Numerical study on mechanical responses of AHR and BWD packer under a cyclic loading

For AHR and BWD packers which are commonly used in gas storage, the mechanical behavior and sealing properties are comparatively studied in this paper by the numerical simulations and experimental verification. First of all, through the experimental data fitting, the Yeoh equation is adopted for the constitutive relationship of the hyper-elastic rubber used in the packers. Based on the ABAQUS explicit FEM algorithm, the mechanical behaviors of the packer during the setting process and under working conditions with a cyclic loading are discussed and the stress risky spots of the sealing rubber are investigated. The results obtained in this work could be helpful for the engineering application of the packer in gas storage.