Research on Sealing Performance and Structural Optimization of Foot-Shaped Slip Ring Seals for Reciprocating Seal Shafts

In order to study the optimal size and sealing performance of the foot-shaped slip ring for reciprocating seal, the loading method of fluid pressure penetration is used to simulate the effect of fluid medium pressure on the seal, and the multi-objective optimization of the geometry of the slip ring is carried out based on optimization software to obtain the best combination of parameters for the foot-shaped slip ring. The effects of slip ring geometry, pre-compression and working pressure on Von Mises stress and contact pressure were investigated using the finite element method. The results show that the optimized geometry of the foot-shaped slip ring can reduce the maximum contact stress on the main sealing surface from 108.5 MPa to 75.22 MPa (a reduction of 30.7%) and decrease the maximum Von Mises stress of the slip ring from 62.84 MPa to 41.57 MPa (a reduction of 33.8%), thereby greatly reducing the wear of the slip ring while ensuring reliable sealing. In the static sealing condition, a smaller pre-compression (1.2–1.3 mm) leads to stress concentration in the O-ring, and the recommended pre-compression range is 1.4–1.6 mm. In the dynamic sealing condition, the effect of pre-compression on the sealing performance is greater than that of reciprocating motion speed on the sealing performance, and the foot-shaped slip ring seal is found to be more suitable for low-speed operation at 0.1–0.2 m/s. The optimized design provides a data-driven methodology for enhancing the reliability and service life of reciprocating seals in high-pressure environments.