Mechanical Seal Lubrication

ON THE LUBRICATION
OF
MECHANICAL FACE SEALS
Harald Lubbinge
The research project was sponsored by Flowserve B.V.

and was carried out at the University of Twente.
ISBN: 90-3651240-9
Printed by FEBO druk B.V., Enschede
c
Copyright 1999
by H. Lubbinge, Enschede
ON THE LUBRICATION OF MECHANICAL FACE SEALS
PROEFSCHRIFT
ter verkrijging van

de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Twente,
op gezag van de rector magnificus,
prof.dr. F.A. van Vught,
volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties
in het openbaar te verdedigen
op vrijdag 15 januari 1999 te 15.00 uur
door
Hans Lubbinge
geboren op 9 juni 1971
te Giethoorn
Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door:
Promotor:
Prof.ir. A.W.J. de Gee
Assistentpromotor: Dr.ir. D.J. Schipper
voor Tineke
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is sponsored by Flowserve B.V., which is gratefully acknowledged.
I would like to thank the members of the tribology group, who created a
pleasant work environment during the last four years: Ton de Gee, Johan
Ligterink, Hans Moes, Wijtze ten Napel, Dik Schipper, Kees Venner, Laurens
de Boer, Willy Kerver, Walter Lette, Erik de Vries, Jan Bos, Bernd Brogle,
Rob Cuperus, Edwin Gelinck, Rudi ter Haar, Qiang Liu, Henk Metselaar,
Elmer Mulder, Daniel van Odyck, Patrick Pirson, Matthijn de Rooij, Jan
Willem Sloetjes, Ronald van der Stegen, Harm Visscher, Andre Westeneng
and Ysbrand Wijnant.
Special thanks are deserved by:
Ton de Gee, my promotor, for his valuable contribution to this thesis. Edwin
Gelinck, who was my roommate during the last 2 years, for the many useful
discussions and suggestions. From Flowserve, Jan Keijer, Seb Bakx, Jan van
der Velden and Erik Roosch for the discussions and their support. The employees of Flowserve in Dortmund for lapping and measuring seal faces. Gerrit
van der Bult, Willie Olthof and Willie Kerver for making parts for the test rig.
From the Philips laboratories, Bram Pepers and Cor Adema, who accurately
prepared the seal faces for testing. Arie de Jong of the Netherlands Foundation
for Research in Astronomy for the interference microscope measurements. The
employees of the IMC, who made some specific parts of the test rig. Gerben te
Riet o.g. Scholten of the former AID, who did a great job with respect to the
electronics of the test rig. Laurens de Boer and Erik de Vries for their technical assistance concerning the test rig. Ieke van Gaalen and Peter Wijlhuizen,
who worked on my project for their MSc. degree and delivered a significant
contribution to my thesis. Marcel de Boer for his help with the design of the
test rig. The ladies of the secretariat, Debbie Vrieze, Annemarie Teunissen
and Carolien Post for their administrative assistance. Katrina Emmett for her
help concerning the English language. Lieselot IJsendoorn for her contribution
to the design of the cover.
I especially thank my mentor Dik Schipper, for his stimulating discussions,
ii
Acknowledgements
comments on this thesis and, moreover, his optimism and great support.
Laurens and Erik are also thanked for their assistance as paranimf.
Although he cannot read this, Bob is also thanked, because of his pleasant
company during the weekends and the evenings at the university.
I thank my parents for their encouragement and support.
Finally, I thank my girl-friend Tineke for being my best friend, for her love
and patience.
Harald Lubbinge
Enschede, January 1999
SAMENVATTING
Om de lekkage van een mechanische asafdichting te minimaliseren, als gevolg
van de steeds strenger wordende milieu eisen, dient de separatie zo klein mogelijk te zijn. Als gevolg hiervan zal zowel de wrijving (vermogens verlies) als
de slijtage (verkorte levensduur) toenemen.
Er dient dus gezocht te worden naar een operationele conditie waarbij de slijtage en de wrijving aanvaardbaar zijn, en de lekkage tot een minimum wordt
gebracht. Wanneer gekeken wordt naar de Stribeck curve, waarin de wrijvingscoefficient wordt uitgezet tegen bijvoorbeeld de snelheid of een of ander
smeringskental, zijn er drie smeringsregimes te onderscheiden. Dat zijn het
grensgesmeerde regime, het gemengde smeringsregime en het hydrodynamisch
gesmeerde regime. Grensgesmeerd zou ideaal zijn voor een minimale lekkage,
maar is echter niet geschikt met betrekking tot de wrijving en slijtage. Daarentegen bestaat er onder in het gemengde smeringsregime, in het gebied van
de overgang van hydrodynamisch naar gemengd gesmeerd, een situatie die wel
geschikt is. Hier is namelijk de separatie klein, zodat de lekkage relatief laag
is. Daarnaast zijn zowel de slijtage als de wrijvingscoefficient laag.
In de literatuur bestaan er verschillende modellen die de filmdikte in een mechanische asafdichting bepalen. Een nadeel van deze modellen is dat meestal uitsluitend naar de hydrostatische druk component van de af te dichten vloeistof
wordt gekeken, terwijl vaak, zo niet altijd, een hydrodynamische component
aanwezig is. De hydrostatische druk component wordt bepaald door de mate
van coning die er zich op de afdichting bevindt. Het resultaat van een dergelijk
model is dat het theoretisch voorspelde gedrag niet overeenkomt met de praktijk situatie.
Vaak bevinden er zich op het contactoppervlak van een mechanische asafdichting een tweetal golven (waviness) in omtreksrichting. Deze ontstaan gedurende
het voorbewerkingsproces, het vlakleppen van de afdichting. Maar ook tijdens
bedrijf onstaan er tengevolge van slijtage, mechanische deformatie en thermische effecten, golven in omtreksrichting op het oppervlak. Dergelijke golven
met amplitudes van enkele tienden van een micrometer, zijn voldoende om
een aanzienlijke hydrodynamische vloeistofdruk te genereren, met als resultaat een grotere separatie en daarmee een hogere lekkage. Een gewenst effect
van een dergelijke golving is dat, mocht de hydrostatische component falen om
iv
Samenvatting
een of andere reden, deze golving kan blijven zorgen voor de nodige smering
en vloeistofdruk in het contact. Een ander nadeel van de bestaande modellen is dat uitsluitend wordt gekeken naar volle film condities, terwijl juist,
onder gemengde smeringscondities, tevens gekeken dient te worden naar een
contactmodel.
In dit proefschrift wordt daarom een model gepresenteerd waarmee een volledige
Stribeck curve voor een mechanische asafdichting berekend kan worden, en
daarmee het overgangsgebied van volle film naar gemengde smering als functie
van de operationele condities. Dit model is gebaseerd op de combinatie van een
contact model met een filmvergelijking. In dit model, dat overigens isothermisch is, wordt rekenschap gehouden met onder andere de golving, coning,
geometrie van de asafdichting, ruwheid, druk van de af te dichten vloeistof en
belasting. Uit literatuuronderzoek bleek dat een filmvergelijking voor mechanische asafdichtingen, die ook rekening houdt met hydrodynamische effecten,
niet bestond en deze is daarom ontwikkeld en in dit proefschrift beschreven.
Om gebruik te kunnen maken van het contactmodel, diende er een schatting
gemaakt te worden van het nominale contactoppervlak. In dit proefschrift is,
gebaseerd op numerieke berekeningen, een funktiefit gemaakt voor het nominale contactoppervlak als funktie van de amplitude van de golving, de coning
hoek, de elasticiteitsmodulus en de belasting.
Tenslotte, om het model te verifieren, is er een testopstelling ontworpen en
gemaakt waarmee Stribeck curves aan mechanische asafdichtingen gemeten
kunnen worden. Ook zijn er slijtagemetingen en belasting proeven uitgevoerd. Slijtagemetingen om de veranderingen in de microgeometrie te kunnen
analyseren, en belastingproeven om de belastbaarheid voor de wrijvingsexperimenten vast te stellen.
Het wrijvingsmodel komt zeer goed overeen met de gemeten wrijvings curves.
Het effect van de operationele conditions, zoals de geometrie (ruwheid, coning
en golving), druk van de af te dichten vloeistof en de belasting, op de transitie
van volle film smering naar gemengde smering is geanalyseerd. Afhankelijk
van de operationele condities, wordt de transitie van volle film smering naar
gemengde smering sterk bepaald door onder andere de coning hoek, de belasting en de ruwheid en in mindere mate door de amplitude van de golving, de
ruwheidsverdeling en de gereduceerde elasticiteits modulus.
ABSTRACT
In order to minimize leakage of a mechanical face seal, due to environmental
regulations, the separation between the faces should be as small as possible.
As a consequence, an increase of friction (power loss) and wear (reducing life
time) occurs. Hence, an operational condition is sought for which wear and
friction are acceptable, and, moreover, the leakage is minimized. Taking the
Stribeck curve into consideration, in which the coefficient of friction is plotted
as a function of the velocity or some lubrication parameter, three lubrication
regimes can be distinguished. These are the boundary lubrication regime, the
mixed lubrication regime and the hydrodynamic lubrication regime. Boundary
lubrication would be the ideal regime regarding leakage, but it is not suitable
with regard to friction and wear. In the lower region of the mixed lubrication
regime, however, i.e. the transition region from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication, a suitable operational situation exists. Here, the film thickness or
separation is relatively small, and, therefore, the leakage is low. In addition,
wear as well as friction are low.
In the literature, different models are described which calculate the film thickness in a mechanical face seal. Unfortunately, these models mostly only concern the hydrostatic fluid pressure, which is the result of the pressure of the
fluid to be sealed, whereas often, if not always, a hydrodynamic component is
also present. The hydrostatic pressure is determined by the amount of coning
present on a seal face. The result of such a model is that the theoretically
predicted behaviour does not correspond with the practical situation.
Often, a two-wave waviness exists on the circumference of a seal face. These
waves develop during the preprocessing, i.e. flat lapping of the face, but also
during seal operation when, as a result of wear, mechanical distortion and
thermal effects, waves develop on the face circumference. Such waves with
amplitudes of a few tenths of a micrometer, are enough to generate a considerable hydrodynamic fluid pressure, resulting in a larger separation and, hence,
a greater leakage. A desirable effect of waviness is that, when the hydrostatic
component fails for some reason, lubrication and interfacial fluid pressure of
the faces is maintained. Another disadvantage of such models is that they
only strictly apply in the full film lubrication regime; for the mixed lubrication
regime a contact model must also be incorporated.
vi
Abstract
Hence, in this thesis, a model is presented which is able to calculate a complete

Stribeck curve for a mechanical face seal and, as a consequence, the transition
from full film to mixed lubrication as a function of the operational conditions.
This model is based on a combination of a contact model and a film thickness
equation. The model, which is isothermal, incorporates waviness, coning, face
geometry, roughness, pressure of the fluid to be sealed and load. From the
literature it appeared that no film thickness equation for mechanical face seals,
which also accounts for hydrodynamic effects, exists and this is, therefore,
developed and described in this thesis. In order to use the contact model, a
nominal contact area is required. In this thesis, based on numerical data, a
function fit is made for the nominal contact area as a function of waviness
amplitude, coning angle, modulus of elasticity and load.
Finally, in order to verify the model, a test rig was designed and built. With the
test rig, Stribeck curves of mechanical face seals were measured. Furthermore,
wear measurements and load carrying capacity tests were performed. Wear
measurements were carried out to analyze the change in micro-geometry, load
carrying capacity tests were performed to determine the maximum applicable
load during friction experiments.
The friction model agrees very well with the friction experiments performed.
The effect of the operational conditions, i.e. geometry (roughness, coning and
amplitude), pressure of the fluid to be sealed and load on the transition fullfilm lubrication to mixed lubrication is shown. It was found that, depending
on the operational conditions, the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed
lubrication significantly depends on the coning angle, load, and roughness and
to a lesser extent on the waviness amplitude, the height distribution and the
reduced modulus of elasticity.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Samenvatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nomenclature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xi
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . .
1.1 Mechanical face seals . . .
1.2 Problem definition . . . .
1.3 Objective of this research .
1.4 Overview . . . . . . . . . .
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6
2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals . . . . . .

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1 Inside vs. outside pressurized seals . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.2 Balance ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.3 Hydrostatic lubrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.3.1 Effect of seal radii on hydrostatic pressure distribution parallel flat faces . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.3.2 Effect of coning on hydrostatic pressure distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4 Hydrodynamic lubrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4.1 Thermal wedge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4.2 Viscosity wedge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4.3 Microasperity lubrication . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4.4 Asperity-asperity collisions . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.4.5 Squeeze film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.5 Force equilibrium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3 Summary and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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viii
Contents
3. Mathematical model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2 Modelling friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.1 Friction under full film lubricated conditions . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Friction under boundary lubricated conditions . . . . . .
3.2.3 Friction under mixed lubricated conditions . . . . . . . .
3.3 Contact model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.1 Nominal contact area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.3.2 Function fit for the nominal contact area . . . . . . . . .
3.4 Full film model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.1 Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.2 Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.3 Cavitation boundary conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.4 Dimensionless variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5 Numerical results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5.1 - and -dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5.2 Pf -dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5.3 -dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.5.4 c -dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.6 Film thickness equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.6.1 Asymptotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.6.2 Film thickness for Pf = 0 . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.6.3 Film thickness for 0 < Pf 1 . . . . . . . . . .
3.4.6.4 Film thickness for 1 < Pf 1.75 . . . . . . . .
3.4.7 Friction under full film lubricated conditions . . . . . . .
3.4.8 Leakage under full film lubricated conditions . . . . . . .
3.5 Calculating Stribeck curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.1 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2 Preliminary model results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.1 Waviness amplitude, A . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.2 Coning angle, a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.3 Roughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.4 Non-Gaussian height distribution; 2n -height distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.5 Axial load FN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.6 Viscosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.7 Reduced modulus of elasticity . . . . . . . . . .
3.5.2.8 Hydrostatic fluid pressure . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23
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24
25
26
29
32
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60
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67
67
68
69
70
70
70
71
Contents
ix
4. The test rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2 Design of the test rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.1 Stationary part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.2 Rotating part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.2.3 Data acquisition and control of the operational parameters
4.3 Validation of the test rig; preliminary results . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.1 Friction curve measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.2 Load carrying capacity tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.3 Wear rate measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
85
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5. Verification of model with experimental results . . . . . . . .

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 Experimental procedure and materials . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1 Experimental procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.2 Material specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3 Theoretical vs. experimental results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.1 Effect of micro-geometry on hydrodynamic pressure generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.2 Macroscopic features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.2.1 Waviness amplitude, A, variations . . . . . .
5.3.2.2 Radial coning angle, a . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.2.3 Influence of macroscopic features on the transition from full film to mixed lubrication . . .
5.3.3 Axial load variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.4 Pressure of fluid to be sealed variations . . . . . . . . .
5.3.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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6. Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

6.1 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6.2 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Appendix
A. Analytical solution of the hydrostatic
and coned faces Polar coordinates .
A.1 Flat parallel faces . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.2 Flat faces with a convergent coning . .
123
fluid pressure
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. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . .
for flat
. . . . . 125
. . . . . 125
. . . . . 126
B. Photo impression of the test rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Contents
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
NOMENCLATURE
a
ai
A
Ac
Aci
Af
Ah
AH
Anom
Anom
Aseal
b
Br
B
c
dd
ds
dh
Db
Di
Dm
Do
E0
Ei
f
fci
fc
FC
Ff
Ff
coning angle
contact radius of an individual asperity
waviness amplitude
real contact area
area of contact of a single asperity i
sealing interface area
hydraulic loading area
hydrodynamic contact area
nominal contact area
Anom
dimensionless nominal contact area Anom = 2
b
seal area
equivalent radius of contact
Ah
balance ratio
Br =
Af
radial seal width
compliance
distance between ds and dh
mean plane of the summits heights
mean plane of the surface heights
balance diameter
inner face seal diameter
mean face seal diameter
outer seal face diameter
reduced modulus of elasticity
elasticity modulus of contacting surface i (i = 1, 2)
coefficient of friction
coefficient of friction of a single asperity i
coefficient of friction in the boundary lubrication regime
load carried by the asperities
friction force
r
pm
F
f
dimensionless friction force
Ff = 2
B pm
[rad]
[m]
[m]
[m2 ]
[m2 ]
[m2 ]
[m2 ]
[m2 ]
[m2 ]
[]
[m2 ]
[m]
[]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[Pa]
[Pa]
[]
[]
[]
[N]
[N]
[]
xii
Fi
FH
FN
Fs
G
h
H
h
hmin
Hmin
k
ks
K
p
P
p
p
pa
pC
pci
pcav
pf
Pf
ph
pH
pi
pinside
pm
po
poutside
ps
pT
qc
qm
Qm
Nomenclature
load of an individual asperity

load carried by the hydrodynamic component
axial load
spring load
duty parameter
film thickness, separation
r
h pm
dimensionless film thickness
H=
B
separation
minimum film thickness
r
hmin pm
dimensionless minimum
Hmin =
B
film thickness
[N]
[N]
[N]
[N]
[]
[m]
[]
[m]
[m]
[]
number of circumferential waves on a seal face

