The friction process occurs in most structures, especially in contact between two faces with relative motion. The process of friction and abrasion affects the productivity and performance of equipment. In this study, the simulations and experimentations are formed to understand the friction and wear properties of hydraulic rubber seals. The tribometer test rig is developed to investigate rubber samples' friction and abrasion properties with different contact conditions. An observation structure to measure the contact area of the rubber sample also was constructed. The experiments are performed with different contact conditions (dry contact, wet contact, mud contact), different geometry of sample (half-cylinder, half-sphere), quite different contact directions (sliding direction axial and sliding direction lateral), fillet radius, contact angle or rubber material with different sliding velocities and normal forces. In addition, the contact process of rubber seals is simulated and equations for seal wear for the specific experimental conditions are formulated.:CHAPTER 1 Introduction .....................................................................................1 1.1 Motivation and objectives of the thesis…………….………..…..….........…….1 1.2 Structure of the dissertation.........................................................................3 CHAPTER 2 State of the Art………………………………………………...………....4 2.1 Water hydraulic seal.....................................................................................4 2.2 Fundamental tribology..................................................................................7 2.3 Experimental Investigation...........................................................................15 2.4 Simulation....................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 3 Test setup........................................................................................21 3.1 Tribometer test rig........................................................................................21 3.2 Setup for experimental investigation with rubber block……….........………...24 3.3 Setup for experimental investigation with a hydraulic seal………........……..32 3.4 Setup for Simulation………………………………………………..…................37 CHAPTER 4 Friction characteristics of the rubber block………………..…...….38 4.1 Influences on friction characteristic…………………………….…...........…….39 4.2 Test configuration and analysis of measured data…………………..............42 4.3 Results of experiments................................................................................44 4.4 Summary ……………………………………………….……………..............….58 CHAPTER 5 Experimental investigation with hydraulic seals……………….…..60 5.1 Test configuration…………………………………………………….................60 5.2 Result of experimental investigation ………………………….............………64 5.3 Summary…………………………………………………………..............…..….82 CHAPTER 6 Simulation…………………………………………….......……….…..83 6.1 Contact model………………………………………………….............………..83 6.2 Results of simulation……………………………………….…….............….…..85 6.3 Wear equation………………………………………………….............……...…94 6.4 Summary ………………………………………………………...............………102 CHAPTER 7 Conclusions and Recommendations …………….…………………..104 7.1 Summary and conclusion ……………………………………..................……104 7.2 Recommendations…………………….………………………............…….….108 References………………………………………………...…………….....……...…..109