Observations and Analysis of Mechanical Seal Film Characteristics

Abstract

The history of mechanical seal interface studies is summarized and the underlying unity of different approaches is presented diagrammatically. The distinction between “cavitation” and “vapor-transition” is discussed and photographs of seal films are presented to demonstrate similarities. An analytical approach to the calculation of film cavitation boundaries is presented together with a total flow conservation numerical technique. Results from each are presented and it is concluded that cavitation extent will often be greater than expected using over-simplified treatments.