[]
3
specific wear rate
[mm /N.m]
pressure gradient factor
[]
pressure
[Pa]
p
dimensionless pressure
P =
[]
pm
mean pressure
[Pa]
p
dimensionless pressure
p =
[]
pi po
atmospheric pressure
[Pa]
asperity pressure
[Pa]
pressure in a single asperity i
[Pa]
cavitation pressure
[Pa]
sealed fluid pressure
[Pa]
pf
dimensionless fluid pressure
Pf =
[]
pm
Hertzian contact pressure
[Pa]
hydrodynamic pressure
[Pa]
pressure at inner seal face diameter
[Pa]
mean pressure of an inside pressurized seal
[Pa]
mean pressure
[Pa]
pressure at outer seal face diameter
[Pa]
mean pressure of an outside pressurized seal
[Pa]
spring pressure
[Pa]
total pressure
[Pa]
liquid fraction
[]
leakage
[m3 /s]
r 3
pm
qm
dimensionless leakage
Qm = 3
[]
B pm
xiii
Nomenclature
r
r
radius
dimensionless radius
rb
ri
rm
ro
Rx
s
t
U
Useal
v
vt
balance radius
inner radius
mean radius
outer radius
radius of curvature
sliding distance
time
velocity
velocity of seal face at mean radius rm
velocity
transiton velocity from HL to ML
vt
vtcal
vtexp
V
w
x
X
y
Y
z
r
r =
ro
vt
dimensionless transition velocity
vt = exp
vtcal
from HL to ML
calculated transition velocity from HL to ML
measured transition velocity from HL to ML
volume
compliance
cartesian coordinate
dimensionless coordinate
dimensionless coordinate
[m]
[]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[s]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[]
[m/s]
[m/s]
[mm3 ]
[m]
[m]
[]
[m]
[]
[m]
Greek symbols
dimensionless coning
nom
dimensionless coning angle
radius of asperities
r
pm
=a
aRx
nom =
b
B
b
r
A pm
=
B
nom
dimensionless seal width
dimensionless waviness
M L
shear rate
Adaptation parameter for hydrodynamic component
in mixed lubrication regime
[]
[]
[m]
[]
[]
[s1 ]
[]
xiv
Nomenclature
distance
dynamic viscosity
density of asperities
angular coordinate
dimensionless separation
Poissons ratio
curvature variable
after
ini
s
ci
H
h
s
ri
=
ro
density

pcav

cavitation variable
c =
pm
standard deviation of the surface height distribution
after the experiment
before the experiment
standard deviation of the height distribution of the summits
shear stress at the asperity i
hydrodynamic shear stress
distribution of the asperities
ro
dimensionless seal face geometry
=
B
angular velocity
Abbreviations
BL
HL
ML
[m]
[Pas]
[1/m2 ]
[rad]
Boundary Lubrication
Hydrodynamic Lubrication
Mixed Lubrication
[]
[]
[]
[kg/m3 ]
[]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[m]
[Pa]
[Pa]
[]
[]
[rad/s]
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1
Mechanical face seals
Mechanical face seals are used to seal a fluid at places where a rotating shaft
enters an enclosure. Figure 1.1 shows schematically the configuration of a mechanical face seal. The rotating seal is fixed to the shaft and rotates with it,
whereas the stationary seal is mounted on the housing. The secondary seals
(o-rings) prevent leakage between the rotating shaft and the rotating seal, and
the housing and the stationary seal, respectively. The rotating seal is flexibly
mounted in order to accomodate angular misalignment and is pressed against
the stationary seal by means of the fluid pressure and the spring. The primary
sealing occurs at the sealing interface of both seal faces, where the rotating face
slides relative to the stationary face. For proper functioning of a mechanical
face seal, a fluid film is maintained between the faces. In the configuration of
Fig. 1.1 the sealed fluid may also act as a lubricant. Applications of mechanical
Housing
Secondary seal
Pressurized fluid
Rotating shaft
Spring
Rotating seal
Stationary seal
Sealing interface
Fig. 1.1: Mechanical face seal, schematically.
face seals are numerous. The most common example of application is in pumps
1. Introduction
for the chemical industry. Also propellor shafts in ships and submarines, compressors for air conditioners of cars and turbo jet engines and liquid propellant
rocket motors in the aerospace industry require mechanical face seals.
Mechanical face seals have become the first choice for sealing rotating shafts
operating under conditions of high fluid pressures and high speeds, at the
expense of soft-packed glands. The reason for this is lower leakage, less maintenance and longer life. A disadvantage of face seals is that when they fail,
they do so completely, whereas a soft-packed gland can continue, although less
efficiently.
1.2
Problem definition
Due to increasing technical and environmental requirements, operational conditions are becoming more severe. Face seals have to operate at higher pressures and higher speeds, so a sufficient fluid pressure in the sealing interface is
vital if excessive wear, friction and temperature rise (frictional heating) are to
be avoided and a long seal life is to be ensured. However, a too thick fluid film
is unfavourable with regard to leakage, as this is proportional to the cube of
the film thickness. Due to environmental demands, leakage must be minimized
by reduction of the separation between the faces. From the above it is clear
that the demands with regard to optimum sealing are contradictory. Ideally,
a mechanical face seal should operate with a fluid film as thin as possible, to
reduce the leakage and to restrict wear.
In Fig. 1.2 the coefficient of friction is schematically plotted as a function of a
lubrication parameter, which yields the generalized Stribeck curve (Schipper,
1988). Figure 1.2 also shows the separation h. The lubrication parameter
is defined in many ways in the literature. It contains, for instance, the viscosity, the velocity of the surfaces, the contact pressure and the roughness
of the surfaces, see Gelinck (1999). In this graph, three lubrication regimes
can be distinguished, i.e. Hydrodynamic Lubrication(HL), Mixed Lubrication
(ML) and Boundary Lubrication(BL). The different lubrication regimes are
schematically represented in Fig. 1.3. The faces are hydrodynamically lubricated, when they are fully separated by a fluid film, due to pressure build-up,
which is caused by rotation of the faces. The load is transmitted by the fluid.
When the fluid pressure for some reason is not capable of fully separating the
mating seal faces, asperity contact will occur. Then, the load on the faces is
carried by both the fluid and the asperities. This type of interfacial contact
is called mixed lubrication. When there is no fluid pressure build-up at all,
the load is completely carried by the interacting asperities and this is called
boundary lubrication, i.e. a layer is present which protects the surface. Each
BL
ML
Separation h
Coefficient of friction f
1.2 Problem definition
HL
Lubrication parameter (log)

Fig. 1.2: Generalized Stribeck curve; coefficient of friction and the
separation are schematically plotted as a function of a lubrication
parameter.
lubrication mode is characterized by a typical friction behaviour. In the BLregime shear takes place in the boundary layers or at the interface of both
layers. When the boundary layers are damaged, direct contact between the
asperities occurs, and shear takes places at this interface or in the weaker asperities, which results in material transfer from one surface to the other. In the
hydrodynamically lubricated regime, the faces are fully separated by a fluid,
and all shear, as a result of motion of one of the faces, takes place in the fluid.
In the mixed lubricated regime, shear in both the fluid and the boundary layer
takes place. The transitions HLML and MLBL are defined by the intersections obtained by extrapolating the curves representing the coefficients of
friction of the HL regime and the BL regime, respectively, with the tangent of
the ML regime.
For mechanical face seals an optimum operational region would be around the
transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication, indicated by position a.
In this region a low coefficient of friction is accompanied by a low wear rate
(hardly any interaction between the opposing surfaces is present) and a low
leakage, as the separation is rather small. Position b, where face seals may
operate as well, will also show a low coefficient of friction and hardly any wear
as the faces are fully separated by a fluid film. However, as shown in the
graph, position b is accompanied by a much larger separation and hence, a
large leakage.
Several researchers performed friction measurements in order to establish the
transitions between the different lubrication regimes. Lebeck (1987) collected a
1. Introduction
Boundary lubrication
Mixed lubrication
Hydrodynamic lubrication
Fig. 1.3: Lubrication modes.
lot of these friction measurements and plotted them in a graph as a function of

a lubrication parameter, in this case called the duty parameter G (Fig. 1.4),
which is frequently used. The duty parameter is defined by:
G=
vr
,
FN
(1.1)
where is the dynamic viscosity, v the velocity, r the width of the seal face
and FN the axial load acting on the seal (Lubbinge et al., 1997). Figure 1.4
shows that the friction is not characterized adequately. For example the G
value for the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication differs by
at least 2 powers of 10. The reasons for this are that a) the duty parameter
G does not contain any surface roughness parameter and b) the load per unit
width does not represent the real pressure between the seal faces (Lubbinge
Coefficient of friction
1.3 Objective of this research
Duty parameter G
Fig. 1.4: Stribeck curves of mechanical face seals [from Lebeck (1987)].
et al., 1997). From this graph it is therefore clear that further investigation of
the lubrication of mechanical face seals is required.
1.3
Objective of this research
In the previous sections it was pointed out that the lubrication of mechanical face seals becomes quite complicated due to the increasing technical and
environmental demands. There are many factors that affect the interfacial
fluid pressure and thus the transition between the lubrication regimes as made
clear by Fig. 1.4. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop a model
which predicts the frictional behaviour of mechanical face seals as a function
of the operational conditions. The existing duty parameter is not adequate.
When the lubrication mode under specific conditions can be predicted, it is
possible to optimize the seal configuration with respect to leakage, friction
and wear. In this thesis the model is restricted to the iso-thermal situation.
Clearly, experimental friction data are required to verify the model. Thus, a
new test rig was designed and built to measure the friction of mechanical face
seals.
1.4
1. Introduction
Overview
Chapter 2 presents an overview of existing knowledge on the lubrication of

mechanical face seals. In Chapter 3 the development of the theoretical model
is discussed. The model is based on a combination of a modified contact model
and a newly developed film thickness equation. Chapter 4 describes the test
rig, which is used to collect experimental data to verify the model. In addition,
also wear rate measurements and load carrying capacity tests were performed
and analyzed. In Chapter 5, the experimental results are compared with the
theoretical results and, finally, in Chapter 6, conclusions and recommendations
for further research are presented.
2. REVIEW ON THE LUBRICATION

OF MECHANICAL FACE SEALS
2.1
Introduction
Already a lot of research has been performed on the lubrication of mechanical

face seals, particularly with respect to the fluid pressure between the mating
faces. The pressure generating mechanisms can be divided into two main
categories, i.e. hydrostatic mechanisms and hydrodynamic mechanisms.
The mechanism of hydrostatic pressure generation has been extensively investigated by e.g. Doust and Parmar (1986), Young and Lebeck (1982), Lebeck
(1991) and Etsion (1978a; 1978b; 1994), and it is in general well understood.
A more difficult area is, however, hydrodynamic lubrication of mechanical face
seals, because when two flat parallel surfaces slide parallel to each other in the
presence of a liquid, there is, according to the Reynolds equation, no mechanism to generate pressure in the fluid. The Reynolds equation is derived from
the Navier-Stokes equations (Reynolds, 1886). It describes mathematically full
film lubrication and, for surfaces that do not deform in the direction of flow,
is given in polar coordinates by:

1
(h)
(h)
3 p
3 p
+ 12r
,
(2.1)
h
+
rh
= 6r
r
r
r
| {z }
| {z t }
wedge term
squeeze film term
where r and are the polar coordinates within the fluid, p is the local pressure
within the fluid film, and are, respectively, the density and the dynamic
viscosity of the lubricant, h is the film thickness, and the angular velocity of
the rotating seal face. For liquids, the density variations are negligibly small
and, also because the fluid pressures are relatively low, the density can be
omitted entirely from Eq. (2.1).
The physical interpretation of the two terms which describe hydrodynamic
pressure generation is as follows:
1. Wedge term Pressure building as a result of a narrowing gap in the
flow direction of the fluid.
2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals
2. Squeeze film term Pressure building as a result of film thickness changing with time.
When two flat seal faces slide parallel to each other, there is no converging
wedge and, under such conditions there is no hydrodynamic pressure generation. If a constant load is present and both surfaces are flat, the squeeze term
reduces to zero. Therefore, separation of the flat parallel sliding surfaces can
only be achieved by hydrostatic action.
In experiments, however, it has been shown that besides the hydrostatic pressure imposed by the sealed fluid pressure, hydrodynamic pressure often develops, see e.g. Sneck (1969), Pape (1968), Stanghan-Batch and Iny (1973), Anno
et al. (1968) and Lebeck (1991). The possible reasons for this are discussed in
Section 2.2.4.
2.2
2.2.1
Principle of mechanical face seals

Inside vs. outside pressurized seals
Mechanical face seals can be mounted in two different ways in, for instance, a
pump or a sealed vessel:
1. Inside mounting. In this configuration the pressurized fluid is to be sealed
on the outside of the seal, which is called an outside pressurized seal ,
see Fig. 2.1. This is the most common arrangement.
2. Outside mounting. The pressurized fluid is on the inside of the seal as
shown in Fig. 2.2 and the seal is called an inside pressurized seal .
pa
pf
Ah
Af
Db
Af
pa
Do
Di
Fig. 2.1: Unbalanced outside

pressurized seal, internally
mounted.
Dh
Db Ah
pf
Do
Di
Fig. 2.2: Balanced inside

pressurized seal, externally
mounted.
Dh
2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals
2.2.2
Balance ratio
An important parameter, well known in the sealing industry, is the balance

ratio, which for an outside pressurized seal is defined as:

Do 2 D b 2
Ah
hydraulic loading area
.
Br =
=
=
(2.2)
sealing interface area
Af
Do 2 D i 2

For an inside pressurized seal the hydraulic loading area is given by 14 Db 2 Di 2 ,
thus

Db 2 Di 2
Ah
.
Br =
=
(2.3)
Af
Do 2 Di 2
The balance ratio controls the axial load, acting on the seal interface. When
Br is greater than 1, the seal is called unbalanced , whereas a balanced seal has
a Br -value lower than 1. Seals operating at high pressures are mostly of the
balanced type, Br < 1, whereas many low-pressure seals operate at Br > 1,
the unbalanced type.
2.2.3
Hydrostatic lubrication
Mechanical face seals always operate with a radial pressure gradient across the
face; the pressurized fluid, pf , on the one side and the atmospheric pressure,
pa , on the other side, see Figs. 2.1 and 2.2. The pressure distribution in the gap
is determined by the shape of the sealing interface and therefore the average
pressure is strongly affected by this shape. The average hydrostatic pressure
in the gap is expressed as Kpf , the K-factor (or the pressure gradient factor)
times the fluid pressure to be sealed. The following sections discuss the effect
of different seal face geometries on the hydrostatic pressure distribution.
2.2.3.1
Effect of seal radii on hydrostatic pressure distribution

parallel flat faces
As mechanical face seals are circularly shaped, the radial hydrostatic pressure
distribution is affected by the degree of curvature, expressed by the ratio of
the inner radius and the outer radius, ri /ro .
The hydrostatic pressure distribution across a seal face for the statically loaded,
parallel face situation (Fig. 2.3), Eq. (2.1) reduces to:

p
r
= 0.
(2.4)
r
r
10
Integrating this expression yields:

r
r
p
= C p = C
p = C ln r + D.
r
r
(2.5)
As shown in Fig. 2.3, the boundary conditions for Eq. (2.5) read:
p = pi
p = po
at r = ri
at r = ro .
(2.6)
Solving the equation for the integration constants C and D by substituting
ri
pi
ro
po
Fig. 2.3: Boundary conditions in the sealing interface.

these boundary conditions gives the solution for the hydrostatic pressure across
the seal face:
pi ln rro + po ln rri
p=
.
(2.7)
ln rroi
By defining r =
r
p
ri
, p =
and = , Eq. (2.7) can be written as:
ro
pi po
ro
p =
ln r
po
+
.
ln pi po
(2.8)
Figures 2.4 and 2.5 show the pressure distribution for an outside and an inside
pressurized seal, respectively, for different values of . For the sake of completeness, the exact solution for the hydrostatic pressure across a rectangular
geometry (Fig. 2.6) is given below:
p=
po pi
y + pi .
B
(2.9)
11
1
Hydrostatic pressure p
Hydrostatic pressure p
=
((d
(d
(n
(x
(
(
(d
(n
(x
((d
(
(
0
1
Dimensionless radius r
Dimensionless radius r
Fig. 2.4: Pressure distribution for different values of
for an outside pressurized
seal.
Fig. 2.5: Pressure distribution for different values of

for an inside pressurized
seal.
Here the pressure drops linearly from the higher pressure on the one side to
the lower pressure on the other side, which thus results in a mean hydrostatic
pressure of p = (po + pi ) /2.
As a result of the seal radii, the average pressure across the sealing interface
differs from a rectangular geometry, as shown in Table 2.1 and Fig. 2.7. The
difference increases with decreasing value of . Furthermore the following
applies:
lim poutside 1 and
lim pinside 0.
(2.10)
In practice, however, the value of is about 0.9, so with regard to the hydrostatic pressure, the effect of seal radii is relatively small, see Table 2.1.
As well as the seal radii, a much more important factor with regard to hydrostatic pressure in the contact is the coning of the faces. This is discussed in
the next section.
2.2.3.2
Effect of coning on hydrostatic pressure distribution
Another important geometrical feature of the seal face, which affects the hydrostatic pressure distribution between the faces, is the so-called coning or
radial taper. Figure 2.8 shows the three possible gaps. The coning is convergent if the sealing gap narrows in the flow direction of the fluid, it is divergent
12
po
pi
z
y=B
y=0
x
y
Fig. 2.6: Rectangular geometry.
0.01
0.1
0.3
0.5
0.7
0.9
pinside poutside
0.21
0.79
0.33
0.66
0.40
0.60
0.44
0.56
0.47
0.53
0.49
0.51
Table 2.1: Mean pressure in the contact for different ratios of the radii,
where pinside and poutside relate to an inside pressurized seal and an
outside pressurized seal, respectively.
if the coning narrows in the opposite direction. When the gap is parallel in
the radial direction there is no coning. As for large values of , the effect of
curvature on the hydrostatic pressure is relatively small, the hydrostatic pressure distribution has been derived in cartesian coordinates in order to show
the effect of coning. In Appendix A the Reynolds equation is solved in polar
coordinates ( << 1), expressed in dimensionless form.
The Reynolds equation in cartesian coordinates reads:
h3 p
x
+
y
h3 p
y

= 6U
h
.
x
(2.11)
13
poutside
p
p = 0.5
pinside
0
0
Fig. 2.7: Mean hydrostatic pressure as a function of .

