Principal research areas on mechanical face-seals
Abstract A critical review of world literature on radial face-seals is presented in order to further understanding of seal operation and to obtain some elements of a design method for optimization of their performance. The principal areas examined are hydrostatic, hydrodynamic and boundary lubrication of the faces, and in particular cavitation and the influence of different constructive parameters on the dynamic behaviour of these seals.
The Prediction of Film Thickness in a Mechanical face Seal with Circumferential Waviness on both the face and the seat
The effect of two-period waviness on both the face and the seat of a mechanical face seal is examined theoretically in this paper. A closed-loop cyclic solution of the two-dimensional Reynolds' equation including squeeze-film effects is described. Results for a 45 mm diameter seal are presented which show that squeeze-film effects play an important role in protecting the fluid-film over parts of the cycle where the entraining effect is small. The analysis can be extended to allow for misalignment of the sealing faces and for the incorporation of mixed-lubrication theory.
The eccentric face seal with a tangentially varying film thickness.
Eccentric face seal with tangentially varying film thickness, analyzing leakage flow proportional to eccentricity and surface waviness