Effect of fillers and environmental gas on wear of rubbers in reciprocating sliding contact

Joichi Sugimura1,2, Kazumi Okada 2, Hiroyoshi Tanaka1,2

1 International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, 2 Research Center for Hydrogen Industrial Use and Storage, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

ABSTRACT: This paper describes an experimental study on wear of rubbers for high-pressure hydrogen gas seals in reciprocating sliding. Reciprocating sliding tests are conducted with NBR and EPDM rubbers filled with different fillers and AISI 316L stainless steel in hydrogen, air and in vacuum by using a pin-on-disk type friction test rig. Fillers include carbon black and silica. The rubbers exhibit a variety of wear behaviors from light wear to severe delamination depending on size and concentration of filler materials and plasticizers. They generally show less wear in hydrogen than in air, and less wear with smaller carbon black. Some rubbers filled with larger carbon black and silica tend to be damaged by cracking rather than wear. The mechanisms of the deferent behaviors with fillers and environments are discussed.