After substituting the following dimensionless variables:
x
B
y
Y =
B
p
P =
pm
s
h Bpm
H=
B
U
X=
s
hmin Bpm
Hmin =
B
U
s
Bpm
=a
U
pf
,
Pf =
pm
(2.12)
the Reynolds equation can be written in a dimensionless form as follows:

H
3 P
3 P
.
(2.13)
H
+
H
=6
X
X
Y
Y
X
With coning only, the solution of the hydrostatic pressure distribution, Eq. (2.13),
reduces to:

3 P
H
= 0.
(2.14)
Y
Y
14
converging gap
parallel gap
diverging gap
hmin
hmin
hmin
Fig. 2.8: Three different gap geometries. In each situation the seal is
outside pressurized.
The film thickness equation for a seal face with only convergent coning reads:
H = Hmin + Y,
(2.15)
whereas for divergent coning the film thickness equation becomes:

H = Hmin + (1 Y ).
(2.16)
Solving Eq. (2.14) with convergent coning results in:

P (Y, Hmin , , Pf ) = Pf Y
(Hmin + )2 (2Hmin + Y )
.
(2Hmin + )(Hmin + Y )2
(2.17)
The hydrostatic pressure distribution in a diverging gap reads:

P (Y, Hmin , , Pf ) = Pf Y
Hmin 2 (Y 2Hmin 2)
.
(2Hmin + )(Y Hmin )2
(2.18)
Besides the coning angle of the gap, the minimum film thickness is also important for the shape of the pressure distribution, as shown by Eqs. (2.17)
and (2.18). Furthermore, the local pressure P depends linearly on the fluid
pressure Pf .
The effect of different coning angles on the pressure distribution is shown in
Fig. 2.9. Lines are plotted for four different values of , viz. 0, 0.5, 1 and 5.
The fluid pressure Pf and the minimum film thickness Hmin are taken to be
constant and set at 1.75 and 1, respectively. With increasing , the curvature
increases. In the case of convergent coning (solid lines), the resistance in the
direction of the flow increases with increasing , resulting in a more convex
curve and therefore a higher hydrostatic mean pressure. A divergent coning
15
results in a more concave curve (dashed lines) with increasing . The same
effect is observed when the minimum film thickness Hmin is varied; a smaller
Hmin results in greater curvature. In Fig. 2.10 the pressure P is plotted as a
function of the seal face width Y for different values of Hmin , viz. 0.1, 0.5, 1
and 5. The constants Pf and are set at 1.75 and 1, respectively. The solid
lines indicate convergent coning, whereas the dashed lines indicate divergent
coning.
=
5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
5
(
(
d
Seal face width Y
Fig. 2.9: Hydrostatic pressure distribution for different values of ,

Pf = 1.75 and Hmin = 1. The solid lines indicate convergent coning,
whereas the dashed lines reflect divergent coning. In the case of
= 0, the gap is parallel (dotted line).
From the above it becomes clear that the mean pressure p is strongly influenced
by Hmin when a certain degree of coning is present, as opposed to the parallel
gap case, where p is independent of the film thickness hmin , see Eq. (2.7). For a
constantly convergent coning angle, p increases with decreasing hmin , whereas
16
Hmin =
0.1
0.5
P
5
5
1
0.5
0.1
(
(
d
Seal face width Y
Fig. 2.10: Hydrostatic pressure distribution for different values of

Hmin , Pf = 1.75 and = 1. The solid lines indicate convergent
coning, whereas the dashed lines reflect divergent coning.
for a constantly divergent coning angle p decreases with decreasing hmin . The
same result is valid for the angle of coning; an increasing coning angle results
in an increasing p in the convergent case, but results in a decreasing p in
the divergent case. It is clear that sealing with a diverging taper leads to
an unstable situation. As the face seals operate in equilibrium with the fluid
pressure (the balance ratio equals the K-factor), a small disturbance (e.g. as a
result of temperature or pressure variations), resulting in decreasing hmin , will
lead to a collapse of the fluid film and severe mechanical contact of both seal
faces, accompanied by heavy wear and high temperatures.
On the other hand, a convergent coning gives a stable hydrostatic fluid film;
disturbances are immediately compensated for by the increasing mean pressure when hmin decreases. However, an excessive convergence is undesirable,
17
because it opens up the gap, reduces the stiffness and increases the leakage
rate, as shown theoretically by Cheng et al. (1968) and Lebeck (1991) and also
experimentally by Snapp and Sasdelli (1973) and Young and Lebeck (1982).
Unfortunately during operation, as a result of thermal effects, pressure distortions and wear, the taper is not constant (Young and Lebeck, 1982). In
fact, it can vary from convergent to parallel and even to divergent. Interfacial
divergence can also occur as a consequence of misalignment, (Etsion, 1978a).
When this happens, the hydrostatic pressure across the sealing interface is no
longer able to restore the seal interface to equilibrium with the surrounding
fluid pressure. In that case, it would be beneficial if a hydrodynamic pressure
generating mechanism were present, which could still separate the seal faces
by a fluid film.
From the literature it appears that a lot of research has been performed on the
subject of possible mechanisms which might lead to hydrodynamic pressure
building. Among these mechanisms, circumferential waviness seems to be the
most prominent one. The next section will discuss briefly the reviewed literature concerning hydrodynamic pressure generating mechanisms in mechanical
face seals.
2.2.4
Hydrodynamic lubrication
In the past, many different theories have been developed which describe the
mechanisms causing pressure generation in the contact of theoretically flat
parallel surfaces. An extensive literature survey and evaluation of the possible
mechanisms has been given by Lebeck (1987). Lebeck concludes that deviation from the parallel, like waviness and misalignment, is the strongest effect
causing hydrodynamic fluid pressure, but he does not exclude the possibility
that there is another, as yet unknown mechanism present (Lebeck, 1991).
Also Naus (1967) review on the possible sources of pressure build-up shows
that waviness and misalignment of the faces play an important role with regard
to hydrodynamical operation.
Stanghan-Batch (1971) demonstrated experimentally that hydrodynamic pressure developed as a result of a sinusoidally shaped two-humped surface profile
on one face, produced by the lapping process. Furthermore, carbon faces spontaneously developed waves during testing, as a result of wear. In the region
of diverging film thickness cavitation occurred, so a net hydrodynamic load
support remained. The same phenomena were observed by Pape (1968). Film
thickness fluctuations at twice shaft speed frequency were measured. Surface
topography measurements revealed a two-cycle sinusoidally shaped wave in
the circumferential direction. Pape concluded therefore that macroroughness
or waviness was the only feasible source of the observed phenomena. Ruddy
18
et al. (1982) studied the mechanism of film generation in seals, in which both
faces had a circumferential 2-wave waviness. The cyclical variation in film
thickness resulted in an axial movement of the face. Hence, also the squeezefilm term (see Eq. (2.1)) was taken into account. It was shown that low
amplitude circumferential waviness, combined with relative axial movement of
the sealing faces, generated hydrodynamic load support.
In the following sections, possible sources of hydrodynamic load support, other
than waviness and misalignment, are briefly summarized.
2.2.4.1
Thermal wedge
Fogg (1946) studied hydrodynamic lift in a thrust bearing with nominally

parallel faces and explained the lift in terms of a thermal wedge effect. As a
result of a temperature gradient in the direction of the sliding motion, a density
variation occurred, which led to the generation of hydrodynamic pressure.
When lubricant enters the bearing, it heats up due to viscous friction, which
results in a reduction of its density. Since continuity requires that the mass
flow rate must be constant, the volume flow rate has to increase, which is only
possible if there is an increasingly negative pressure gradient. This requirement
plus the boundary conditions, i.e. the pressure must become ambient at each
end of the slider, causes a load supporting pressure in the film. In his article
Lebeck (1987) shows that only under conditions of high speeds and lubrication
with oil, can some load support develop, however, for liquids like water the
thermal wedge is negligible. Therefore, the thermal wedge is not strong enough
to explain the load support under parallel sliding conditions, see also Cameron
(1966). Dowson and Hudson (1963) and Neal (1963) concluded that, rather
than a thermal wedge, thermal distortion acts as a source for the observed
load support.
2.2.4.2
Viscosity wedge
Cameron (1966) analyzed the effect of varying viscosity caused by temperature

gradients across the film. However, Dowson and Hudson (1963) showed that,
when considering parallel surfaces, this mechanism will decrease load support
rather than enhance it.
2.2.4.3
Microasperity lubrication
In this case an asperity on the surface acts like a step bearing in the fluid. The
pressure increases when the asperity is approached and decreases when the
asperity is left behind. As the pressure tends to decrease below the cavitation
pressure, the fluid starts to cavitate, and a net hydrodynamic load support
19
remains. Pape (1969) showed that microasperity lubrication does not appear
to be strong enough to explain the observed hydrodynamic load support in
flat parallel faces.
2.2.4.4
Asperity-asperity collisions
Pressure load support is supposed to develop when two asperities of the mating
rough surfaces collide in the presence of a lubricant film. This mechanism has
been studied extensively by Fowles (1975). Although some load support is
observed in the thin film lubrication regime, it is not enough to explain the
observed hydrodynamic effects in mechanical face seals.
2.2.4.5
Squeeze film
When two faces oscillate in the axial direction, for instance due to vibrations
of the machine itself, fluid pressure can be developed, see Eq. (2.1). Cameron
(1966) showed that when the medium to be sealed is compressible, a load is
carried. However, a large excitation is required, as for small movements the
load curve is practically symmetrical, resulting in a zero net load when integrating over a full cycle. At small amplitudes or at low frequencies, the viscous
forces dominate the compressible forces. Fluids are hardly compressible, so the
net pressure would be near to zero. A little load support is generated by cavitation of the fluid, as shown experimentally by Parkins and May-Miller (1984).
Finally, due to inertia effects, fluid pressure can develop, see e.g. Kuhn and
Yates (1964) and Kauzlarich (1972). More recently, Lebeck (1987) showed
that in order to develop noticeable fluid pressure, a much higher excitation
frequency is needed than is likely for mechanical face seals.
2.2.5
Force equilibrium
In the previous sections the different pressure generating mechanisms are presented, i.e. hydrostatic and hydrodynamic. The following relation applies, see
Fig. 2.11:
pf (ro 2 rb 2 ) + Fs = Kpf (ro 2 ri 2 ) + prest (ro 2 ri 2 ).
(2.19)
The left side of Eq. (2.19) represents the load on the face seal, which consists of
the spring load Fs , plus the fluid pressure pf times the balance area (ro 2 rb 2 ).
This load has to be supported by the mean hydrostatic pressure in the contact
area of the faces, which is defined as the pressure gradient factor K times the
fluid pressure pf times the face area (ro 2 ri 2 ). When the mean hydrostatic
fluid pressure is not capable of supporting the load i.e. when Kpf < Br pf +
20
ps the rest of the load must be supported by prest which consists of material
contact and/or hydrodynamic fluid pressure. Equation (2.19) can be solved
for prest and then reads:
prest = pf (Br K) +
Fs
= pf (Br K) + ps ,
(ro ri 2 )
(2.20)
where ps is the spring pressure and the balance ratio Br is defined as in

Eq. (2.2).
pf
Fs
pf
Face seal
prest
+
ro
ro
rb
ri
Fig. 2.11: Equilibrium of forces acting on a mechanical face seal [after

Lebeck (1991)].
2.3
Summary and conclusions
As stated in the introduction of this chapter, when two flat parallel faces slide
against each other, according to the Reynolds equation there is no mechanism
present which could generate any hydrodynamic fluid pressure. From the lubrication theory it is known that, at thin film lubrication, only a small variation
in the film thickness in the direction of sliding is enough to generate a considerable hydrodynamic load support. In fact, if a mechanical face seal operates
at a film thickness of 1 m, a variation of the order of 0.1 m of the flatness
would be sufficient. It was shown by e.g. Pape (1969) and Lebeck (1984) that
many factors exist which can cause a variable film thickness. For example,
during the lapping of the faces, often some waviness (Fig. 2.12) remains on the
surface as a result of non-axisymmetric loading of the face. Waviness may also
develop during the running-in period and the wear process afterwards. During
operation waviness may also develop as a result of thermal and mechanical
distortions, induced by frictional heating and the pressure of the sealed fluid,
respectively. So from the above it becomes likely that during operation the
2.3 Summary and conclusions
21
Fig. 2.12: Seal face with a circumferential two wave waviness (exaggerated).
seals are not really flat and parallel, and that an accidental source for generating fluid pressure will usually be present. In Chapter 3 hydrodynamic
lubrication in mechanical face seals will be analysed further.
22
3. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
3.1
Introduction
In this chapter the development of the theoretical friction model is discussed.

With this model the frictional behaviour of a mechanical face seal can be predicted for the complete lubrication range, i.e. from hydrodynamic to boundary
lubrication. The calculated coefficient of friction can be plotted in a Stribeck
diagram as a function of the operational conditions and interfacial shapes,
i.e. waviness and coning. The model consists of a combination of a contact
model and the full film lubrication model. For friction, the separation between
the opposing surfaces is important. In the full film regime the separation,
in combination with the lubricant properties and the operational conditions,
determines the shear rate and hence the level of friction. The same holds for
the boundary lubrication regime, where the separation determines the average contact pressure at the interacting asperities and, hence, the height of the
shear stress in these contacts.
In Section 3.2 the friction model is discussed in general. It can subsequently
be applied to mechanical face seals. The contact model is based on the work
of Greenwood and Williamson (1966); it is discussed in Section 3.3. In order
to determine the separation under full film lubricated conditions, a film thickness equation is required. The full film model is described in Section 3.4. In
Sections 3.4.7 and 3.4.8 some design diagrams for full film friction and full film
leakage, respectively, are presented as a function of dimensionless variables
which contain the operational and the geometrical parameters.
3.2
Modelling friction
The following sections discuss the friction in the contact of seal faces in the
different lubrication regimes.
3.2.1
Friction under full film lubricated conditions
In general, three components contribute to friction under full film lubricated

conditions, i.e. the rolling-or-squeezing component, the sliding component
24
3. Mathematical model
and the geometrical component. Because of the simple sliding situation in

mechanical face seals, we are mainly concerned with the sliding component.
The other two friction components are negligible; they only become of interest
in the case of pure rolling, see Moes (1997).
Sliding friction is caused by shear of the lubricant in the contact as a result
of relative movement of the mating faces. In general, the hydrodynamic shear
stress can be written as a function of the shear rate as:
H = f (),
(3.1)
where:

v
.
z
(3.2)
The shear stresses in the lubricant are relatively low. Therefore, the lubricant
behaviour in this thesis will be regarded as Newtonian, or:
H = =
Useal
.
h
(3.3)
Finally, the total friction force can be obtained by the following relation:
ZZ
ZZ
r
Ff =
dAH ,
H dAH =
(3.4)
h
AH
AH
with AH the contact area of the hydrodynamic component and Useal = r.

In order to determine the friction under full film lubricated conditions with
Eq.(3.4), the separation, h, is required. However, as mentioned in the introduction, a film thickness equation for mechanical face seals is not available. In
Section 3.4 the development of such an equation is discussed.
3.2.2
Friction under boundary lubricated conditions
In the boundary lubrication regime the friction is determined by the shear

strength of the protective boundary layers at the surface. The fundamental mechanisms, responsible for forming these layers, are physical adsorption,
chemical adsorption and chemical reaction, see e.g. Godfrey (1968). The shear
strength of the boundary layer depends on the way the layer is formed.
The friction force in the boundary lubrication regime is defined by:
Ff =
N ZZ
X
i=1 A
ci
ci dAci ,
(3.5)
25
3.2 Modelling friction
with N the number of asperities in contact, Aci the area of contact of the single
asperity i and ci the shear stress at the asperity contact i. The coefficient of
friction fci of a single asperity reads:
c
fci = i ,
(3.6)
pci
with pci the pressure in a single asperity. It is assumed that the ratio of ci
and pci is constant, fc , for all asperity contacts (Briscoe et al., 1973):
N ZZ
X
fci pci dAci = fc FC ,
(3.7)
i=1 A
ci
where FC is the total load carried by all asperities. The value of fc must be
determined from friction experiments, performed under boundary lubricated
conditions or obtained from experiments, as performed by Briscoe et al. (1973)
and Georges et al. (1992), in which the shear stress, c , of surface layers is
measured as a function of the contact pressure, pC .
3.2.3
Friction under mixed lubricated conditions
In the previous sections it is shown how the friction force is defined in the hydrodynamic lubrication regime and in the boundary lubrication regime. Now,
by combining both friction components, the friction can be calculated in the
mixed lubrication regime.
The friction force Ff is the sum of the friction force at the interacting asperities
and the shear force of the hydrodynamic component (Eqs. (3.4) and (3.5)):
ZZ
N ZZ
X
Ff =
ci dAci +
H dAH ,
(3.8)
i=1 A
ci
AH
with N the number of asperities in contact, Aci the area of contact of the single
asperity i, ci the shear stress at the asperity contact i, AH the contact area
of the hydrodynamic component and H the shear stress of the hydrodynamic
component. The coefficient of friction is defined by:
f=
Ff
.
FN
(3.9)
By substituting the Eqs. (3.3) and (3.7) into Eq. (3.8), the following expression
for the coefficient of friction can be derived:
RR
H ()
dAH
fc FC +
Ff
AH
f=
=
.
(3.10)
FN
FN
26
In order to solve Eq. (3.10), the load carried by the asperities, FC , as well as the
separation, h, must be calculated. The value of h is needed in the calculation
of (Eq. (3.3)).
In order to calculate FC the contact model of Greenwood and Williamson
(1966) is used. This is discussed in Section 3.3. In Section 3.4 a film thickness
equation for mechanical face seals is presented. This equation is needed to
calculate the separation, h.
3.3
Contact model
As mentioned previously, the contact model is based on the contact model of

Greenwood and Williamson (1966). The G&W model has been shown to be
quite accurate.
The G&W model was developed for the contact of two flat planes; one surface is
assumed smooth, and the other surface rough, shown in Fig. 3.1. Greenwood
rough surface
centre line
smooth surface
Fig. 3.1: Schematic representation of contact between a rough surface

and a smooth surface [after Greenwood and Williamson (1966)].
and Tripp (1970-71) extended the model to two nominally flat rough surfaces.
Only elastic deformation of the asperities is considered. Furthermore, it is
assumed that the asperities have spherical summits, all with equal and constant
radius . Their heights may vary randomly and the summits are uniformly
distributed over the rough surface with a density s , the number of summits
per unit area. The probability that the height of an asperity lies between s and
s + ds above some reference plane is given by (s) ds. Two reference planes
can be distinguished (Fig. 3.2):
1. The mean plane of the summit heights, ds .
2. The mean plane of the surface heights, dh .
27
3.3 Contact model
dd
ds
dh
Fig. 3.2: Schematic representation of the two reference planes, i.e. the
mean plane of the summit heights and the mean plane of the surface
heights.
In Fig. 3.2 dd is defined as the distance between the mean plane of the summit
heights, ds , and the mean plane of the surface heights, dh , which is characterized by Whitehouse and Archard (1970) by:
dd = 0.82,
(3.11)
where is the standard deviation of the surface height distribution (RMS).

