Optimal Design of Low Friction Seals for Aerospace Actuators Based on Response Surface Method

The structural parameters of the seal directly affect the friction performance of the reciprocating seal and determine the service life of the seal. For the low friction combination seal structure of an aerospace actuator, a two-dimensional model is established by the finite element method to investigate the influence of three structural parameters on the contact stress distribution, which include the pre-compression rate, the upward inclination angle of the wear ring, and the inner surface width of the wear ring. Aimed to reduce the sealing friction, the response surface method is used to optimize the structural parameters in terms of the simulation data. The results show that the friction is much higher in the instroke than in the outstroke. The pre-compression rate of the seal and inner surface width of the wear ring have a greater influence on the instroke friction than the upper inclination angle of the wear ring. Through the response surface method, the optimal dimensional parameters of the seal structure are obtained, and the friction of the optimized seal structure during the instroke is effectively reduced. The research has a certain engineering guiding significance for the optimization design of the aero-actuator seal.