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Study of Oil Seals On Automotive Shock Absorber
Study of Oil Seals On Automotive Shock Absorber
810204
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ISSN 0148-7191
Copyright © 1981 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
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810204
Shock Absorbi
ive Suspensic
Yoshio Ohtake,
Yoshio Kawahara,
and Hiroshi Hirabayashi
Nippon Oil Sea! Industry Co., Ltd.
(Japan)
Yasuo Yamamoto
and Susumu iida
NOK, Inc.
U. S. A.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING good sealing tion energy from outside after utilizing viscous
characteristics, the following oil seals for resistance which a lubricant enclosed in a tube
reciprocating motion as shown in Table 1 are organizes, flowing through narrow olifice.
currently used for the application of a shock A Type-C absorber, on the other hand, has
absorber of automotive suspension. This oil construction which encloses both lubricant and
seal for reciprocating motion (an absorber seal) inert gas in a condition bordering on a free
fulfills its sealing fucntion to protect the piston in a tube. It has a mechanism for ab-
leakage of oil through the narrow clearances sorbing the vibration energy from outside due to
between a rod guide and a piston rod. At the the viscous resistance of the lubricant and the
same time an absorber seal, because of its low reaction of the enclosed gas. In recent years
frictional characteristics, is closely related particularly, this type of absorber has a strong
to the function of the vibration system of the application for some models of automobiles due
suspension which maintains seating-comfortabili- to the great improvement in automotive comfort
ty, good maneuvrability, and safe landing capa- (2 and 3).
bility CD* Fig. 1 shows three different types From a practicality point of view, the
(Type-A, -B, and -C) of automotive shock absor- relationship between the typical absorber seal
bers. A Type-A absorber is twin tube construc- configuration, as shown in Table 1, and the
tion, and is generally used for automotive rear three types of absorbers, as shown in Fig. 1, is
axles as in wishbone type suspension. A Type-B as follows: seal shape A is suitable for minute
absorber is monotube construction (conventional vibration conditions under high pressure , and
strut), and is generally used for automotive
front axles as in strut type suspension. As you
can see in this figure, Type-A and Type-B absor- *Numbers in parentheses designate References at
bers have a mechanism for absorbing the vibra- end of paper.
-ABSTRACT
0148-7191 /81/0223-0204$02.50
Copyright © 1981 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.
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2 810204
Table 1 - Typical shapes of shock absorber seals TEST APPARATUS AND CONDITIONS
and their peculiarity
TEST APPARATUS FOR INVESTIGATING FRICTIO-
NAL CHARACTERISTICS - Test apparatus is shown
Shape Peculiarity diagrammatically in Fig. 2.^ A specimen (T) was
installed onto a housing fry which was fixed
This shape having excellent to a driving case QJ). A test shaft (5) was
fine shock amplitude resi fixed to a body portion through a load cell (&)
stance under high press and was born by the guide QT). A lubricating
oil \2j was supplied to a circular chamber
ure is used for rear defined by the driving case and the test shaft.