The deformation of an individual asperity is described by the Hertzian equations. The contact radius ai , the area Aci , and the load Fi of an individual
asperity contact can be expressed in terms of the compliance w as:
1
ai = 2 wi2
Aci = wi
3
1
2
Fi = E 0 2 wi2
3
(3.12)
where the reduced modulus of elasticity, E 0 , is defined as:

2
1 1 2 1 2 2
=
+
.
E0
E1
E2
(3.13)
The compliance of the summit is the amount which the summit deflects in the
direction normal to the mean plane.
If the separation between the smooth surface and the reference plane of the
surface heights of the rough surface is equal to h , contact will occur for each
asperity with an original height greater than h , see Fig. 3.1.
Since w = s h , the normalized expected total area of asperity contact is
found to be (Greenwood and Williamson, 1966):

Z
h
Ac = s s Anom s
(s)ds.
(3.14)
h
s
with s the surface density of the asperities, Anom the nominal contact area
and s the standard deviation of the height distribution of the summits.
28
In the same way the load, carried by the asperities, can be found and is given
by (Greenwood and Williamson, 1966):

r
h
s 0
2
E Anom Fj
FC = s s
(3.15)
3
s
where:
3
j=
2

and Fj
h
s
Z
=
h
s
h
s
s
j
(s)ds,
(3.16)
with (s) the height distribution function. Most machined surfaces have a
Gaussian asperity height distribution, Fig. 3.3, which is given by:
2
s
1
(s) = exp
.
(3.17)
2
2
Also a real height distribution of a 3D surface measurement can be imple-
Fig. 3.3: Measured surface asperity height distribution vs. Gaussian

surface asperity height distribution.
mented, see for instance Westeneng (1996). 3D discrete surface scans can be
29
3.3 Contact model
produced using an advanced contactless interference microscope, described in

more detail by Lubbinge (1994). With the data from this device also other
parameters required, e.g. s , , s and can be calculated. Determination of
s , and s is described by de Rooij (1998).
Finally, in order to solve the load carried by asperity interaction, Anom is
required. If both faces are nominally flat, Anom is simply defined by 14 (Do 2
Di 2 ). However, if waviness and/or coning are present, which is common in
mechanical seal faces, Anom is different. In the next section Anom is determined
as a function of the waviness amplitude, coning angle, the seal dimensions, the
reduced modulus of elasticity and the load.
3.3.1
Nominal contact area
The contact of a seal face with coning and waviness can be considered as the
contact between a cylinder, with a length B, at an angle a with a smooth flat
surface, as shown in Fig. 3.4. The cylinder is represented by a parabolically
shaped body. In this Figure, a is the coning angle, B the width of the seal
Rx
B
h
B/2
x
y
Fig. 3.4: Parabolically shaped body, representing a cylinder, on a flat

surface.
face, the distance between the cylinder and the flat surface at half the seal
width, B/2, and Rx the radius of curvature of the waviness. The expression
for Rx is derived below.
The waviness on a seal face is described by a cosine function:

2k
2k
h(x) = h0 + A 1 + cos
x+
= h0 + A 1 cos
x
,
Dm
Dm
(3.18)
30
with h0 a constant, A the amplitude of the waviness, k the number of waves

and Dm the mean diameter of the seal face. In order to find the radius of
curvature at h(x) = h0 for x = 0, minus cosine is taken. Applying a Taylor
series expansion results in:
h(x) = h0 +
2Ak 2 x2
.
Dm 2
(3.19)
The expression for the gap between a cylinder and a flat surface, approximated
by a parabolic function, reads:
h(x) = h0 +
x2
.
2Rx
(3.20)
Finally, equating Eq. (3.19) with Eq. (3.20) gives an expression for Rx :
Rx =
Dm 2
.
4Ak 2
(3.21)
When the cylinder is pressed onto the flat surface, deformation occurs and
a contact is formed, defined as Anom . The expression for the gap, h(x, y), is:
Z Z
p(x0 , y 0 ) dx0 dy 0
x2
2
p
h(x, y) = +
ay +
. (3.22)
2Rx
E 0 (x x0 )2 + (y y 0 )2
|
{z
}
elastic deformation
The derivation of the expression for the elastic deformation can be found in
Dowson and Higginson (1966). Eq. (3.22) can be solved with the following
complementarity conditions:
h p = 0 and h 0 and p 0.
(3.23)
Next, by introducing suitable dimensionless groups and variables, the number of parameters in Eq. (3.22) can be reduced significantly. Eq. (3.22) is
normalized using the Hertzian dry contact parameters (Hertz, 1881):
b, the equivalent radius of the contact, defined as:

1/3
3FN Rx
b=
2E 0
(3.24)
c, the compliance, defined as:

c=
b2
Rx
(3.25)
31
3.3 Contact model
ph , the contact pressure, defined as:

ph =
3FN
2b2
(3.26)
Applying the following substitutions:

h=H c
=c
x=X b
y = Y b,
p = P ph
x0 = X 0 b
y0 = Y 0 b
yields the dimensionless form of Eq. (3.22):

Z Z
X 2 aRx
P (X 0 , Y 0 ) dX 0 dY 0
2
p
H = +
.
Y + 2
2
b
(X X 0 )2 + (Y Y 0 )2
(3.27)
(3.28)
(3.29)
(3.30)
(3.31)
The range of the spatial coordinate Y can be derived as follows:

B
B
B
B
<y<
= < Y < .
(3.32)
2
2
2b
2b
From the dimensionless equations (Eq. (3.31) and (3.32)) it follows that the
problem is a two parameter problem, i.e. the nominal contact area Anom can
be described by two parameters:
nom =
aRx
aRx
,
= r
b
3 3FN Rx
2E 0
(3.33)
B
B
= r
.
(3.34)
b
3 3FN Rx
2E 0
The variable nom incorporates the coning, whereas nom is a measure for the
radial seal width. Equation (3.31) is solved numerically, by using multigrid
techniques, see e.g. Wijnant (1998). The dimensionless nominal contact area,
Anom , is defined as:
nom =
Anom
Anom = 2 .
(3.35)
b
It is calculated by summing up the number of grid points where the pressure
P > 0, and, subsequently, by multiplying this number by the square of the
grid distance (the grid points are equidistant).
Figure 3.5 shows some results of the calculations.
Based on these data, a
fit is made for the nominal contact area Anom , which is discussed in the next
section.
32
3.3.2
Function fit for the nominal contact area
The fit for Anom can be described by two asymptotes, i.e. Anom as a function of
nom and Anom as a function of nom , respectively. Both asymptotes, as shown
in Fig. 3.6, are fitted by the following equation:
y = (A xB )E + (C xD )E
1/E
(3.36)
where x is substituted by nom or nom , respectively.

Subsequently, the two fits are combined in the same way:
Anom = y(nom )A + y(nom )A
1/A
(3.37)
where A is the fitting parameter.

The total fit reads:
h
1/3 i6
Anom =
(2.27 nom 0.4 )3 + (1.72 nom 1 )3
h
+
(3.2 nom )
i6

0.5 2 1/2
+ (2.62 nom )
1/6
(3.38)
.
The fit is accurate within 3%. Figure 3.6 shows the contact area, Anom , as
a function of nom for different values of nom .
33
3.3 Contact model
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
0.5
0
Y
0.5
0
Y
0.5
(a) nom = 0, nom = 1 and Anom = 2.029
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
0.5
(b) nom = 0.5, nom = 1 and Anom = 1.933
34
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
0.5
0
Y
0.5
0
Y
0.5
(c) nom = 1, nom = 1 and Anom = 1.516
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
0.5
(d) nom = 5, nom = 1 and Anom = 0.343
Fig. 3.5: Contact of a cylinder with a flat surface for nom = 1

and different values of nom , with on the left-hand side the pressure
distribution and on the right-hand side the nominal contact area.
Note the scaling of the axes.
35
3.3 Contact model
nom =
d(d
10
4
2
1
0.5
d((
Anom
0.1
d(Td
0.01
d(T1
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
nom
Fig. 3.6: Fit for the nominal contact area, Anom , as a function of nom
for different values of nom .
36
3.4
Full film model
In order to determine the separation, h, for mechanical face seals, a film thickness equation is required. A study of the literature showed that, as yet, no
such equation is available. A numerical program, suitable for journal bearings
(Moes, 1997), has been adapted for mechanical face seals. Plots are constructed, based on the output data of this program. Finally, fits are generated
from these plots.
In this section the procedure of the development of a film thickness equation
for mechanical face seals is discussed.
3.4.1
Assumptions
The following assumptions apply to the situation for which the film thickness
equation is developed;
Steady state model. One face is flat, the other face has a coning and/or
a sinusoidally shaped waviness with a constant amplitude, resulting in
non-time-dependent solutions. The applied load and the fluid pressure
are constant.
The number of waves is always 2, as this is the most common situation
in practice.
The model is restricted to the iso-thermal situation.
Seal face deformations due to pressure variations are neglected.
The lubricant is Newtonian and considered incompressible. The viscosity
of the lubricant does not depend on the fluid pressure.
The flow is laminar (as in fluid seals).
3.4.2
Equations
The film thickness equation will be based on a modified Reynolds equation

in polar coordinates, to which an extra parameter qc , the liquid fraction, has
been added (Eq. (3.39)). This is further explained in Section 3.4.3.
1
r

(qc h)
(qc h)
3 p
3 p
+ 6rqc h
+ 12r
.
qc h
+
rqc h
= 6r
r
r
{z } | {z } |
{z t }
|
wedge term
stretch term
squeeze film term
(3.39)
37
3.4 Full film model
In this equation the stretch term can be neglected as the angular velocity
does not vary with a change of the -coordinate. Furthermore, as one face is
assumed to be flat, the film thickness will not vary in time and, therefore, also
the squeeze term can be omitted. Equation (3.39) now reduces to:

1
(qc h)
3 p
3 p
.
(3.40)
qc h
+
rqc h
= 6r
r
r
r
For an outside pressurized face seal, the following boundary conditions apply,
see Fig. 3.7:
p = pa
p = pf
if r = ri
if r = ro .
(3.41)
Furthermore, for the pressure over the entire width of the seal face, the following applies:
p|=0 = p|=2 .
(3.42)
The film thickness for an outside pressurized seal with a convergent coning
(corresponding to an inside pressurized divergent coning) is defined as follows:
h = hmin + a(r ri ) + A(1 + cos(k)),
| {z } |
{z
}
taper
(3.43)
waviness
where hmin is the minimum film thickness, a the coning angle, A the amplitude
of the waviness and k the number of waves on the circumference, see Figs. 3.7
and 3.8. The film thickness for an outside pressurized seal with a divergent
coning reads:
h = hmin + a(ro r) + A(1 + cos(k)).
(3.44)
Equation (3.44) also applies to an inside pressurized seal with convergent coning.
Furthermore, the equations for the mean fluid pressure pm in the contact, the
leakage qm and the friction force Ff read, respectively:
Z 2 Z ro
1
pm =
p(r, ) r drd,
(3.45)
(ro 2 ri 2 ) 0
ri
rm
qm =
12
2
0

h
r
3 p
r=rm
d,
(3.46)
38
ro
ri
a
pf
pa
Fig. 3.7: Boundary conditions.
hmin
A
Fig. 3.8: Waviness amplitude.
1
Ff =
rm
Z
0
ro
ri
qc r h p
h
2 r

r2 drd.
(3.47)
When waviness is present on the face, according to the Reynolds equation a

negative pressure will occur in the diverging zones. As a fluid cannot withstand negative pressures below the vapour pressure, the fluid starts to cavitate. Mostly, researchers solved this problem by applying the Half-Sommerfeld
condition and letting p = 0 in those regions where negative pressures are calculated, see e.g. Pape (1968) and Etsion (1980). However, by doing so, the
continuity of flow across the cavitation boundary is not satisfied. The next section discusses the cavitation boundary conditions used in the present model.
39
3.4 Full film model
3.4.3
Cavitation boundary conditions
A free boundary is introduced at the exit of the pressurized film, defined by

the extra conditions (Reynolds or Swift-Stieber conditions):
p
= 0 and
p
= 0,
r
(3.48)
and so the continuity condition is satisfied. This condition may, however, lead
to problems in numerical calculations (Moes, 1997). Fortunately, as shown
by Christopherson (1941), the same result is obtained when the condition
p < pcav is not permitted during numerical relaxation of the discrete Reynolds
equation.
As lubricant starvation due to cavitation cannot be simulated in this way,
other conditions are required. Suppose that cavitation occurs and that a pure
drag flow of a mixture of liquid and gas occurs in the entire cavity, then
hydrodynamic lubrication may be defined in terms of the complementarity
condition (Kostreva, 1984). Then, for a completely filled gap, the Reynolds
equation must be supplemented by the initial conditions:
qc = 1,
qc
(p pcav ) = 0,
t
qc
0 and p pcav 0.
t
(3.49)
Immediately after the gap is no longer completely filled with lubricant, ruptured areas occur with qc < 1, and the following conditions apply:
(1 qc )(p pcav ) = 0,
1 qc 0 and p pcav 0.
(3.50)
The cavitated fraction (1 qc ) represents a cloud of evenly distributed tiny

cavitation bubbles, containing a mixture of vaporized liquid and exuded gases.
Now, according to the conditions at the cavitation boundaries (Eq. (3.50)), the
continuity of the flow will be maintained, and therefore the Reynolds cavitation
boundary condition will be satisfied simultaneously.
3.4.4
Dimensionless variables
As shown in Section 3.4.2, the film thickness equation depends on a large

number of parameters. By substituting the following parameters:
r = y,
r = y,
the following equations result:
x
,
ro
x
ro
and ri = ro B,
(3.51)
40
Reynolds equation:

qc h
y
3 p
3 p
qc h
+ 2
qc yh
= 6y 2
x
x
ro y
y
ro x
Film thickness:
kx
h = hmin + a(y r0 + B) + A 1 + cos
ro
Mean pressure:
1
pm =
ro (2ro B B 2 )
Leakage:
1
qm =
12
Friction force:
1
2
Ff =
2ro B ro
Z
0
2ro
2ro
(3.52)

(3.53)
ro
p y dydx
(3.54)

Z 2ro

p
B
h3
dx
1
2ro
y r=rm
0
(3.55)
ro
ro B
ro B
qc y hro p
h
2 yx

y 2 dydx
(3.56)
By defining a number of non-dimensional variables, the amount of computational work required can be reduced. An algorithm, Optimum Similarity
Analysis, developed by Moes (1992), is used to determine a set of dimensionless variables. Based on the former equations and variables, the following
dimensionless variables are obtained:
Variables:
x
B
y
Y =
B
p
P =
pm
r
h pm
H=
B
qc
X=
(3.57)
(3.58)
(3.59)
(3.60)
(3.61)
41
3.4 Full film model
Input parameters:
Coning:
r
pm
=a
(3.62)
Waviness:
A
=
B
pm
(3.63)
Fluid pressure:
Pf =
pf
pm
(3.64)
ro
B
(3.65)
Seal face geometry:
Cavitation pressure:

pc
c =
pm
(3.66)
Number of waves:
k
(3.67)
Output parameters:
Minimum film thickness:
Hmin
hmin
=
B
pm
(3.68)
Leakage:
qm
Qm = 3
B pm
r
pm
3
(3.69)
42
Friction force:
Ff =
Ff
B 2 pm
pm
(3.70)
Rewriting Eqs. (3.52) to (3.56) in terms of these non-dimensional variables

yields:
Reynolds equation:
P
qc H
X
Y
+ 2
Y
qc Y H
3 P
=6
Y 2 qc H
X

(3.71)
Film thickness:

kX
H = Hmin + (Y + 1) + 1 + cos
(3.72)
Mean Pressure:
1
1=
(2 1)
P Y dY dX
0
(3.73)
Leakage:
1
Qm =
12

Z 2

1
3 P
H
dX
1
2
Y Y =0.5
0
(3.74)
Friction force:
Ff =
2 1
2 1
2
0
qc Y
H P
H
2 Y X

Y 2 dY dX
(3.75)
The Reynolds equation (Eq. (3.71)) cannot be solved analytically, as it contains a double partial derivative of P with respect to coordinates X and Y .
Hence, a numerical solver was used. The numerical program was based on
multigrid techniques. For detailed information concerning the numerical aspects, the reader is referred to Wijlhuizen (1997). In Appendix A the analytical
solution, in non-dimensional variables, is given for flat parallel faces and for
faces with a radial taper.
43
3.4 Full film model
3.4.5
Numerical results
In this section we discuss the results obtained with the numerical program. In
Figs. 3.9 (a) to (d) some 3-dimensional pressure distributions of the numerical
results are presented. In the Figures the effect of coning and sealed fluid
pressure is clearly shown. Cavitation occurs in the blue-coloured areas.
In Table 3.1 the ranges of the dimensionless input parameters defined in
Eqs. (3.62) to (3.67), according to both theory and practice, are presented.
Table 3.1: Ranges of the non-dimensional parameters.

Non-diml. Theoretical
parameter lower upper
Pf
0
2
c
0
k
0
Practical
lower upper
0
100
0
5
6
13
0
1.75
0
0.5
2
2
The following sections concern the effect of these dimensionless parameters on

the film thickness. The results all relate to an outside pressurized seal, with
a parallel gap or a convergent coning, i.e. a narrowing gap in the direction of
flow of the fluid. In the numerical program, however, an arbitrary number of
waves, k, can be chosen, the seal configuration may be inside pressurized and
the coning divergent.
3.4.5.1
- and -dependence
Figure 3.10 shows plots of the minimum film thickness Hmin as a function of
the waviness . In each graph, plots for different values of the coning and for
two different values of Pf and are presented. When fluids with small fluid
pressures have to be sealed, Pf = 0.5 in Fig. 3.10 (a), the shape of the curves is
parabolic. When is increased, the waviness amplitude increases (supposing
the other parameters are kept constant), resulting in an increase of Hmin . So
with an increase of , more hydrodynamic pressure is generated. At a certain
value of an optimum is reached. When is further increased, Hmin starts to
decrease, indicating that less hydrodynamic fluid pressure is generated. It is
found that a parabolically shaped curve is always generated when Pf ranges
between 0 and 1.
44
In Fig. 3.10 (b) it is clearly shown that when the fluid to be sealed has a rather
large pressure (Pf = 1.5), the coning angle is very important with regard to
the minimum film thickness Hmin (left side of graph). A larger coning angle
results in a larger Hmin , as made clear in Section 2.2.3.2. When increases,
Hmin decreases. An increasing waviness amplitude results in a larger mean film
thickness, which results in less hydrostatic fluid pressure. Furthermore, it is
observed that at a certain value for a point of inflection in the curve occurs,
see e.g. = 0.75 and = 1, indicating that the seal starts to cavitate and will
generate a net hydrodynamic fluid pressure. Without cavitation, there is no
hydrodynamic fluid pressure and Hmin would collapse, as shown in Fig. 3.16.
3.4.5.2
Pf -dependence
The pressure of the fluid to be sealed also greatly influences the minimum film
thickness. The sealed fluid pressure mainly affects the interfacial hydrostatic
fluid pressure; a larger fluid pressure will result in a higher hydrostatic interfacial pressure, as shown by the left side in both graphs of Fig. 3.11. When
hydrodynamic pressure starts to develop, the negative effect of the coning on
the hydrodynamic pressure generation is stronger than the positive effect of
coning on the development of hydrostatic fluid pressure, as a lower maximum
Hmin results for > 0.
Furthermore, it is shown in both graphs that the higher Pf , the later the seal
starts to cavitate; the top of the curves is shifted to the right with a higher fluid
pressure Pf . When a higher hydrostatic interfacial fluid pressure is present,
it becomes harder to reach the cavitation pressure of the fluid. Therefore the
hydrodynamic pressure generating mechanism must be stronger, i.e. a greater
waviness amplitude is required.
3.4.5.3
-dependence
Figure 3.12 shows Hmin for three different values of the seal face geometry
parameter . In (a) there is almost no hydrostatic component present, as
and Pf are small. On the left-hand side of the graph, no effect of on
the hydrodynamic pressure is visible. On the right-hand side, a decrease of
results in a more rapid decrease of Hmin (the curvature increases), which is
also shown in (b). Here, greater values for and Pf are taken, so a greater
hydrostatic pressure is developed (left-hand side of graph). With a decreasing
, the curvature of the seal face increases, resulting in a higher hydrostatic
pressure, and therefore a higher Hmin , see also Section 2.2.3.1.
3.4 Full film model
3.4.5.4
45
c -dependence
The cavitation parameter c appears to have a very small effect on Hmin .

Figure 3.13 (a) shows that a lower c value results in a somewhat higher Hmin .
A lower c involves a lower cavitation pressure, resulting in a higher net hydrodynamic pressure. The cavitation parameter c has, as expected, no effect in
the hydrostatic region (Fig. 3.13 (b)). As the effect of c on the film thickness
is very small, c is taken constant at a value of 0.097 (pcav = 97 kPa and
pm = 1 MPa, both relative to ambient pressure).
46
(a) = 0, = 0.5, = 4, k = 2, c = 0.097, Pf = 0 and

Hmin = 0.23.
(b) = 0.5, = 0.5, = 4, k = 2, c = 0.097, Pf = 0 and

Hmin = 0.025.
3.4 Full film model
(c) = 0, = 0.5, = 4, k = 2, c = 0.097, Pf = 1 and

Hmin = 0.32.
(d) = 0.5, = 0.5, = 4, k = 2, c = 0.097, Pf = 1 and

Hmin = 0.13.
Fig. 3.9: Pressure distribution in the contact of a mechanical face seal,

for different values of the dimensionless parameters, which are derived in the previous section.
47
48
(n(
=
0
(1x
0.1
(1(
0.2
Hmin (dx
0.3
(d(
0.4
((x
0.5
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(a) Pf = 0.5, = 9.5, k = 2 and c = 0.097.

d(d
=
x
1
d((
Hmin
d(Td
d
(x
(x
(;
(n
(1
(d
(
=
(
(d
(1
(n
d (x
d(T1
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
(;
(x
d(1
(b) Pf = 1.5, = 6, k = 2 and c = 0.097.
Fig. 3.10: Minimum film thickness, Hmin , as a function of the waviness,

, for different values of the coning angle, .
49
3.4 Full film model
(
Pf =
(E
1.75
(x
1.5
(;
1.25
1
0.5
0
Hmin
(n
(1
(d
((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(a) = 0, = 6, k = 2 and c = 0.097.

