Sealing Performance of Phenyl-Silicone Rubber Based on Constitutive Model Under Thermo-Oxidative Aging.

Abstract

Phenyl-silicone rubber is the elastomer of choice for cryogenic and high-temperature static seals, yet quantitative links between thermo-oxidative aging and sealing reliability are still lacking. Here, sub-ambient (-70 °C to 25 °C) and room-temperature mechanical tests, compression set aging, SEM, FT-IR, and finite-element simulations are integrated to trace how aging translates into contact-pressure decay of an Omega-profile gasket. Compression set rises monotonically with time and temperature; an Arrhenius model derived from 80 to 140 °C data predicts 34 d (10% set) and 286 d (45% set) of storage life at 25 °C. SEM reveals a progressive shift from ductile dimple fracture to brittle, honeycomb porosity, while FT-IR confirms limited surface oxidation without bulk chain scission. Finite element analyses show that contact pressure always peaks at the two lateral necks; short-term aging increases in the shear modulus C₁₀ from 1.87 to 2.27 MPa, raising CPRESS by 8~21%, yet this benefit is ultimately offset by displacement loss from compression set (8.0 mm to 6.1 mm), yielding a net pressure reduction of 0.006 MPa. Critically, even under the most severe coupled condition (56 days aging with compression set), the predicted CPRESS remains above the 0.1 MPa leak-tightness criterion across the entire cryogenic service envelope. This framework provides deterministic boundaries for temperature, aging duration, and allowable preload relaxation, enabling risk-informed maintenance and replacement scheduling for safety-critical phenyl-silicone seals.