Application of Load-Sharing Concept to Mechanical Seals

Abstract

Mechanical seals are mechanisms that are used to prevent fluid leakage. Since the seal surfaces are in contact with one another, hydrodynamic and contact forces are functions of surface roughness. Additionally, since the lubrication regime under specific operating conditions such as low speed or high load causes the seal to operate in the mixed lubrication regime, thus the contact of asperities plays an important role. The primary purpose of this paper is to apply the load-sharing concept to study the behavior of a mechanical seal in a mixed lubrication regime. The predicted results are compared to the published data from the literature, showing acceptable accuracy. The model presented in this paper can predict the performance of the mechanical seal system in a short execution time while providing acceptable accuracy by considering the surface roughness effect.

Keywords

• mechanical seals
• asperities
• load-sharing concept
• mixed lubrication regime