Reliability estimation of mechanical seals based on bivariate dependence analysis and considering model uncertainty

The reliability estimation of mechanical seals is of crucial importance due to their wide applications in pumps in various mechanical systems. Failure of mechanical seals might cause leakage, and might lead to system failure and other relevant consequences. In this study, the reliability estimation for mechanical seals based on bivariate dependence analysis and considering model uncertainty is proposed. The friction torque and leakage rate are two degradation performance indicators of mechanical seals that can be described by the Wiener process, Gamma process, and inverse Gaussian process. The dependence between the two indicators can be described by different copula functions. Then the model uncertainty is considered in the reliability estimation using the Bayesian Model Average (BMA) method, while the unknown parameters in the model are estimated by Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. A numerical simulation study and fatigue crack study are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the BMA method to capture model uncertainty. A degradation test of mechanical seals is conducted to verify the proposed model. The optimal stochastic process models for two performance indicators and copula function are determined based on the degradation data. The results show the necessity of using the BMA method in degradation modeling.