Thermo hydrodynamic characteristics of spiral groove gas face seals operating at low pressure
Abstract Thermo hydrodynamic behaviors of spiral groove gas face seals are investigated for the cases of low seal pressure. Pressure and temperature fields of gas film are calculated, and then influence of thermal distortion on seal performance are analyzed. It is found that spiral grooves lead to complex film temperature distributions and rotational speed results in the increase of whole film temperature. But the shear heat and pumping effect of spiral grooves have little influence on film temperature gradient along the leakage direction. The face thermal distortion, forming divergent clearance along the leakage direction, makes the opening force decrease and the leakage increase. A higher seal pressure and clearance will result in a larger thermal distortion. And the rotational speed may enhance the face thermal distortion further in some low pressure cases.