absorber. The driving case (Y) was reciprocated with the
This shape having excellent velocity which changed sinusoidally by means of
prescrived oil mechanism. The friction force
anti-dust-, long durabili between the specimen and the test shajt was
ty performance and l i p - detected by means of the load cell (V) andwas
B followability is used recorded continuously on an oscillograph (&j
through a strain meter (T) during a test. The
for strut type absorber. lip temperature was measured by using an Alumel-
Chromel thermocouple (9J of 0.02cm diameter
inserted into the lip near the spring pocket and
This shape having excellent recorded continuously on an outobalance type
An absorber seal is a very important and TEST CONDITIONS FOR DURABILITY TEST - The
critical component for automotive suspension. durability test was conducted under the condi-
In spite of the importance of understanding its tions of two kinds of stroke length of 2 mm and
sealing and frictional characteristics from a 60 mm, two kinds of oil d and e as shown in
design or practical point of view, unfortunately Table 2, and three different frequencies of cycle
these characteristics have not necessarily and 1, 3 and 5 Hz. The test seal is the same as that
sufficiently been made clear yet (4). In this used in the friction characteristics test except
paper, sealing characteristics of an absorber that in testing the amount of oil evaporation (5),
seal are analized on the basis of the sealing a test seal configuration (shown as Sample 2 in
theory of an oil seal for reciprocating motion Fig. 4) was used. Test shafts were adjusted to
together with consideration of indispensable have a surface roughness of Rmax=0.5jUm. Shaft
design factors, practical expansion from the eccentricity of 0, 0.2, 0.5 and 1 mmTlR was
experimental stage and their problems. given in the case of testing its followable
Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
810204 3
limit of shaft eccentricity. In order to inves- placed on frictional wave-form one on top of
tigate the influence of sealing durability with another, and that the oil film is unstable.
different surface roughness, five different test In Fig. 6, the coefficient of friction f
shafts, with surface roughness between 0.5 and will be expressed as follows:
3lim, were used. Typical example of surface f = F/Pr [1]
roughness of 0.5 and 3 i/m is shown in Fig. 5. where F = (Fp + F^)/2 ; Maximum frictional force
Rubber materials and their Shore hardness of Fp = F at the time of pumping stroke
test specimens (Hs A - JIS) are shown in Table 3. FH = F at the time of motoring stroke,.
Now, duty parameter G will be introduced as a
TEST RESULTS QN FRICTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS physical property to express the lubricating
- Frictional wave-form is shown in Fig. 6 in condition between the lip leading edge and the
which the test oils a, b, and c (as shown in shaft surface. Then G will be expressed as
Table 2) were applied. Frictional wave-form follows:
resembles a rectangle under the conditions of G = Dytfu/Pr [2]
lower viscosity of oil and lower frequency cycle. where D = shaft diameter
Frictional wave-form is, however, changed to JU - viscosity of oil
resemble a sinusoidal wave under the condition u = shaft speed.
of higher viscosity of oil and higher frequen-
cies of cycle. (In Fig. 6, M.S. represents a A typical example shown in Fig. 7 expresses
motoring stroke, and P.S. represents a pumping the relationship between f and G which has been
stroke.) Under the conditions of lower visco- obtained in the experiment with absorber seals.
sity of oil and lower frequency of cycle, it In the area of G value less than 2xI0~6, f
has been observed that the minute vibration is decreases with increasing G, but in the area of
Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
4 810204
seal (6), O-ring (7), and a lip seal {8}, similar gradient will be selected. According to inverse
result (as shown in Fig. 7) has been obtained. theory, the condition to be sealed has been
Specifically, in the f-G graph, the following given as follows:
relationship is obtained in the area of hydro- dp [5]
dynamic lubrication, dxImax- .> dx max.M
f =^GV2 [3] where j d p / d x | m a x . P maximum pressure
The equation [3] will not be obtained in the gradient of oil side
area of non-hydrodynamic lubrication, and it has pressure distribution
a characteristic that f increases with decreas- on pumping stroke
ing G in the area of G value less than 2xl0~6
(as shown in Fig. 7). Therefore, G value of
2xl0~6 (named hereafter to G c value) means the |dp/dx(Imax-M - maximum pressure
point that the lubrication state changes from gradient of atmospheric
hydrodynamic lubrication to non-hydrodynamic side pressure distri-
lubrication. bution on motoring
In applying the inverse theory of hydro- stroke
dynamic lubrication (9), and in assuming the A typical example is shown in Fig. 9 which was
contact pressure distribution as shown in Fig. 8, obtained by photoelastic experiments. In this
the frictional characteristics of hydrodynamic experiment the stress concentration is observed
lubrication will be expressed by the following at the leading edge of the contact area, and the
equation: realization of equation [5] is confirmed.
