The behaviour of elastomeric hydraulic seals as they reciprocate has been studied for many decades. Their friction and wear characteristics are significant for the reliability and performance of a hydraulic system. The lubricating film formed between a cylinder and the sela can be analysed by combining hydrodynamics with models of elastiomer behaviour, but the resulting equations have a large numer of unknowns and have yet to be resolved satisfactorily to agree with experimental results. The position of the seal within its housing while it is reciprocated is one such unknown.
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