(n
Pf =
1.25
1
(1
0.75
0.5
Hmin
0
(d
((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(b) = 0.3, = 9.5, k = 2 and c = 0.097.
Fig. 3.11: Minimum film thickness, Hmin , as a function of the waviness,

, for different values of the sealed fluid pressure, Pf .
50
(1x
=
13
(1(
9.5
(dx
Hmin
(d(
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(a) = 0.2, Pf = 0.75, k = 2 and c = 0.097.

d(d
Hmin
6
9.5
13
d((
=
13
9.5
6
d(Td
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(b) = 0.5, Pf = 1.75, k = 2 and c = 0.097.
Fig. 3.12: Minimum film thickness Hmin as a function of the waviness,

, for different values of the seal geometry, .
51
3.4 Full film model
(nx
=
0
c = 0.0485
c = 0.097
(n(
0.1
(1x
0.2
(1(
Hmin
0.3
(dx
0.4
(d(
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(a) Pf = 0.5, = 9.5 and k = 2.

=
d(d
1
0.5
d((
Hmin
d(Td
c = 0.097
c = 0
d(T1
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
(b) Pf = 1.75, = 6 and k = 2.
Fig. 3.13: Minimum film thickness Hmin as a function of the waviness,

, for different values of the cavitation parameter, c .
52
3.4.6
Film thickness equation
Based on the numerical results, three different film thickness equations will be
fitted for the conditions Pf = 0, 0 < Pf 1 and 1 < Pf 1.75, respectively.
This is done because for these three Pf -values the shapes of the curves differ
considerably. Firstly, the asymptotes for respectively = 0, = 0 and Pf = 0
are derived.
3.4.6.1
Asymptotes
Film thickness for = 0

In Section 2.2.3.2 an equation for the pressure distribution is given in cartesian
coordinates for a seal face with no waviness and a convergent gap, Eq. (2.17).
The mean pressure in the contact, Pm is obtained by integrating Eq. (2.17)
from 0 to 1 and reads:
Hmin +
2Hmin +
Pm = Pf
(3.76)
The mean pressure in cartesian coordinates can also be defined as follows:

1
pm =
LB
p dxdy.
0
(3.77)
Rewriting this equation in a dimensionless form, by substituting the dimensionless variables of Eq. (2.12), yields:
1
1=
L
P dXdY,
0
(3.78)
so the mean pressure Pm is equal to 1. Equation (3.76) can now be solved for
Hmin and reads:
Hmin =
Pf 1
.
Pf 2
(3.79)
This is the minimum film thickness for approaching infinity, in polar coordinates.
Since, when approaches infinity, the minimum film thickness has to approach
Eq. (3.79) for any value of and Pf , Hmin can be written as follows:
Hmin =
Pf 1
g(, Pf ),
Pf 2
(3.80)
53
3.4 Full film model
with:
g(, Pf ) = 1 +
1
,
g2 (, Pf )
(3.81)
a function which approaches 1, when approaches infinity. The function

g2 (, Pf ) approaches infinity when approaches infinity. Based on the data
of the numerical program, the following film thickness equation for = 0 is
found:
Hmin |=0
Pf 1
=
Pf 2
1
1+
5.41 + 0.794 1.5 Pf (3.09 + 0.405 1.5 )

.
(3.82)
Film thickness for = 0

The basic equation which describes the film thickness for = 0 and for Pf
ranging from 0 to 1.75 is the so-called Asymmetric Double Sigmoidal equation,
which is defined as:
Hmin
a

=
1 + exp (x b + 2c )/d
1

1
1 + exp (x b 2c )/e
!
. (3.83)
This equation is fitted on the numerical data, resulting in the following values
for the different coefficients:
a =
b =
c =
d =
e =
1
3.20 0.433 exp(Pf )

1
ln
+ exp 6.02 + 22.6
Pf
2.95 5.46/

1
2
11.1
2
3
0.637 +
Pf + (exp(4.04 3.29 ln ) 0.1)Pf

p
exp 1.50 + 0.313 Pf 0.0163 2 + 0.539 2.64

Pf
0.661 + 0.0297 exp
0.478
0.967.
54
3.4.6.2
Film thickness for Pf = 0
In this case, the fluid to be sealed is pressureless, so the seal faces will operate
in a purely hydrodynamic way. The film thickness equation for Pf = 0 reads:
!
a
1
1
,
Hmin =
1 + exp (ln() b + 2c )/d
1 + exp (ln() b 2c )/e
(3.84)
where:
a = exp (1.39 2.58 exp())
1
b =
2
0.499 + 35.0/ + (1/(1.03 2.25))2
c =
20.6 30.3 0.0163 2 + 0.539 2.64
1
d =
1.62 + 4.99

e = exp 0.116 0.956 .
The maximum deviation that can occur between the fit and the numerical
results is 10%. Figure 3.14 shows some plots of the numerical results and the
fitted data for = 6 and = 9.5, respectively.
3.4.6.3
Film thickness for 0 < Pf 1
The curve-fit is based on Eq. (3.84), the same equation as used for Pf = 0.
The expressions for the coefficients read:

a = exp
p 2
1.20 0.538 Pf

(0.773 + 1.82 exp(Pf )) exp()
2
1 0.671 + 0.297Pf 2.5
b =
0.848 + 0.519Pf 0.282Pf 2 0.0654Pf 3
1.68 + 0.235 0.00612 2

p
c = exp 1.51 + 0.313 Pf (2.44 0.670 exp(Pf ))1.5
0.0163 2 + 0.539 2.64

1

d =
2
1.42 0.341Pf + exp 1.80 1.95Pf 2.5
1
e =
.
2.90 1.86 exp()
55
3.4 Full film model
The maximum deviation that can occur between the fit and the numerical
results is 15%. Figure 3.15 shows examples of numerical data and fitted data.
3.4.6.4
Film thickness for 1 < Pf 1.75
As shown by Fig. 3.10 (b) the shape of the curve changes completely when
the hydrostatic pressure becomes more relevant. The shape of these kinds of
curves is well described by the following equation:
Hmin = Hstat 3 + Hdyn 3
1
3
(3.85)
where Hstat is an expression for the hydrostatic region and Hdyn is defined by
Eq. (3.84).
Hydrostatic region
In order to eliminate the fluid pressure due to hydrodynamic effects, the numerical program has been adapted. It was assumed that the pressure in the
contact can drop below the vapour pressure, so that the hydrodynamically
generated negative pressure equals the hydrodynamically generated positive
pressure. Figure 3.16 shows plots of Hmin with and without cavitation, i.e.
with and without hydrodynamic effects. It is clearly shown that, when cavitation of the fluid occurs, a larger Hmin is maintained (the dashed line). Without
cavitation, Hmin decreases rapidly with increasing (the solid line).
The expression for Hstat was found to be:
Hstat = Hmin |=0 exp
1
Hmin |=0
(3.86)
where Hmin |=0 is given by Eq. (3.82).

Complete region
Unfortunately, the film thickness fit in the hydrodynamic region could not be
found for . Therefore, is taken constant at a practical mean value of 9.5.
For = 9.5 the following components for Eq. (3.85) were derived:
Hmin |=0,=9.5
Pf 1
=
Pf 2
1
1+
28.7 14.9Pf

.
(3.87)
56
The coefficients for the expression of Hdyn , Eq. (3.84), were found to be:

1
a = exp
1
0.823 + 0.585 ln(Pf )
s

6.37
4.75 + p exp()
Pf

Pf
b =
2.92 + 28.6 exp
0.366
1
1.08 + 0.0944Pf 3

ln(Pf )
1.5
c = exp 2.00 0.794 3.59
Pf
1
d =
1
+ 0.530
0.451 + 0.287Pf 2
1
.
e =
2.90 1.86 exp()
The maximum deviation that can occur between the fit of Eq. (3.85) and the
numerical results is 20%. Figure 3.17 shows some curve fits for Pf = 1.5 and
= 0, 0.6 and 1, respectively.
57
3.4 Full film model
(n(
Numerical data
Fitted data
(1x
0
=
(1(
0.1
Hmin (dx
0.2
0.3
(d(
0.4
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
d(d
d(1
(a) Pf = 0, = 6.
(n(
Numerical data
Fitted data
(1x
0
=
0.1
(1(
0.2
Hmin (dx
0.3
(d(
0.4
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
(b) Pf = 0, = 9.5.
Fig. 3.14: Minimum film thickness as a function of the waviness, ,

for different values of the coning angle, . Numerical data vs. fitted
data.
58
(nx
Numerical data
Fitted data
(n(
0
=
0.1
(1x
0.2
(1(
Hmin
0.3
(dx
0.4
(d(
0.5
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1

data, for: Pf = 0.75, = 13.
d(d
=
1
0.5
d((
Hmin
0.1
d(Td
Without cavitation
With cavitation
d(T1
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Fig. 3.16: Minimum film thickness as a function of the waviness, , for

different values of the coning angle, . With and without cavitation,
for: Pf = 1.75, = 6.
59
3.4 Full film model
d(d
d(
Numerical data
Fitted data
=
1
0.6
Hmin
0
d(Td
d(T1
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1

data, for: Pf = 1.5, = 9.5.
60
3.4.7
Friction under full film lubricated conditions
This section discusses briefly some numerical results for the friction force, Ff ,
between the faces. Figure 3.18 shows Ff for three different values for . An
increase in results in an increase in Ff , see also Eq. (3.75).
Figure 3.19 shows the effect of on Ff . In the hydrostatic region significant
differences are found. In this region a larger coning angle will result in a
higher Hmin , and therefore a decrease in Ff . Also, Fig. 3.19 shows that, as
soon as the seal starts to cavitate, there is hardly any further effect of on
Ff . Besides that, Ff decreases rapidly with increasing . With an increase of
, the cavitation area increases too, thus the area where the gap is completely
filled with fluid decreases. Since the viscosity of a liquid is of the order of 1000
times larger than the viscosity of a gas, clearly, as the cavitation area increases
Ff will decrease.
3.4.8
Leakage under full film lubricated conditions
As shown by Eq. (3.74), the leakage depends on the film thickness to the third
power. In the hydrostatic region the film thickness is determined by the coning
angle and not by the waviness. A larger coning angle results in a larger film
thickness and, consequently, a larger leakage rate will occur, see Fig. 3.20.
For larger the leakage increases, as now the mean film thickness also strongly
increases. The geometrical parameter has a relatively small effect on the
leakage, see Fig. 3.21. An increase of results in a larger seal circumference
and therefore a slightly greater leakage. In Fig. 3.22 it is shown that, as well
as , another phenomenon is responsible for the leakage, as the leakage for
= 6 is higher than for = 13 in the hydrostatic region, but lower in the
hydrodynamic region. In Fig. 3.12 (b) it is shown that a lower -value results
in a higher Hmin in the hydrostatic region. Apparently, for Pf = 1.75 the effect
of the increase of Hmin with a decreasing is stronger than the decrease of
circumference for decreasing .
Figure 3.23 shows the leakage for different values of Pf . As expected, an
increase in Pf results in a greater leakage.
61
3.4 Full film model
d(n
=
13
9.5
Ff
d(1
d(d
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Fig. 3.18: Friction force, Ff , as a function of the waviness, , for different values of the seal geometry, , for: Pf = 1.75, = 0.5, k = 2
and c = 0.097.
d(;
=
(
(d
(1
(n
(;
(x
d(n
Ff
d
1
d(1
d(d
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Fig. 3.19: Friction force, Ff , as a function of the waviness, , for different values of the coning angle, , for: Pf = 1.5, = 9.5, k = 2
and c = 0.097.
62
d(M
d(E
=
x
d(;
Qm
(x
d(1
(;
(1
d(
d(
T1
(d
(
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Fig. 3.20: Leakage as a function of the waviness, , for different values

of the coning angle, , for: Pf = 1.75, = 9.5, k = 2 and c = 0.097.
d(M
dn
x
E
d(E
Qm d(;
d(1
d((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1

of the seal geometry, , for: Pf = 1.5, = 0.75 and c = 0.097.
63
3.4 Full film model
d(M
= dn
x
E
d(E
Qm
d(;
=
E
dn
x
d(1
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1

of the seal geometry, , for: Pf = 1.75, = 0.5, k = 2 and c =
0.097.
d(M
d(E
d(;
Qm
d(1
Pf =
(
dx
T1
dx
d1x
d(
d(
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1

of the sealed fluid pressure, Pf , for: = 0.1, = 6, k = 2 and
c = 0.097.
64
3.5
Calculating Stribeck curves
In the preceding sections, the nominal contact area and the film thickness
equation for mechanical face seals were derived. The Stribeck curves can be
calculated by combining the contact model and the film thickness equation.
In Section 3.5.1 the procedure for calculating the Stribeck curve is discussed.
In Section 3.5.2 results of the calculations are shown and the effects of the
different parameters, like waviness, coning and contact model parameters are
analyzed.
3.5.1
Procedure
The total axial load FN , which acts on the contact of the mating faces in
the mixed lubrication regime, is shared between the asperity contact and the
generated hydrodynamic force, therefore:
FN = FC + FH ,
(3.88)
FC is the load carried by the interacting asperities, defined by Eq. (3.15), and
FH the load carried by the hydrodynamic component.
Dividing Eq. (3.88) by the nominal contact area Anom , which is determined in
Section 3.3.1, gives an expression for the pressure:
pT = pH + pC .
(3.89)
As shown in Fig. 3.24, in the mixed lubrication regime the total pressure, pT ,
can be divided into the asperity pressure pC and the hydrodynamic pressure,
pH , according to Johnson et al. (1972).
Based on Fig. 3.24, the following
relation may be defined for pT :
pT = M L pH ,
(3.90)
with M L a constant equal or greater than unity. The dimensionless variables

in Section 3.4.4, which are used in the film thickness equations (3.84) and
(3.85), have to be adapted according to Eq. (3.90):
r
1
M L
r
r
1
1
Hmin Hmin
(3.91)
M L
M L
Pf P f
As the friction is determined in the nominal contact area, the film thickness
equation, Eq. (3.72), simplifies to H = Hmin .
65
3.5 Calculating Stribeck curves
pT
pH
pC
Fig. 3.24: Pressure distribution in the mixed lubrication regime.
Finally by rewriting Eq. (3.90) as pH = pT /M L and substituting it into relation (3.89), the following equation results:
pT /M L pT + pC = 0.
(3.92)
This equation can be solved iteratively, as there are 3 equations (Eq. (3.15),
(3.84) or (3.85) and (3.88)) with 3 variables (PC , PH and h).
The coefficient of friction can be calculated, using Eq. (3.10). The mean shear
stress due to hydrodynamic lubrication can be substituted by Eq. (3.3). AH
is defined as Anom Ac , with Ac defined by Eq. (3.14):
f=
fc FC + Useal
AH
h
.
FN
(3.93)
The dimensionless film thickness Hmin , which is obtained from Eq. (3.84) or
(3.85), is converted to the dimensional film thickness h, which is equated with
h in Eq. (3.15). Furthermore, in the calculations the mean plane of the surface
heights is used, rather than the mean plane of the summits, see Section 3.3.
Therefore dd has to be subtracted from the separation in Eq. (3.15), which
becomes:

r
h dd
s 0
2
FC = s s
E Anom Fj
.
(3.94)
3
66
3.5.2
Preliminary model results
When calculating the Stribeck curve, there are a number of parameters which
can be varied. In the following sections the effect of the different parameters
on the behaviour of the Stribeck curve are shown. When a specific parameter is changed, the other model parameters are kept constant with values
given in Table 3.2. Geometrical effects on the Stribeck curve are presented
Table 3.2: Operational conditions.
s
fc
E0
Do
FN
Pf
[m2 ]
[m]
[m]
[]
[Pa]
[m]
[m]
[N]
[]
1010
105
108
1011
103
103
1.45
5.59
6.1
4.4
82
240
0.25
in Sections 3.5.2.1 and 3.5.2.2 (macro-geometry), whilst the micro-geometrical

effects on the Stribeck curve are given in Section 3.5.2.3. The effect of the
operational parameters, load and temperature, i.e. viscosity, on the Stribeck
curve are presented in Sections 3.5.2.5 and 3.5.2.6, respectively. The influence
of the material property, E 0 , is given in Section 3.5.2.7. In Section 3.5.2.8 the
effect of the hydrostatic sealed fluid pressure is shown.
3.5.2.1
Waviness amplitude, A
By changing the waviness amplitude, the hydrodynamic pressure generation

