seal design and
entire die performance, detailed flow analysis is manufacturing. The first step involves the use of
carried on the entire extrusion die and the flow ANSYS FEA model to predict the seal final
balance is verified. shape and deformation under loaded conditions.
This is done for two seal shapes. The design
that provides the required deformation will then
INTRODUCTION be selected to be extruded. Then, in step two,
ANSYS Polyflow will be used to obtain the
Rubber seals are very common in automotive, required die lip cross section of an extrusion die
appliances, construction applications, household that will yield the required seal cross section. As
items to mention a few. Seals, as opposed to an added complexity, this seal has an Aluminum
gaskets, are excepted to perform certain sealing insert.
functions between two, or more, surfaces where
at least one of them is moving. Depending on MODELING STEPS
the application, seals may be required to prevent
gas flow, liquid flow (leakage), and solid
particles from penetrating and reaching Two steps are considered. In the first, ANSYS
unwanted areas. In general, that means that the FEA is used to model the transient deformation
seal needs to fill what could be a very of the metal reinforced seal. Two different
complicated shape with a predefined shapes are considered. A general hyper-elastic
deformation force. This in turn in many cases model is used to represent the EPDM rubber.
leads to the seal be constructed out of different The Aluminum insert is considered to be flexible.
materials that deform differently. It is very In step 2, ANSYS Polyflow is used to predict the
common that a rubber seal be composed of a die exit cross section as well as predict the flow
dense rubber, a sponge like rubber, and even a uniformity through the entire die.
metal insert. FEA has been traditionally used to
model the large deformation for the seal under MODELING
loaded conditions. Non-linearity due to large
deformation, self contact, and material Material
properties (hyper-elasticity) has to be taken into
account. For the extrusion simulation, the EPDM rubber
viscosity is represented by a power law model:
Where
μ = viscosity, Pa.s
γ = shear rate [1/s]
k = consistency index [=176.5]
n = power law index [= 0.26]

Seal Designs
Figure 1 shows the two seal designs under
consideration. A vertical steel plate represents
the moving surface that will deform the seal.
Figure 2, Extrusion Die Geometry

Mechanical analysis
The total deformation of the two seal designs is
shown in figure 3. The same scale is used in the
two plots. It is evident that the second design is
having less deformation under the same load
which is desired in this case. The maximum
deformation is reduced by 25% as a result of the
design modification.
(a) Design 1

(b) Design 2 (a) Total deformation of design 1

Figure 1, seal designs
.
The seal geometry consists of a bulb section
and a u-shaped section that contains three
winglets. There is also a u-shaped aluminum
insert imbedded in the seal.

Extrusion Die Geometry

The extrusion die geometry is shown in figure 2.
From a single inlet that is connected to the (b) Total deformation of design (2)
extruder, the flow is distributed around the
aluminum insert. The insert is continuously fed Figure 3, total deformation under loaded
during the extrusion process. conditions
Extrusion Simulation: Prediction of Extrusion Simulation: Internal Die
Die Lip Shape Flow

To obtain the required cross section of the seal The result of the inverse extrusion simulation,
representing the second design, ANSYS i.e. the required die lip shape, can be written out
Polyflow’s inverse extrusion capabilities will be as an IGES file. The file can be fed back to the
utilized. In this model, the required final seal full CAD model for the entire die. The final step
profile is fixed and as an output, the die lip cross would be to investigate the flow balance in the
section is obtained. Figure 4 describes the full extrusion die with the modified die lip shape.
extent of this simulation domain. Figure 7 shows the pressure drop needed to
push the material through the die.

Figure 5, inverse extrusion simulation extent Figure 7, pressure drop across entire die
The output of the inverse extrusion simulation is
the required die lip shape (cross section) that Moreover, and most importantly, the flow
will result in the required seal shape. Figure 6 uniformity at the die exit needs to be checked
shows a comparison between the actual profile and verified. The internal die simulation reveals
and the die lip shape needed. The effect of die that the die is balanced with the following exit
swell is very evident. It is also evident that the flow rate distribution, figure 8.
“rigid” u-shaped aluminum insert is taken into
account.

Figure 8, exit flow distribution

Figure 6, die lip (red) vs. final profile (blue)

 172nd Technical Meeting of the Rubber
Division 2007, Cleveland, USA
Conclusions and Future Work 6. M.J. Crochet, A.R. Davies, and K. Walters,
“Numerical simulation of Non-Newtonian
The entire process of designing a rubber seal Flow,” Elsevier, New York (1984).
with a metal insert using virtual prototyping is 7. J. Dooley, "Simulating the Flow in a Film Die
discussed and outlined. After the seal shape has
Using Finite Element Analysis," SPE-ANTEC
been selected, the extrusion die needed to
obtain the seal shape is also designed using the Technical Papers, 36, 168 (1990).
inverse extrusion capabilities of ANSYS
Polyflow. The outlined virtual prototyping
approach covers both the product performance
as well as the manufacturing of the product
itself.

The outline procedure can be further improved

by optimizing the seal shape within an
optimization loop to meet more strict
performance criterions. In the current study, only
two seal shapes have been compared with each
other. Implementing an optimization algorithm
can certainly provide a more optimized shape.
Then, the inverse extrusion capability can
similarly be used to obtain the required die lip
shape.

References

1. H. Metwally and P. Lee, "Optimization and

Sensetivity Analysis of a Film Die", SPE's
ANTEC 2012, Orlando, USA
2. P. Lee, L. Dietsche, J. Dooley, and H.
Metwally, "Improving Flow Uniformity from
a Film Die by Geometry Modification Using
a Three Dimensional Finite Element
Optimization Technique", SPE's ANTEC
2011, Boston, USA
3. M. Choudhary and J. Kulkarni, "Modeling of
Three-Dimensional Flow and Heat Transfer
in Polystyrene Foam Extrusion Dies",
Polymer Engineering and Science, 2008.
4. T. Marchal, T. Burton, G. Franceschetti, J. De
rijcke, C. Chauvin, and H. Metwally,
"Numerical Balancing of coextruded Dies : A
Validation Study with a TPV-Based Hose",
SPE’s ANTEC 2007, Cincinnati, USA
5. J. Mallet, H. Metwally, A. Dozolme, and B.
Debbaut, "Development of a
Computationally Fast Viscoelastic Model
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Extrusion", American Chemical Society, Inc.,