Analytical evaluation of the peak contact pressure in a rectangular elastomeric seal with rounded edges

The contact pressure is considered for an elastomeric rectangular seal with rounded edges. An asymptotic matching is performed between an available analytical expression of the contact pressure that neglects the finiteness of the seal dimensions and a fracture mechanics solution describing a periodically laterally cracked strip of finite width. This matching provides a corrected formula for the peak contact pressure that accounts for the finiteness of the seal dimensions. The analytical expression for the peak contact pressure is validated versus finite element predictions for a large family of seal geometries and, in particular, for a seal reference shape extracted from the pertinent literature. An appraisal of the finite deformation effect has been carried out numerically.