is affected. The coefficient of friction in the boundary lubrication regime, fc
is taken as 0.25, which is typical for silicon carbide/silicon carbide seal face
combinations, see e.g. Summers-Smith (1988).
The different values, taken for the waviness amplitude, A, are presented in
Table 3.3. In Figure 3.25 the coefficient of friction, f , and the separation, ,
Table 3.3: Different values chosen for the waviness amplitude, A. The
numbers 113 correspond with the numbers in Fig. 3.25.
1
A [m] 0.5
0.75 1
5 10
10 11 12
13
15 20 25
30 35 40
50
are plotted as a function of the velocity, where is defined as the ratio of the
67
film thickness, h, and the standard deviation of the height distribution of the
summits, s . The numbers 1 to 13 in Fig. 3.25 correspond with the numbers in
Table 3.3. It is shown that the waviness amplitude has a rather small effect
on the transition from hydrodynamic lubrication (HL) to mixed lubrication
(ML). Figure 3.25 (a) shows that the transition velocity, vt , acquires its lowest
value for A = 2m. For both lower and higher amplitudes the transition
takes place at higher velocities. When the amplitude is further increased, see
Fig. 3.25 (b), the transition from HL to ML shifts even further to the right.
For high speeds the separation, , no longer increases, but remains constant,
as shown for A = 0.5m (number 1 in the Figure).
3.5.2.2
Coning angle, a
In Fig. 3.26 a number of Stribeck curves (solid lines) are presented for different
values of the coning angle, a. In Fig. 3.26 (a) the amplitude of the waviness
is taken to be 1 m, in Fig. 3.26 (b) the amplitude is taken to be 10 m. In
Table 3.4 the different values for the coning angle are shown, the numbers 1 to
9 correspond with the numbers in Fig. 3.26 (a) and (b). The coning angle has a
Table 3.4: Different values chosen for the coning angle, a. The numbers
19 correspond with the numbers in Fig. 3.26.
a [rad] 10
1 2.5
4
5
7.5 10
15 20 25
rather large effect on the transition from HL to ML, especially in Fig. 3.26 (a),
where a smaller waviness amplitude of 1m is chosen. A larger coning angle is
unfavourable with regard to hydrodynamic pressure generation, and therefore,
as expected, the transition HLML shifts to the right for higher coning angles.
The separation, , becomes smaller for higher coning angles. As shown in
Fig. 3.25 (a), an amplitude of A = 10m can lead to higher separations than
an amplitude of A = 1m. As a consequence the transitions HLML will occur
at lower speeds, as shown in Fig. 3.26 (b).
3.5.2.3
Roughness
s s :
From the literature it is known that the product of s s is about 0.05. In
Fig. 3.27 the effect of this product is presented. Three different values are
68
chosen, s s =0.03, 0.05 and 0.07, respectively. In this product, only the s
and the are varied, both with the same factor. The operational conditions,
including s , are kept constant (see Table 3.2). Furthermore, two different
values are chosen for the amplitude as well as for the coning. In Fig. 3.27 (a),
A = 1m and a = 0 rad and in Fig. 3.27 (b) A = 10m and a = 1.5 104 rad.
It is shown that the product of s s hardly has any effect on the shape and
the transitions of the Stribeck curve. In Fig. 3.27 (a) the transition moves a
little to the right for a higher value of s . Besides that, the separation, ,
is a little greater for a larger value of s s in the boundary and the mixed
lubrication regime, as for a greater value of s , when both are increased by
the same factor, the stiffness of the surface is greater. As a consequence, more
hydrodynamic pressure has to be generated in order to obtain separation of
the faces, which results in a small shift to the right for the HLML transition.
In Fig. 3.27 (b) the effect is even smaller. The transition shifts very little to
the right with increasing values of s .
s :
The ratio of h to s determines the lubrication regime. With an increasing
value of the lubrication regime changes from boundary to mixed and from
mixed to hydrodynamic lubrication. In this section the standard deviation of
the height distribution of the summits, s , is varied. The other parameters are
kept constant, and are given in Table 3.2. The product of s is kept constant
at 0.05. When s is multiplied by a factor x, s and are both divided by a
factor x.
In Fig. 3.28 two different combinations of the amplitude and the coning are
chosen, in Fig. 3.28 (a) A = 1m and a = 0, in Fig. 3.28 (b) A = 10m and
a = 1.5 104 rad. Six different values voor s are chosen, which are given in
Fig. 3.28.
As expected, for larger values of s the transition from HL to ML shifts to
the right. A larger film thickness h, and with that more hydrodynamic fluid
pressure has to develop before full separation of the faces occurs.
3.5.2.4
Non-Gaussian height distribution; 2n -height distribution
In the friction model a Gaussian height distribution is assumed. However,

when rough surfaces run in, the summits flatten, and a roughness distribution
with a negative skewness remains, see e.g. Lubbinge (1994). Figure 3.29 shows
a profile measurement of a run-in seal face with flattened summits. An example of a non-Gaussian height distribution function is the so-called M -inverted
2n distribution function, see Adler and Firman (1981). This distribution function is particularly suitable for studying the effect of negative skewness. The
69
probability density function of an M -inverted 2n -distribution is defined as:

exp M2Ns
n
2n (s) = n n n (M s) 2 1 ,
(3.95)
22 N 2 2
with:
n
M=
2n
and:
1
N= .
2n
(3.96)
Figure 3.30 shows the effect of n on the 2n -height distribution. For large values
of n the Gaussian height distribution is approached, for smaller values of n the
skewness becomes more negative and the kurtosis increases, see also de Rooij
(1998).
In Fig. 3.31 some Stribeck curves are calculated for different shapes of the 2n height distribution, by varying n. The different values for n are indicated in the
Figure. In the case of no coning, Fig. 3.31 (a), a lower value for n results in a
lower transition velocity vt . As for lower values of n the 2n -height distribution
becomes steeper (right tail of curve 1 in Fig. 3.30), sooner full separation of
the faces occurs, resulting in lower vt . In Fig. 3.31 (b), with coning, the same
trend is found, however the effect of the different height distributions is small.
As expected from Fig. 3.30, the Stribeck curve for n = 100 is the same as
Stribeck curve no. 3 in Fig. 3.25.
3.5.2.5
Axial load FN
In Fig. 3.32 the axial load FN is varied. In Table 3.5 the different values for FN
are given. The numbers 1 to 5 correspond with the numbers in the figure. Two
different combinations of the amplitude and the coning angle are taken, with
the same values as in the previous sections. The other operational conditions
are given in Table 3.2.
In both graphs (a) and (b) it is shown that for a greater load the Stribeck
curves shift to the right. It is clear that when a greater load is present, more
hydrodynamic pressure has to be generated, in order to separate the faces.
In Fig. 3.32 (b), where coning is present, the transitions take place at higher
velocities compared to Fig. 3.32 (a), where a = 0; note the different scales.
Furthermore, it is shown that there is no effect of the amplitude and the
coning on the relative displacement of the HLML transition. In both graphs,
the velocity at which the transitions occur, changes almost with the same
factor as the load, FN , does.
70
Table 3.5: Different values for the axial load FN . The numbers 15
correspond with the numbers in Fig. 3.32.
1
FN [N]
3.5.2.6
100 500 1000 2000 5000
Viscosity
Three different values for the fluid viscosity, , are taken, i.e. = 1 103 , 1
102 and 5 102 Pas. The product of and the velocity v determines the
hydrodynamic pressure generation, as shown by Fig. 3.33. An increase of the
viscosity results in lowering of the velocity at which the transition from HL to
ML occurs. The effect of the viscosity is the same for both graphs, i.e. linear
with the viscosity.
3.5.2.7
Reduced modulus of elasticity
In Fig. 3.34 three Stribeck curves are presented for three different values of E 0 .
With an increase of E 0 the transition HLML moves to the right. When coning
is present (Fig. 3.34 (b)), the effect of E 0 becomes smaller. For a stiffer material
the separation in the ML regime is larger, and therefore a higher hydrodynamic
pressure is required to enable separation of the faces. Furthermore, a lower E 0
shows a higher coefficient of friction in the HL regime, due to an increase of the
contact area. Practical values of E 0 for mechanical face seals range between
2 1010 Pa for hard-soft seal face combinations and 4 1011 Pa for hard-hard
seal face combinations.
3.5.2.8
Hydrostatic fluid pressure
In Section 3.4.6, three different film thickness equations have been derived for
three different fluid pressure regions, i.e. Pf = 0, 0 < Pf 1 and 1 < Pf
1.75. The previous sections all concern calculated Stribeck curves with Pf = 0.
In the following Figures the effect of the sealed fluid pressure is demonstrated.
0 < Pf 1
In both graphs of Fig. 3.35, with waviness and coning values as in the former sections, the transitions shift to the left with an increasing fluid pressure,
Pf . When a sealed fluid pressure is present, the hydrostatic component becomes active in the sealing interface. As a result, less hydrodynamic pressure
71
3.6 Summary
is required in order to separate the faces. In Fig. 3.35 (b) the HLML transition takes place at higher velocities, compared to Fig. 3.35 (a), as coning is
unfavourable for generating hydrodynamic fluid pressure.
1 < Pf 1.75
When the fluid pressure, Pf , is further increased, the transition from HL to
ML occurs at an even lower velocity, compare for instance Fig. 3.36 (a) with
Fig. 3.35 (a) (coning angle and waviness amplitude are the same). When, as
well as Pf , the coning angle is also increased, a = 1.5 104 rad in Fig. 3.36 (b),
the effect of Pf becomes more significant. The numbers 1 to 7 in this graph
correspond with the numbers in Table 3.6. When Pf is larger than 1.7, already
in the region where boundary lubrication is expected, the load is carried by
both the surface asperities and the hydrostatic fluid pressure. So, according to
the definition given in Section 1.2, mixed lubrication occurs. In the case where
Pf = 1.75, the load is mainly carried by the hydrostatically pressurized fluid.
At a velocity of about 0.07 m/s the transition to full film lubrication occurs,
indicated by the small decrease of the coefficient of friction.
Table 3.6: Different values for the sealed fluid pressure, Pf . The numbers 17 correspond with the numbers in Fig. 3.36 (b).
1
Pf [] 1.25 1.5
3.6
1.7 1.735 1.737 1.74 1.75
Summary
In the present chapter a friction model was developed by which a Stribeck

curve under specific operational conditions for mechanical face seals can be
predicted.
The friction model is a combination of an asperity contact model and a film
thickness equation. The asperity contact model was based on the work of
Greenwood and Williamson, a film thickness equation for mechanical face seals
was developed based on the full-film lubrication theory.
With the film thickness equation the separation in a mechanical face seal can
be calculated as a function of the waviness, coning, seal geometry, load and
sealed fluid pressure, which are combined in dimensionless parameters. In this
way, the amount of numerical calculations could be significantly reduced.
72
In Chapter 5 the theoretically obtained Stribeck curves will be verified with

the experimentally determined Stribeck curves.
73
3.6 Summary
(n(
432516
(1x
dM
dE
d;
(1(
d1
3
(dx
d(
(d(
= h/s
Coefficient of friction, f
1(
6
5
4
((x
(((
(
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
T1
d(
d(
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(a) Amplitude, A, ranging from 0.5 10 m
1(
7
8
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
(1x
(1(
(dx
dM
9
10
dE
11
d1
12
13
d(
d;
(d(
= h/s
(n(
E
;
((x
(((
(
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
d(
T1
d(
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(b) Amplitude, A, ranging from 15 50 m
Fig. 3.25: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves for different values
of the waviness amplitude, A.
74
d;
(n(
1
2
3
(1x
d1
d(
4
5
6
(1(
(dx
(d(
8
9
((x
= h/s
123456789
(((
(
T;
d(
Tn
d(
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(a) Waviness amplitude = 1 m
123456789
(1x
(1(
1(
1
2
3
4
5
dM
dE
d;
d1
6
7
8
9
(dx
(d(
d(
M
= h/s
(n(
E
;
((x
(((
(
T;
d(
Tn
d(
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(b) Waviness amplitude = 10 m
of the coning angle, a.
75
3.6 Summary
(n(
1(
dM
dE
d;
(1(
d1
(dx
d(
M
(d(
0.07
0.05
((x
= h/s
0.03 0.05 0.07

(1x
;
1
0.03
(((
(
T;
d(
d(
Tn
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(n(
d1(
(1x
d((
(1(
M(
(dx
E(
(d(
;(
((x
1(
(((
= h/s
(a) Amplitude A = 1m, coning angle a = 0 rad
(
T;
d(
d(
Tn
T1
d(
d(
Td
d(
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(b) Amplitude A = 10m, coning angle a = 1.5 104 rad
of the product s s . Other parameter values are given in Table 3.2.
76
d((
(1x
M(
1
(1(
E(
(dx
s [m] 108
6 8 10
;(
(d(
1(
4
8 6
10
((x
(((
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
T1
d(
d(
d(
Td
= h/s
(n(
(
d
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
nx(
n((
(1x
1x(
(1(
1((
(dx
s [m] 108
1 2 4 6 8 10
(d(
dx(
= h/s
(n(
d((
4
6
8
10
((x
(((
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
x(
(
d(1
Velocity [m/s]
of the standard deviation of the height distribution of the summits,
s . Other parameter values are given in Table 3.2.
77
3.6 Summary
Fig. 3.29: Roughness profile measurement of a run-in seal face.
(x
d
(;
1
n
(n
(1
(d
((
T;
Tn
T1
Td
s/s
Fig. 3.30: A Gaussian height distribution (dashed line) vs. M -inverted
2n distributions for different values of n. 1: n = 5, 2: n = 8, 3:
n = 25, 4: n = 100.
78
n=
5 10 15 20 25 100
(1x
M

(1(
E
x
(dx
100
25
20
15
10
5
(d(
((x
;
n
= h/s
(n(
1
d
(((
(
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
n(
n=
5 10 15 20 25 100
(1x
(1(
1(
(dx
(d(
d(
100
25
20
15
10
5
((x
(((
d(
T;
= h/s
(n(
(
d(
Tn
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.31: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves for different shapes
of the 2n -height distribution. Other parameter values are given in
Table 3.2.
79
(n(
d;
(1x
d1
d(
(1(
2
(dx
3
E
4
5
(d(
((x
;
1
2 3 4 5
= h/s
3.6 Summary
(((
(
Tx
d(
d(
T;
Tn
d(
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(n(
d;(
(1x
d1(
d((
(1(
(dx
2 3 4 5
M(
2 3 4 5
E(
(d(
= h/s
;(
((x
1(
(((
(
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
d(n
d(;
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.32: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves for different values of the axial load FN , numbers referring to Table 3.5. Other
operational conditions are given in Table 3.2.
80
d;
[mPas] =
d1
(1x
10
50
d(
(1(
(dx
(d(
= h/s
(n(
((x
10
50
(((
(
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
d((
(n(
50
M(
(1(
50
10
E(
(dx
10
;(
(d(
= h/s
[mPas] =
(1x
1(
((x
1
(((
(
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.33: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves for three different values of the viscosity, . Other parameter values are given in
Table 3.2.
81
(n(
d;
(1x
d1
d(
(1(
(dx
E 0 [GPa] =
1 10 100
(d(
100
10
1
((x
= h/s
3.6 Summary
(((
(
d(
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
(n(
E(
(1x
x(
(1(
;(
(dx
n(
E 0 [GPa] =
1 10 100
(d(
((x
1(
d(
100
10
1
(((
d(
T;
= h/s
(
d(
Tn
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.34: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves for three different
values of the reduced modulus of elasticity, E 0 . Other parameter
values are given in Table 3.2.
82
;(
Pf = 0.9
nx
(1x
n(
0.6
(1(
1x
(dx
Pf =
0.9 0.6 0.3 0.1
(d(
0.3
1(
0.1
dx
= h/s
(n(
d(
((x
(((
(
T;
d(
Tn
d(
T1
Td
d(
d(
d(
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
Pf =
(1x
(
0.9
E(
0.6
x(
0.3
(1(
0.1
(dx
(d(
;(
Pf =
n(
0.9 0.6 0.3 0.1
= h/s
(n(
1(
((x
d(
(((
(
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.35: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves as a function of Pf

between 0 and 1.
83
3.6 Summary
(n(
n(
Pf =
1x
1.5
1.25
(1(
(dx
1(
dx
Pf =
1.75 1.5 1.25
(d(
d(
((x
= h/s
1.75
(1x
(((
(
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
T1
d(
d(
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
x(
7
6
5
4
3
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
7
d(
Tx
d(
T;
d(
Tn
3 21
;(
n(
1(
= h/s
(n(
d(
(
d(
T1
d(
Td
d(
d(
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 3.36: Calculated Stribeck curves and curves as a function of Pf

between 1 and 1.75. Operational conditions are given in Table 3.2.
84
4. THE TEST RIG

4.1
Introduction
In order to verify the theoretical model, experimental data, i.e. Stribeck-like

friction curves, are required. In the literature experimental data are available,
however, very often important information on seal design, fluid temperature,
operational conditions, etc. is left out. Therefore, a test rig was built for
collecting experimental data. As well as the friction experiments, also wear
and load carrying capacity tests were to be performed with the test rig. This
was in order to determine the change in geometry and the maximum load to
be applied during the friction tests.
The test rig was based on designs of the BHRA-group, see Nau (1989). However a number of modifications were made to allow accurate measurements,
see Lubbinge (1995) and Lubbinge et al. (1997). In Section 4.2 the design of
the test rig is discussed. In order to validate the newly developed test rig, in
Section 4.3 a number of preliminary tests are presented.
4.2
Design of the test rig
In Fig. 4.1 a schematic representation of the test rig is given. In Appendix B

a photographic impression of the test rig is shown. The centre of the test rig
is indicated by the dashed circle. Here the stationary seal face is in contact
with the rotating seal face. The left-hand side of Fig. 4.1 is the stationary
part of the test rig (indicated with the dashed box) and contains the load unit.
The right-hand side of this figure, the rotating part, contains the drive unit.
In Section 4.2.1, the stationary part is discussed, in Section 4.2.2 the rotating
part.
4.2.1
Stationary part
In the following, the main elements of the stationary part will be described
according to the numbering in Fig. 4.1. The stationary part consists of:
86
4. The test rig
Bellows (3)
A bellows, mounted on support (2), was used to apply a closing force
between the seal faces. By using a bellows, the axial load can be controlled accurately. A pneumatic cylinder, which might have been applied
instead of a bellows, would have suffered from static friction between the
piston and cylinder. Additionally, a pressure vessel was installed (not
shown in the Figure) in order to eliminate pressure fluctuations from the
air supply.
Bar (5)
A bar between the bellows and the stationary seal construction was used
for two reasons:
Any misalignment of the bellows with regard to the support (6) will
be minimized.
When the bar is removed, the complete stationary construction
(nos. 614) can be moved towards the bellows, which enables changing the seals in the housings (9 & 15).
Support unit (6, 10 to 14)
On the support (6) the hybrid force transducer (7) is mounted. This
support is placed on a plate (14), which is connected to the slide (12) by
means of spring blades (11). The slide (12) can slide over the bar guides
(10) and can be fixed to the bar guides by means of a screw (13). During
a test run the slide (12) is fixed to the bar guides. Small movements of
the plate (14) with regard to the slide (12), for instance due to wear of
the faces, are possible, as the spring blades (11) can bend.
Hybrid force transducer (7)
A specially designed hybrid transducer, made by Hottinger Baldwin
Messtechnik (HBM), is able to measure both the normal force, applied
to the seal combination, and the torque caused by the rotating seal face.
The transducer, equipped with strain gauges, can measure a maximum
closing force of 5 kN and a maximum torque of 16 Nm. The strain gauges
are applied in such a way that there is almost no effect of the torque on
the signal of the axial force and almost no effect of the axial force on the
torque signal. Besides that, the transducer is mounted directly onto the
stationary face housing, so parasitic forces, such as bearing friction, are
avoided.
Stationary seal assembly (8 & 9)
To significantly improve the alignment of the stationary seal face parallel
4.2 Design of the test rig
87
to the rotating seal face, a new construction has been made for the
suspension of the stationary seal housing (9). The stationary face is
fixed in the tangential direction by two pin/notch connections. Figure 4.2
shows an exploded view of the parts (8) and (9) of Fig. 4.1, such that the
upper drawing is a top view and the lower drawing is a side view. At the
top and the bottom the stationary housing (9) is mounted on a frame
(8) by means of crossed spring blades. In this way, the stationary seal
housing can rotate around the z -axis. Frame (8) (Fig. 4.2) is connected to
frame (2), also by crossed spring blades (parts 4, 5 & 6). The stationary
seal housing (9), including the frame (8), can rotate around the y-axis.
All together, the stationary seal face can be aligned adequately parallel
to the rotating face, whilst the construction is stiff in both the x -direction
and the tangential direction (rotation around the x -axis), see Fig. 4.2.
The stationary seal assembly is connected by (1) to the hybrid transducer. The fluid to be sealed by the face seals is supplied by connections
on the housing (9) (not shown in Fig. 4.2). The fluid is added from the
inside of the seals, so the seals in the test rig are of the inside pressurized type.
4.2.2
Rotating part
The different parts of the rotating assembly are listed below. The most important aspect of the rotating part is that the rotating housing (15) is in line
with the stationary face.
Rotating housing (15)
A simple housing, made of stainless steel, is used to mount the rotating
face. Also here, the face is tangentially fixed by two pins, that fit in the
notches on the back of the faces.
Bearing house (16)
The bearing house, mounted on the ground plate (17), consists of two
bearings. On the right-hand side an angular contact ball bearing is
mounted, as this type of bearing is particularly suitable for the accomodation of combined loads, i.e. radial and axial loads. So the axial
load of the stationary face is completely carried by this bearing. On the
left-hand side a deep groove ball bearing is used, in order to lock up the
shaft (20) in the radial direction.
Coupling (19)
A torsion-stiff coupling is used, so there is no tolerance in the tangential
direction between the shaft of the motor and shaft (18).
88
4. The test rig
Motor (20)
The rotating face is driven by a DC-motor. This motor has a wide
velocity range, i.e. from 3 rpm to 2000 rpm. An important advantage of
a DC-motor is that a high torque can be generated at low speeds. This
is required for the boundary lubricated regime, as in this regime very low
speeds are associated with a relatively high friction/torque.
4.2.3
Data acquisition and control of the operational

parameters
The test rig is controlled by a computer equipped with an AD-card (AnalogDigital data-acquisition card), which has 8 different analog input channels, 2
analog output channels, 8 digital input and output channels and 1 counter
input for counting a TTL-compatible input signal. The following itemization
shows which data are acquired from the test rig. The digital input channels
are not used.
Analog input channels:
Axial load, measured by the hybrid transducer.
Friction force (torque), also measured by the hybrid transducer.
Three channels for measuring the temperature in the gap of the mating
faces. The stationary carbon seals contain 3 equidistant holes close to
the contact surface, in which the thermocouples, type J, are placed.
Analog output channels:
The speed of the rotating face is controlled by sending a specific voltage
to the DC-motor.
The bellows, which applies the axial force, is controlled by transmitting
a specific voltage to the pressure regulator.
Digital output channels:
Switching the motor on and off.
Switching the pressure of the pressure regulator on and off, and, thus,
the axial force on the seals.
89
Counter input channel:

