• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.38 no.12
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• pp.1379-1385
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• 2014

Even the rough prediction of the product test time before the lifetime test of mechanical component begins would be of use in estimating cost and deciding how to keep up with the test. The reliability predictions of mechanical components are difficult because failure or degradation mechanisms are complicated, and few plausible databases are available for lifetime prediction. Therefore, this study conducted lifetime predictions of elastomeric U seals that were respectively installed in a hydraulic actuator and a pneumatic actuator using lifetime models and a field database based on failure physics and an actual test database obtained from the NSWC handbook. To validate the results, the predicted failure rates were compared with the actual lifetime test results acquired in the lab durability tests. Finally, this study discussed an engineering procedure to determine the coefficients in the failure rate models and analyzed the sensitivity of each influential parameter on the seal lifetime.