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810204 5
19
m*c
3.8
Note
For friction
Marks materials «tf
b 70 15 testing A NBR A 84°
c 470 27 B NBR A 8 6°
d 60 13 For performance C FKM A 83°
e 26 5 testing
D NBR f"\ / &m
<P 3 4
iMm
Material- C 4>10
shaft surface condition, etc.) compared to that
of the developmental stage. A field leakage
in X^" problem, therefore, can be prevented before
occurring if a seal manufacturer and a user can
maintain a close relationship with technical
i communication.
Kinds of Frequency Hz
oil 1
i M.S 1 kg
vldP/dxImax^
Shaft
Air
side
(a) I n case of single UP nV fc'^% L——Metal case
MPidxUx.Pi
^v6p/dx|max.M1
fdP/dx| m a x ,p 2
JdP/dXJmaa.M2 Trim-
angle
v
Aproach
angle b (Contact width)
(b) In case of double lip
Fig. 9 - Example of photoelastic stress patterns
Fig. 8 - Definition of maximum pressure gradient of an absorber seal
Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
810204 7
example is shown in Fig. 11 to show that the edge type seal, as shown in Fig. 12 {B), shows
amount of evaporated oil will be accelerated a constant contact width of about 0.2 mm in the
when shaft surface temperature is higher than range o f £ ^ 0.5 mmTIR, and the contact width
50°C. At the temperature of 100°C, the amount decreases locally in the case of £,= 1.0 mmTIR.
of evaporated oil will be 4.2xl0~6 cmVs-cm 2 . The reason of this smaller variation of the
The amount of evaporated oil will be expressed contact width in double lip-edge type seal is
as q » l cup, in the case of shaft diameter of considered that a lip-edge of atmospheric side
10 mm, a stroke length of 10 mm, and working functions as a guide to the shaft which helps
hour of 20 hours. This value is not small, and the followability of a lip-edge of oil side to
sometimes is misunderstood to be the leakage of the shaft. Therefore, it is clear that double
oil from a seal. lip-edge type seal shows good sealing character-
istics for a strut type absorber to which side
SHAFT ECCENTRICITY - In the case of an force is applied.
absorber seal, particularly in the case of a
seal for strut in Fig. 1, shaft eccentricity LIP MATERIAL AND SEALING CHARACTERISTICS -
will be given due to its side force. There are In the case of an absorber seal, there is a
various seal configurations, but a seal must be tendency for the permanent compression of a lip
chosen in a way that shaft eccentricity is portion to be directly influenced. Fig. 13
considered to be very important as a strut type illustrates the test results of seal durability
absorber. Fig. 12 illustrates the variation of after a test seal was installed around a shaft,
lip contact width to the shaft, developed in the was dipped into the oil tank, and was heated for
circumferential direction, of a single lip-edge a certain amount of time.
type seal and a double lip-edge type seal. The
single lip-edge type seal, as shown in Fig. 12(A), Depending on lip material, the border-line
shows a constant contact width of 0.1 mm in the between sealing and leaking will be different.
case that the shaft eccentricity is zero. At oil temperature of 100°C, the border-line for
However, in the range of £,5 0.2 mmTIR, the lip material A will be 60 hours, and for lip
contact width becomes unstable, and the contact material B 200 hours. This difference is due to
width corresponding to the direction of the the different deformation (permanent compression)
shaft eccentricity increases and the contact at the contact area of different lip material.