The counter input is used for counting the pulses of the pulse generator,
which measures the velocity of the rotating seal. The pulse generator
produces 500 pulses per revolution and is connected to the shaft (18)
by means of a belt with a transmission ratio of 1:1. By counting the
number of pulses per unit time, the velocity can be determined. This
way accurate speed measurements can be performed, especially at low
velocities.
90
4. The test rig
Fig. 4.1: Schematic representation of the test rig.
Fig. 4.2: Construction for the alignment of the stationary seal face
parallel to the rotating seal face.
91
92
4. The test rig
4.3
Validation of the test rig; preliminary

results
In order to validate the newly developed test rig, test experiments were performed. These experiments consisted of the measurement of friction curves,
load carrying capacity tests and wear rate measurements. The reasons for
the load carrying capacity tests and the wear measurements are given in the
introduction. In these preliminary tests, carbon/SiC seal combinations were
used.
4.3.1
Friction curve measurements
Figures 4.3 and 4.4 show examples of measured friction curves (Stribeck curves).
The coefficient of friction is plotted as a function of the velocity. The plots
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 4.3: Three Stribeck like friction curves of a carbon/silicon carbide
seal combination, with FN = 400 N and = 1 mPas.
show that excellently reproducible friction measurements can be performed
with the modified test rig. The three lubrication regimes can be clearly distinguished. The friction measurements were performed at constant loads of 400 N
93
4.3 Validation of the test rig; preliminary results
(1(
(dE
(d1
((M
((;
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 4.4: Three Stribeck like friction curves of a carbon/silicon carbide
seal combination, with FN = 475 N and = 1 mPas.
and 475 N, respectively, by changing the velocity step-wise from 1.3 m/s down
to 0.025 m/s and vice versa and using water as the fluid. Firstly, the curve
marked () was measured with decreasing velocity, next, the curve marked
(H) was measured with increasing velocity and, finally, the curve marked ()
was measured, again with decreasing velocity. The experimental procedure is
described in Chapter 5.
4.3.2
Load carrying capacity tests
In addition to the friction experiments, load carrying capacity tests or pv

experiments were performed, in order to determine the maximum allowable
axial load on the seal combination. During these experiments the velocity, v,
contact pressure, p, coefficient of friction and the temperature of the carbon
face were measured. In order to measure the temperature, three equidistant
holes were made in the stationary seal, close to the contacting face. The pv
experiments were performed by keeping the velocity constant and increasing
the contact pressure step-wise. The first tests were performed using water as
a lubricant. In that case the seals did not fail at all, so no pv-values were
94
4. The test rig
obtained. It was therefore decided to use no lubricant. In Fig. 4.5 an example

of such an experiment is shown, the velocity was 4 m/s and there was no
lubricant supply. Here, when the contact pressure was increased above 7 MPa,
the coefficient of friction showed a sudden strong increase from about 0.03 to
0.2 and higher, while the temperature increased from approximately 70 C to
150 C.
dE(
(11
d;(
(dM
(dE
(d;
(d1
(d(
((M
((E
((;
d1(
d((
M(
E(
Contact temperature [ C]
(1(
Pressure
Temperature
Mean contact pressure [MPa]
((1
(((
(
;(
Time [min.]
Fig. 4.5: Load carrying capacity experiment with v = 4 m/s, no lubricant supply.
A number of such load carrying capacity experiments were performed at different velocities. In Fig. 4.6 the results of these experiments are collected in
one plot. On the left axis the failure pressure is given and on the right axis
the temperature at the moment of failure is given. In the Figure a line for
a constant pv-value of 22 MPam/s was drawn (dotted line marked ()). The
measured curve, marked (), shows that in reality failure does not occur at a
constant pv-value. On the other hand, Fig. 4.6 shows that failure of the seals
occurs at a practically constant face temperature of 755 C. Most probably,
seal failure occurs at a particular value of the seal face contact temperature,
rather than at a fixed pv-value (which, when multiplied by the coefficient of
friction, is a measure for the heat flux into the seal faces). A similar conclusion
95
d((
(
M(
(
E(
x(
;(
n(
1(
Experimental failure pressure p [MPa]

Theoretical failure pressure, pv = constant
Temperature [ C]
d
(
n
Fail contact temperature [ C]
Failure pressure [MPa]
was drawn by Honselaar and de Gee (1989) for polymeric bearing materials
sliding against steel. These load carrying capacity tests showed that for the
lubricated situation no failure took place, therefore, no effects of (local) failure
on the Stribeck like friction curves have to be taken in consideration.
d(
(

d(
velocity [m/s]
Fig. 4.6: Load carrying capacity experiments. Failure at a contact
temperature of between 7080 C.
4.3.3
Wear rate measurements
The last type of experiments performed on the test rig, was the measurement
of wear of the seal faces. In these experiments different material combinations
of silicon carbide/carbon seals were tested.
In order to determine the wear, three methods were tried out. The most
elegant method would have been a real time measurement, as during such a
test the wear behaviour can be observed continuously.
Schipper and Odi-Owei (1992) performed several wear tests on a pin-on-disc
device. They designed a wear measuring system which corrected for temperature and swell effects of the materials. In their construction two displacement
transducers were used: one measured the distance change caused by wear and
96
4. The test rig
swell as well as temperature effects, whereas the other transducer measured

only the distance change caused by temperature variations and swell. By subtracting the signals from each other, the actual wear displacement remained.
A disadvantage of this method is that wear of the complete tribo-system is
measured and not that of the pin and disc separately. In seal faces, based on
a combination of a soft (carbon) and a hard (silicon carbide) seal, however,
wear occurs nearly entirely on the soft carbon seal. Unfortunately, a similar
construction was not possible on the authors test rig. Therefore efforts were
made to measure as close as possible to the seal contact with only one transducer to avoid temperature effects as much as possible. A capacitive probe
and a laser probe were tried out, but both transducers failed. Small environmental temperature variations had a much larger effect on the signal of the
transducers than the actual wear. Summarizing, real time wear measurements
on the test rig were not succesful.
The second method considered was based on mass loss of the seals. By determining the mass before and after a test, the volume loss V can be calculated
(if the density of the seal material is known). Before and after a wear test
the seals were dried in an oven at a temperature of 110 C. However, it took
approximately 600 hours (= 25 days) before a steady weight was reached. Figure 4.7 shows the mass decrease, plotted against time. In view of this, the
method is hardly appropriate for measuring wear of seal faces.
A third method turned out to be more suitable. On the carbon faces small
circumferential steps were made, as shown in Fig. 4.8. The steps were made
on the inside circumference and on the outside circumference of the seal face.
Before and after a wear test the step-height was measured without contact
by means of an interference microscope, which is described in more detail by
Lubbinge (1994). Figure 4.9 shows an example of a step-height measurement.
Where the reflection of the steps was too low, step-height measurements were
performed using a form tester, i.e. a stylus-like device, which however does
not mate a contactless measurement. Figure 4.10 shows an example of a measurement made using a form tester.
As carbon faces may swell or shrink as a result of changing temperature and/or
humidity (Flitney and Nau, 1987), the step-height also depends on this swelling
or shrinking. Therefore a second step is made (Fig. 4.8), which will not wear,
because it is not in contact with the counter face. The height of this step is
also measured, and is used to correct for swell/shrink or temperature effects.
The actual wear height can then be calculated using the following formula (see
Fig. 4.8):
bt1
h = at1 at2 ,
(4.1)
bt2
where:
97
dxx
dx(
Mass [g]
d;x
d;(
dnx
dn(
d1x
d1(
(
1((
;((
E((
M((
Time [h]
Fig. 4.7: Mass loss of a carbon seal face in an oven at a temperature
of 110 C.
h
at1
at2
bt1
bt2
:
:
:
:
:
decrease of the height caused by wear of the face [mm]

height of the upper step before the wear test
height of the upper step after the wear test
height of the lower step before the wear test
height of the lower step after the wear test
The specific wear rate, ks , is calculated according to the following equation:

Aseal h
mm3
V
ks =
=
,
(4.2)
FN s
FN s
Nm
where V is the worn volume of the seal, FN the normal force, s the sliding
distance and Aseal the contacting seal area.
Different silicon carbide/carbon seal combinations were tested. To avoid hydrodynamic effects, which reduce the wear rate significantly, the experiments
were performed at very low speeds, i.e. in the boundary lubrication regime.
The specific wear rates of all combinations were below ks = 3.5107mm3 /Nm,
see Table 4.1, indicating that very little wear occurred. Wear experiments were
98
4. The test rig
s
A
{
Fig. 4.8: Circumferential steps (exaggerated). Dimensions of the steps

are about a = b 0.02 0.04 mm and c 0.5 mm.
also performed on a pin-on-disc device (Schipper, 1992). The results of these

experiments agree well with the authors results.
The resin impregnated
Table 4.1: Specific wear rates for different seal material combinations.
Material
ks (107 mm3 /Nm) ks (107 mm3 /Nm)
combination
Test rig
Pin-on-disc
RC RBSiC
3.3
6.6
AC RBSiC
2.2
1.3
RC SSSiC
2.4
3.0
AC SSSiC
1.9
0.7
carbon faces (RC) showed more wear than the antimony impregnated carbon faces (AC) when run against reaction bonded silicon carbide (RBSiC) as
well as against self-sintered silicon carbide (SSSiC). Both carbon faces showed
more wear against reaction bonded silicon carbide face than when run against
self-sintered silicon carbide. More details about the wear measurements are
described by van Gaalen (1996).
4.4 Summary
99
Fig. 4.9: Example of a measurement of the steps with the interference

microscope.
After the experiments, it was found that waviness developed on the carbon
face, which in these experiments (BL) did not affect the friction. However, for
friction curve experiments, this, by wear generated waviness might affect the
friction results. Hence, for the friction curve experiments a silicon carbide vs.
silicon carbide seal combination will be used.
4.4
Summary
With the newly developed test rig it is possible to perform friction measurements, load carrying capacity tests and wear experiments in a reproducible
way. A great advantage of this test rig is that the transducer, which measures
both the torque and the axial load, is mounted directly behind the seal housing. Furthermore, a stiff alignment construction has been developed (Fig. 4.2),
which inhibits misalignment of the faces. In this way, the real forces acting on
the seal combination are measured.
The load carrying capacity tests showed that seals do not fail at a constant
pv-value, but seem to fail at a constant seal face temperature. When there is
sufficient lubricant present, no seal failure occurs.
100
4. The test rig
Fig. 4.10: Example of a measurement of the steps with a form tester.
From the wear experiments it can be concluded that, provided that enough
lubricant is present to generate a boundary layer, hard-soft seal combinations
hardly show any wear.
Finally a number of friction experiments were performed in order to analyze
whether Stribeck-like measurements (see Section 1.2), can be performed with
the test rig. Is it shown that reproducible measurements can indeed be carried
out. In Chapter 5 the friction experiments and the friction model are discussed
in detail.
5. VERIFICATION OF MODEL
WITH EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS
5.1
Introduction
In Chapter 3 a model was described by which frictional behaviour can be

predicted for different conditions. In order to validate the theoretical results,
experimental data are required. Therefore, a test rig was developed and built.
It was described in Chapter 4. In the following section, the test procedure
and the materials are discussed and, subsequently, in Section 5.3, the model is
verified with experimental results (friction data).
5.2
5.2.1
Experimental procedure and materials

Experimental procedure
Before an actual friction measurement was started, the seal faces were cleaned
with acetone and both the micro-geometry (roughness) and the macro-geometry
(waviness and coning) of the silicon carbide face and the carbon face were measured. The roughness was measured on a 3D interference microscope. The size
of the surface scan was 766 m 597 m. Waviness and coning were measured
on a Talyrond 200 precision spindle and on an interference microscope. A
Stribeck curve was measured under a constant normal load and at a constant
water supply temperature, by varying the velocity step-wise from 0.012 to 8
m/s (3 2000 rpm) and back. By using this procedure the experiments were
conducted under reasonably iso-thermal conditions. At high velocities the coefficient of friction is low and at low velocities the coefficient of friction is high.
Therefore, the heat, generated in the contact, which is equal to f FN v, with
f the coefficient of friction, FN the normal force and v the sliding velocity,
will be reasonably constant during an experiment. All tests were conducted
with water at 20 o C as a lubricant. After each velocity change, the coefficient
of friction was measured and recorded by a computer, as soon as a constant
102
5. Verification of model with experimental results
frictional behaviour was reached. After a friction experiment, the seal faces
were cleaned with acetone and the roughness and the macro-geometry were
measured.
5.2.2
Material specifications
Both the rotating and the stationary seal faces were made of silicon carbide.
In this way the original seal face macro-geometry was maintained. When using
carbon faces, very often a two-wave waviness develops as a result of wear; see
also Section 2.2.4. The face seals were specially designed for this test rig. In
order to minimize the effect of material deformation as a result of the acting
pressures, both seals were made with a thickness of 31.7 mm. The essential seal
dimensions for both the rotating and the stationary face are given in Fig. 5.1.
In Table 5.1 some typical physical and thermal properties of the silicon carbide
face seal are given.
Table 5.1: Material properties.
Properties
Tested seal
Type
SSSiC
SiC
[wt %]
100
Bending strength
[MPa]
550
Compression strength [MPa]
3900
Elasticity modulus
[GPa]
Hardness
[GPa]
400
28
3
Density
[kg/m ]
Conductivity
[W m1 K1 ]
3100
126
In order to validate the theoretical model, i.e. the calculated Stribeck curves,
seal faces with different waviness amplitudes and seal faces with different coning angles are required. A number of production methods were tried, among
which the most promising seemed to be elastic deformation of the face, followed by lapping the face flat and, finally, releasing the face. Unfortunately, as
a result of this method, coning also developed, which was unwanted. Besides
that, the coning in the circumferential direction varied from divergent to convergent and vice versa, as shown in Fig. 5.2. Finally, at the Philips Research
5.3 Theoretical vs. experimental results
103
Laboratories, an accurate two-wave waviness with no coning was applied to the

seal faces, by means of a three-axes grinding device. In Fig. 5.3 a 3D surface
measurement of such a ground seal face is shown.
Unfortunately, the grinding method appeared not to be so successful for applying a coning to the seal face. One has to be aware that on an average diameter
of 80 mm and a seal width of 13 mm, in a controlled way, a height difference
of a few m had to be realized. Measurements showed that all the seals had
approximately the same coning angle, whereas seal faces with different coning
angles were required. Figure 5.4 shows a coning measurement. In this Figure,
the contact with the counter face is indicated as contact width.
The counter seal face, which will be the rotating face in the test rig, must be
as flat as possible. At the Philips Research laboratories this was achieved by
lapping. The flatness was within 0.1 m. In Fig. 5.5 an example of a flat seal
face is shown.
5.3
5.3.1
Theoretical vs. experimental results

