Life Assessment of the Fluoro-Rubber Sealing Gasket Based on an Accelerated Degradation Test

The research object is the fluoro-rubber sealing gasket in the sealing structure of a certain underwater launch device, and its service life is predicted through accelerated degradation tests. Accelerated degradation tests were conducted on cylindrical rubber specimens under constant temperature stress at 160°C, 170°C, 180°C, 190°C, and 200°C, separately. The relationship between environmental temperature and aging reaction rate was established based on the test data. Under the condition of 23°C and achieving a compression permanent deformation rate of 25%, the calculated storage life of the sealing gasket is about 44.94 a. Rubber sealing gaskets with equivalent aging levels of 6 a, 8 a, and 11 a were obtained based on accelerated degradation tests, and they were subjected to airtightness tests; the results indicate that the service life of the fluoro-rubber sealing gasket is greater than 11 a, providing a basis for the use and maintenance of the device.