Numerical Modeling of Dynamic Sealing Behaviors of Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

Abstract

A numerical model is developed for the dynamic analysis of gas lubricated spiral groove face seals. Effects of the rotor runout, misalignment, face contact, as well as the stiffness and damping of the secondary seal are considered. Seal axial and angular motions and key parameters such as torque, power loss, and flow rate are obtained by a global time integration scheme, which traces the time history of the dynamic sealing behaviors. The analysis of gas film lubrication, face contact, and the seal dynamics is cast as an inverse problem and the solution is obtained iteratively at each time step. Dynamic tracking motion and key sealing characteristics of a representative spiral groove gas seal undergoing transient operations are presented.