Research Project: Biogenic Hydraulic Seals

Hydraulic rod seals require good chemical resistance to the hydraulic fluid as well as high resistance to abrasive wear. Commonly, hydraulic rod seals are made of thermo-plastic polyurethane (TPU) based on fossil raw materials. The aim of the research project is to develop sustainable high performance TPU by replacing conventional raw materials with regenerative biogenic structural components.

Therefore, advanced tribological test methods are developed for hydraulic rod seals manufactured from high-performance TPU with regenerative raw materials. In particular, the test rigs are intended to enable time-accelerated testing of extrusion behaviour and wear behaviour with varying hydraulic fluids in order to evaluate the performance of new TPU prototypes.

> detailed project description (.pdf)