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Influence analysis of secondary O-ring seals in dynamic behavior of spiral groove gas face seals

  • Tribology and Lubrication
  • Published:
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Abstract

The current research on secondary O-ring seals used in mechanical seals has begun to focus on their dynamic properties. However, detailed analysis of the dynamic properties of O-ring seals in spiral groove gas face seals is lacking. In particular a transient study and a difference analysis of steady-state and transient performance are imperative. In this paper, a case study is performed to gauge the effect of secondary O-ring seals on the dynamic behavior (steady-state performance and transient performance) of face seals. A numerical finite element method (FEM) model is developed for the dynamic analysis of spiral groove gas face seals with a flexibly mounted stator in the axial and angular modes. The rotor tilt angle, static stator tilt angle and O-ring damping are selected to investigate the effect of O-ring seals on face seals during stable running operation. The results show that the angular factor can be ignored to save time in the simulation under small damping or undamped conditions. However, large O-ring damping has an enormous effect on the angular phase difference of mated rings, affecting the steady-state performance of face seals and largely increasing the possibility of face contact that reduces the service life of face seals. A pressure drop fluctuation is carried out to analyze the effect of O-ring seals on the transient performance of face seals. The results show that face seals could remain stable without support stiffness and O-ring damping during normal stable operation but may enter a large-leakage state when confronting instantaneous fluctuations. The oscillation-amplitude shortening effect of O-ring damping on the axial mode is much greater than that on the angular modes and O-ring damping prefers to cater for axial motion at the cost of angular motion. This research proposes a detailed dynamic-property study of O-ring seals in spiral groove gas face seals, to assist in the design of face seals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Songtao Hu, Weifeng Huang, Xiangfeng Liu & Yuming Wang

Authors
  1. Songtao Hu
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  2. Weifeng Huang
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  3. Xiangfeng Liu
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  4. Yuming Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiangfeng Liu.

Additional information

Supported by National Key Basic Research Program of China(973 Program, Grant No. 2012CB026003), and National Science and Technology Major Project of China(Grant No. ZX06901)

HU Songtao, born in 1989, is a PhD candidate at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. His research interest is mechanical seals.

HUANG Weifeng, born in 1978, is currently an associate professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. His research interest is mechanical face seals.

LIU Xiangfeng, born in 1961, is currently a professor and a PhD candidate supervisor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China. His research interest is machine design and mechanical face seals.

WANG Yuming, born in 1941, is currently a professor and a PhD candidate supervisor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China, and an academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering. His research interest is the fluid sealing technology.

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Hu, S., Huang, W., Liu, X. et al. Influence analysis of secondary O-ring seals in dynamic behavior of spiral groove gas face seals. Chin. J. Mech. Eng. 29, 507–514 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2016.0327.039

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3901/CJME.2016.0327.039

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