width at the opposite side decreases to zero Depending on oil temperature, the amount of time
and furthermore a narrow clearance occurs at that the leakage occurs will be shortened because
that side. On the other hand, the double lip- of the different pressure distribution which is
100 .-6
6x10
50
30 —- — (C }
fef
r
L r J
3*
c) \
10 en
E
E
°/H
5 O
3 Frequency : 5 Hz a.
^ - St roke ■. 5 mm a;
5h
_ rS f ughness : 0-^m
1 c
OU :a o
0.5 / c\ E
<
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 U 1.6 0
0 50 100 150
Qn mar Shaft surface temperature
_- 1-8
£ 1-6 PtarR" Exentricity<mm)|Shapeaf seailip 120 i
el -*
g 1-2
1
u
o 1 10 -Cis,\
Leak
* 1.0 ^
4)
100 \ < 5*
g0.6 3
<-*
0.2 & 90 s
0 E
360 * 80 Seaf
^n-.-jio . decree
N
70
5 10 30 50 100 500 1000
(A) In case of single tip-edge type
Dipping time . Hr
Fig. 12 - Relation between among contact width of 00 0.2 04 0.6 0.8 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
a lip, shaft eccentricity and eight points on the x , mm x , mm
circumferential direction of a lip
(a) First lip (b) Second lip
P-Mo
Series I
M-P3
6 P-M j-^m^ss-^i
Series II © Rf?SE
M~P Slight
Series 01 <? P * M wear
9 M-P
Heavy
N *~ — 0 — — — — —© wear
o"o._ o
-o -o-
10 20 30 40
(b) In case of stroke length
Stroke length (mm) 2 mm
Fig. 15 - Relation between oil-film collapse of
lip/shaft interface and reciprocating condition Fig. 16 - Rubbing surface states of a lip after
of a lip prescribed running time
According to equation [6] G increases with shock absorber. Decrease of interference will
increasing Rmax- This will mean that the region initiate decrease of the followable limit, and
of non-hydrodynamic lubrication will be widened will become one of the important factor of leak-
in proportion to the increase of Rjnax- Fig. 17 age. Therefore, the selection of oil will
illustrates an example of the experimental result become an important subject.
in which the relationship of equation [6] is Fig. 20 illustrates the reliability of a
qualitatively supported. seal by way of Weibul distribution which is used
for a strut type suspension. The value of m is
EFFECT OF THE MEDIUM TO BE SEALED - Fig.18 different based on the kind of oil; m = 0.4 for
illustrates the relationship between lip/shaft oil d and m = 2.0 for oil e. The reliability of
interference of an absorber seal and dipping a driving distance of 100,000 km will be obtained
time in the air and in the oil tank, when with m values of 0.025% for oil d, and 0.9% for
material A, as shown in Table 3, is tested. Lip oil e. In the case of oil e, the heat generation
interference is decreases very rapidly in a in a shock absorber has become greater, and this
short period of time when a seal is dipped in heat generation has influenced to the decrease
the oil tank. This phenomena will indicate the of lip interference of the seal. Finally leak-
decrease of the followable limit of a lip again- age has occurred due to the decrease of the
st shaft eccentricity, and will also indicate followable limit of the seal. This result not
the importance of accurate calculation based on only indicates the great importance of the
kind of oil and oil temperature. selection of oil to be used for an absorber in
order to increase an automobile's vibration
CHARACTERISTICS IN THE FIELD - Fig. 19 characteristics, but also indicates the neces-
illustrates the relationship between driving sity of thorough consideration of the life time
distance and lip interference. The decrease of of the absorber seal.
interference against driving distance is differ-
ent , depending on the kind of oil, d or e. CONCLUSIONS
Particularly in the case of oil e, the decrease
is observed to be quite rapid. This difference This paper has revealed that the sufficient
has mainly been caused by the difference of performance characteristics of a seal for a
temperature due to heat generation within a shock absorber have been secured by establishing
Downloaded from SAE International by North Carolina State Univ, Tuesday, September 18, 2018
10 810204
X10
250
200 r
]
V
150
^ 100
c i
J 100 200
Dipping time
300
, Hr
400
0
0
X 1
/
2 3 U
ference and oil swelling of a lip
Rmax,, JJ HI
Fig. 17 - Relation between Gc-value and shaft
surface roughness, R
max
0.05
003
Gt005_.^..---d
0.003 - ^
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