Effect of micro-geometry on hydrodynamic
pressure generation
According to classical hydrodynamic theory, when both faces are flat and parallel there is no mechanism present able to generate hydrodynamic pressure,
see also Section 2.1. Therefore a number of experiments were performed with a
silicon carbide face and a carbon face, both lapped as flat as possible. Fig. 5.6
shows the frictiontime characteristic of such an experiment. The coefficient
of friction stays at a constant level, corresponding with that of the boundary lubrication regime, even though the velocity is as high as 1 m/s, i.e. high
enough for hydrodynamic lubrication to occur. This plot shows that in a situation without macroscopic geometry variations, like waviness, no hydrodynamic
fluid pressure is generated, so micro-geometry alone cannot generate hydrodynamic fluid pressure. The initial CLA roughness of the carbon and silicon
carbide seals was 0.28 and 0.22 m, respectively. After the test, the roughness
of both faces had significantly decreased, i.e. to 0.08 m for the carbon face
and to 0.17 m for the silicon carbide face.
5.3.2
Macroscopic features
5.3.2.1
Waviness amplitude, A, variations
The effect of the waviness on the Stribeck curve was measured for 5 different
seal combinations. Both seals were made of self-sintered silicon carbide, the
104
rotating seal face flat to within 0.1m, the stationary seal face with 2 waves
and no coning. In Table 5.2 the operational conditions are given for the 5 combinations, where s is the stationary seal face, r the rotating seal face and
ini and after the standard deviation of the surface height distribution before
and after the experiment, respectively. In Table 5.1 the material properties
of the seal faces are given. The standard deviation of the summits, s , and
the radius of the summits, , are the combined values of both faces after an
experiment. They are defined as:
p
s = s1 2 + s2 2 ,
(5.1)
1
1
1
=
+ .
1 2
(5.2)
We were concerned only with hydrodynamic effects, and therefore the measurements were performed without sealed fluid pressure, i.e. Pf = 0.
In
Table 5.2: Seal face properties of seals with varying waviness and no
coning.
Experimental
conditions
rotating/stationary
[m]
1.1
1.7
2.9
3.8
5.0
ini
[nm]
17 287
11
400
33
467
457
454
[nm]
29 140
12
112
32
115
110
10
57
after
s (10 ) [m ]
14.5
12.3
11
10.7
6.4
[m]
55.9
70.0
105
97.4
174.4
[nm]
62
58
43
48
45.0
FN
[N]
240
240
240
240
240
vtexp
[m/s]
0.15
0.12
0.10
0.11
0.11
Fig. 5.7 the measured Stribeck curves of experimental condition 1 (Table 5.2)
are presented, together with the predicted Stribeck curve (dashed line), which
was calculated on the basis of the model presented in Chapter 3 and the parameters of Table 5.2. It can be seen that the measured curves are predicted
quite accurately by the calculated Stribeck curve. Unfortunately, the speed
105
of the motor could not lowered any further, so the transition from mixed to
boundary lubrication was not measured. In the model, the value of the friction
coefficient for the boundary lubrication regime, fc , was taken to be 0.25, which
is a practical value for silicon carbide/silicon carbide contacts under boundary
lubricated conditions, see e.g. Summers-Smith (1988). Another comparison
of an experimental Stribeck curve with a predicted curve is shown in Fig. 5.8.
Experimental condition 5 in Table 5.2 was taken, and also here the measured
Stribeck curves were very well predicted by the theoretical Stribeck curve.
As shown in Table 5.2, the roughness of the stationary seal face decreased
strongly during the test. The roughness was measured at the top of the waves,
where the contact of the faces occurs. No roughness change was observed in
the valleys of the seal faces with waviness.
5.3.2.2
Radial coning angle, a
As mentioned in Section 5.2.2, it was not possible to obtain seals with different
coning angles. The experiments all showed the same frictional behaviour.
Table 5.3: Seal face properties of experiments with constant coning.
rotating/stationary
Coning a (10 ) [rad]
2.3
[m]
0.9
ini
[nm]
26.4
232
after
[nm]
18.6 23.9
s (109 )
[m2 ]
7.9
[m]
338
[nm]
16
FN
[N]
240
vtexp
[m/s]
0.1
In Figure 5.10, 4 measured Stribeck curves are shown, with operational conditions as given in Table 5.3. The material properties are presented in Table 5.1.
From the theoretical results it was expected that, as a result of coning, the
transition from hydrodynamic lubrication to mixed lubrication would shift to
the right, see Fig. 3.26. However, the transition HLML occurred at a lower
velocity than that observed without coning; see Fig. 5.7.
106
The dashed Stribeck curve in Fig. 5.10 was calculated on the basis of the
data of Table 5.3. It can be seen that the measured Stribeck curves are not
well predicted by the calculated Stribeck curve. In fact, the measured curves
are located more than one order of magnitude in velocity to the left of the
calculated curve. After the experiment, 3D interference scans of the complete
surface were made. The scans revealed that on the outside contact diameter of
the wavy face with coning, the face was locally worn flat in the radial direction,
with a width of about 2.4 mm, as indicated in Fig. 5.9.
Thus, another Stribeck curve was calculated, this time according to the situation shown in Fig. 5.9. The seal width was taken as 2.4 mm, and the coning
angle was set to a = 0 rad. This new situation is described by the dash-dotted
curve and it can be seen that this curve predicts the measured transition from
hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication rather well. Measurements with lower velocities could not be performed, due to the operational limitations of the test
rig and because the frictional behaviour was unstable.
Hence, it can be concluded that the measured Stribeck curves were very well
predicted by the calculated Stribeck curves. It appeared that friction measurements with coning, as described by the model, could not be performed, as
the coning wears partly away in a very short time and a radially flat-to-flat
contact between the faces remains.
In the next section the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication will
be analyzed.
5.3.2.3
Influence of macroscopic features on the transition from

full film to mixed lubrication
As mentioned in Section 1.2, the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication would be the ideal operational regime for mechanical face seals. Here,
a low coefficient of friction is associated with a relatively low leakage and low
wear. Therefore, it is fortunate that this regime can now be determined as a
function of the present operational conditions.
The transitions from full film lubrication to mixed lubrication, which are determined from the Stribeck curve according to the method described in Section 1.2, can be reflected in a so-called transition diagram. In Fig. 5.11, vt ,
defined as the experimentally determined transition, vtexp , divided by the calculated transition, vtcal , is plotted as a function of the waviness amplitude. It
is shown that the experimentally determined values of vt (vtexp ) are in good
agreement with the calculated values (vtcal ). In fact, the maximum difference
between vtexp and vtcal amounts to not more than 10%.
According to Fig. 3.25, vt should be nearly independent of amplitude, A, for
the amplitude range given in Table 5.2. The differences between different vtexp
107
values are nearly entirely due to differences in some of the other parameters,
notably s .
5.3.3
Axial load variations
Three different values for the axial load, FN , were chosen, i.e. 240, 500 and
750 N. In Table 5.4 the operational conditions are given. In each experiment,
one seal was flat within 0.1 m and one seal had a waviness amplitude of 2.9 m
and no coning. It was expected from the preliminary results in Section 3.5.2.5
Table 5.4: Seal face properties of experiments with different loads.
Experimental
conditions
rotating/stationary
[m]
2.8
2.8
2.8
ini
[nm]
33 467
32
115
43
92
after
[nm]
32 115
43
92
24
43
s (109 ) [m2 ]
11
7.8
6.9
[m]
105
181
168
[nm]
43
36
43
FN
[N]
240
500
750
vtexp
[m/s]
0.10
0.13
0.19
that, with an increase of the load, FN , the transition velocity, vt , would increase. From Table 5.4 it can be seen that indeed vt shifts to the right with
increasing FN . Furthermore, it is shown in Table 5.4 that in each experimental
condition decreased.
The Figs. 5.12 and 5.13 show the measured Stribeck curves and the calculated
Stribeck curves with loads of 500 and 750 N, respectively. The calculated curves
are based on the data of Tables 5.1 and 5.4. The Stribeck of experimental
condition 1 in Table 5.4 is the same as experimental condition 3 in Table 5.2
(see also Fig. 5.11. Again, it is shown that the measured Stribeck curves are
very well predicted by the calculated Stribeck curves. In fact, the maximum
deviation of the predicted transition velocity is 10% (experimental condition
no.1). In case of FN = 750 N (Fig. 5.13), the measured Stribeck curve is
perfectly predicted by the calculated Stribeck curve.
108
5.3.4
Pressure of fluid to be sealed variations
In order to verify the model, when there is pressure of the fluid to be sealed, pf ,
present, a number of experiments were performed with different values for pf .
In each experiment the axial load was set to FN = 500 N. The experimental
conditions are given in Table 5.5. As the type of sealing of the test rig is inside
pressurized, the axial load has to be corrected for the pressure inside the sealing
chamber. The load in opposite direction, which has to be distracted from FN ,
equals pf ri 2 , the fluid pressure times the inside area of the seal. The fluid
pressure was measured relative to the environment by a sensor, mounted inside
the sealing chamber.
Table 5.5: Seal face properties of experiments with different pressures
of the fluid to be sealed.
Experimental
conditions
rotating/stationary
[m]
[rad]
ini
[nm]
29 140
25 115
24 98
24 75
[nm]
25 115
24
24 75
23 68
after
98
s (10 )
[m ]
11
12
14
14
[m]
77
89
100
102
[nm]
59
47
36
34
FN (nett)
[N]
385
308
231
116
Pf
[]
0.11
0.23
0.43
1.23
pf (10 ) [Pa]
0.3
0.5
0.7
vtexp
0.7
0.14
0.08
[m/s]
In Fig. 5.14 the measured Stribeck curves and the predicted Stribeck curves,
based on the data of Table 5.5, are shown. The transitions from hydrodynamic
to mixed lubrication are well predicted by the model, however the slope of the
measured curves in the mixed lubrication regime is much smaller then the predicted slopes. The coefficient of friction in the boundary lubrication regime
could not be measured, due to limitations of the test rig. The same behaviour
is also predicted by the model, see Fig. 3.36, but occurs for higher values of
109
Pf . An explanation could be as indicated in Fig. 5.9. After the measurements,

it was found that the contact between the faces mainly occurred at the outside diameter. Thus, a perfectly flat contact exists at the outside diameter,
while also some coning exists at the inside diameter, probably as a result of
mechanical deformation. This results in extra hydrostatic fluid pressure in the
contact, resulting in a lower coefficient of friction in the lubrication regime
were boundary lubrication is expected.
Table 5.6: Seal face properties of experiments with different pressures
of the fluid to be sealed and with coning.
Experimental
conditions
rotating/stationary
[m]
a (104 ) [rad]
2.5
2.5
2.5
ini
[nm]
17
97
after
[nm]
17
79
s (109 )
[m2 ]
[m]
165
[nm]
50
FN (nett)
[N]
385
308
231
Pf
[]
0.11
0.23
0.43
pf (105 )
[Pa]
0.3
0.5
0.7
vtexp
[m/s]
0.13
0.03
0.03
Next to the experiments without coning, also some experiments were performed with coning. As, after the experiments the seal face exhibited a geometry as shown in Fig. 5.9, the Stribeck curves could not be calculated for these
tests. In Fig. 5.15 a number of friction curves are presented for different values
of Pf . The experimental conditions are given in Table 5.6. The coning angle
was about 2.5 104 rad. It is shown that already for lower values of Pf the
coefficient of friction is lower in the mixed lubrication regime, compared with
Fig. 5.14. As a partially flat and partially coned face exists, there is next to a
significantly generated hydrodynamic pressure, also considerable hydrostatic
pressure present due to the coned part.
110
5.3.5
Summary
In this chapter it is shown that the friction model developed for mechanical
face seals predicts the friction and, hence, the transition from full film to
mixed lubrication rather well. When hydrostatic fluid pressure is present, the
transition from full film to mixed lubrication is well predicted, however, the
calculated slope of the friction curve in the mixed lubrication regime differs
from the slope in the mixed lubrication regime of the measured friction curve.
This is probably due to the geometry of the seal face which was present after
the experiment (see Fig. 5.9). Unfortunately, this geometry is not included in
the friction model.
111
(a) Rotating face.
(b) Stationary face.
Fig. 5.1: Dimensions in mm of the tested face seals.
112
Fig. 5.2: Lapped waviness by means of elastic deformation of the seal,

involving a varying coning angle.
Fig. 5.3: A two-wave waviness applied by means of grinding techniques.
Contact width
1m
Fig. 5.4: Coning applied on the face seal by means of grinding techniques.
Fig. 5.5: Seal face, flat to within 0.1 m, obtained by lapping techniques.
113
114

(dM
(dE
(d;
(d1
(d(
((M
((E
((;
((1
(((
(
d(
d1
d;
Time (h)
Fig. 5.6: Frictiontime characteristics of a flat parallel seal face combination. FN = 400 N, v = 1 m/s, = 1 mPas.
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 5.7: Measured Stribeck curves vs. a calculated Stribeck curve
(dashed line) as a function of the velocity. Experimental conditions
according to no. 1 in Table 5.2.
115
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(Tx
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 5.8: Measured Stribeck curve vs. a calculated Stribeck curve
Seal width
2.4 mm
Fig. 5.9: Schematic representation of wear of a seal face with coning.
116
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
d(1
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 5.10: Measured Stribeck curves with coning vs. calculated
Stribeck curves (dashed line and dash-dot line) as a function of the
velocity. Experimental conditions according to Table 5.3.
dx
f
d;
dn
vt v [m/s]
d1
dd
vt d(
(
(M
(
(E
(x
(
Waviness amplitude, A [m]

Fig. 5.11: Transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication as a
function of different waviness amplitudes.
117
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
(n(
(1x
(1(
(dx
(d(
((x
(((
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
118
(n(
(1x
(1(
1.23 0.43 0.23 0.11
Pf =
(dx
0.11
(d(
0.23
((x
0.43
(((
1.23
d(T;
d(Tn
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 5.14: Measured Stribeck curves vs. calculated Stribeck curves
(dashed line) as a function of the velocity for different values of
Pf . Experimental conditions according to Table 5.5.
(dx
(d(
Pf =
0.11
((x
0.23
0.43
(((
d(T1
d(Td
d((
d(d
Velocity [m/s]
Fig. 5.15: Measured Stribeck curves of a seal with coning as a function
of the velocity for different values of Pf .
6. CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
In this thesis a model was presented by which the frictional behaviour of mechanical face seals can be predicted as a function of the operational conditions.
Also a test rig was designed and built, in order to verify the friction model.
Based on the work presented in the previous chapters, a number of conclusions
can be drawn. In Section 6.2, recommendations for further research are given.
6.1
Conclusions
Friction model
Film thickness equations for mechanical face seals have been developed.
In order to reduce the number of calculations, the parameters were
grouped into dimensionless quantities. Three different film thickness
equations were required, depending on the pressure range of the fluid to
be sealed.
In order to apply the contact model of Greenwood and Williamson, the
nominal contact area was required. The nominal contact area between a
flat seal face and a seal face with waviness and with or without coning was
simulated by pressing a parabolically shaped cylinder on a flat surface,
in which the centre line of the cylinder made an angle to the flat surface
equal to the coning angle. A contact area is formed as a result of elastic
deformation of both surfaces. Based on the numerical data, a function
fit for the nominal contact area was made as a function of the waviness
amplitude, coning angle, modulus of elasticity and load.
By combining the contact model and the film thickness equation, Stribeck
curves can be calculated. With this friction model the effects of the different parameters, like coning, waviness, fluid pressure, roughness, etc.
on the transitions between the different lubrication regimes can be analyzed.
120
6. Conclusions and recommendations
Test rig and experiments

A test rig was designed and built with which accurate and reproducible
friction measurements, wear measurements and load carrying capacity
tests could be performed.
To align the rotating face parallel to the stationary face a new alignment construction was developed. The construction was based on
elastic hinges, which resulted in a stiff construction in both the rotating and the axial directions, while maintaining a full alignment.
A specially designed hybrid transducer was used for measuring the
axial load as well as the torque simultaneously. By mounting the
transducer directly behind the contacting seal faces, the real forces
acting in the contact were measured.
Load carrying capacity tests were performed in order to determine the
maximum applicable load. Measurements revealed that when lubricant
was present, no failure at all occurred. Without lubricant supply, seal
failure occurred. These tests showed that seals do not fail at a constant
pv-value, as often assumed in the literature, but appear to fail at a
constant seal face temperature.
Friction experiments were performed in order to determine the transition
from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication. In this region an optimum situation with regard to leakage, friction and wear exists for mechanical
face seals. The experiments showed that the friction curves and, consequently, the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication could
be obtained in a reproducible way.
Model versus experiment
The friction model was verified with experimental friction data, obtained
from the newly developed test rig. It was found that the model accurately
predicts the friction in mechanical face seals.
Friction experiments with coned seals showed a much lower transition
velocity than the model predicted. Surface measurements of the coned
seal revealed that the seal on the outside contact diameter was locally
worn flat. After adapting the model to the new situation, the model
showed good agreement with the measured Stribeck curve.
6.2 Recommendations
121
Hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication

It was shown that, depending on the operational conditions, the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication significantly depends on:
coning angle, a
standard deviation of the height distribution of the summits, s
load, FN
viscosity,
pressure of the fluid to be sealed, Pf
and to a lesser extent on:
waviness amplitude, A
the value of s s
the height distribution, analyzed with a 2n -height distribution function
the reduced modulus of elasticity, E 0
Depending on the seal geometry and pressure of the fluid to be sealed,
the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication disappears.
6.2
Recommendations
Models already exist which can calculate the shape of the seal face as
a function of thermal and mechanical distortions. By combining the
authors friction model with such a model, the frictional behaviour of a
mechanical seal face can be predicted accurately.
Due to frictional heating, two-phase lubrication may result. This effect
could be implemented in the model. In fact, the model already assumes
two-phase lubrication, as also cavitation is taken into account. By making the liquid fraction parameter, qc , also a function of the thermal effects,
two-phase flow can be incorporated.
In this thesis it is shown that there is a considerable number of parameters which affect the transition from hydrodynamic to mixed lubrication.
A lubrication parameter is required, other than the commonly used duty
parameter, G, which incorporates these effects, and which will thus adequately determine this transition.
122
6. Conclusions and recommendations
APPENDIX
A. ANALYTICAL SOLUTION OF
THE HYDROSTATIC FLUID
PRESSURE FOR FLAT AND
CONED FACES POLAR
COORDINATES
In this Appendix, an analytical solution is derived for the hydrostatic fluid
pressure, both for a flat parallel seal face and for a flat seal face with a coning
angle. The equations are derived for the dimensionless variables, given in
Section 3.4.4.
A.1
Flat parallel faces
In the case of flat parallel faces, Eq. (3.72) reduces to H = Hmin and Eq. (3.71)
simplifies to:

P
Y
= 0.
(A.1)
Y
Y
Solving this equation for an outside pressurized seal gives:

Pf
1
ln
P (Y ) =
.
1
Y
ln
(A.2)
Equation (A.2) shows that the hydrostatic interfacial pressure for flat faces is
only controlled by the fluid pressure Pf and the seal face geometry .
The mean pressure in the gap is obtained by integrating Eq. (A.2) from 1
to and reads:

1
ln
+1

Pm (, Pf ) = Pf
= 1.
(A.3)
1
ln
126
Flat faces with a convergent coning
Figure A.1 shows a plot of Pf as a function of . When approaches 1, Pf

goes to 1, as pm equals pf . As approaches infinity, the curvature becomes
negligible, and a rectangular situation is approximated. Now Pf approaches
2, as pm = pf /2.
1
Pf
d
(
d(
dx
1(
Fig. A.1: Non-dimensional fluid pressure Pf as a function of seal face

geometry for flat parallel faces.
A.2
For an outside pressurized seal face with a convergent coning, the film thickness
equation reads:
H = Hmin + (Y + 1).
(A.4)
The part of the Reynolds equation (Eq. (3.71)) which has to be solved is
reduced to:

3 P
YH
= 0.
(A.5)
Y
Y
Solving this equation with the boundary conditions for a convergent gap:
P = 0 at Y = 1
P = Pf at Y = ,
(A.6)
127
will give the following pressure distribution:

P (Y, , , Hmin , Pf ) = Pf
i
h
(1)(Hmin +Y +)
1
1 (3Hmin +)
1 (3Hmin +2Y 3+3)
ln
+
2
2
Hmin Y
2
2 (Hmin +Y +)
Hmin
.
Hmin
i
h
2
2
2
(H
+)(1)
1
min
1 (4Hmin 5Hmin +2Hmin + )
+2
ln
2
(Hmin )
Hmin
(H
+)2 H
min
min
(A.7)
Integrating the equation above over Y from 1 to gives an expression for
the mean pressure:
Pm (, , Hmin , Pf ) = Pf (Hmin +)
"
2Hmin 2 (Hmin +)
min +)
ln (1)(H
+ (2 2 3Hmin 2Hmin 2 )
+Hmin
Hmin
2Hmin 2 (Hmin +)2
+Hmin
ln
(1)(Hmin +)
Hmin
#
,
(A.8)
+(2 2 +2Hmin 5Hmin 4Hmin 2 )
which must equal one.

=
1
0.5
Pf
5
Hmin = 1
d
(
d(
dx
1(
1x
Fig. A.2: The dimensionless fluid pressure, Pf as a function of the

dimensionless seal geometry, , for different values of .
In Figs. A.2 and A.3 the fluid pressure, Pf , is plotted as a function of the seal
geometry variable, , for different values of the coning, . In Fig. A.2 Hmin is
taken to be 1 and in Fig. A.3 Hmin is taken to be 10. In both Figures, with an
increasing value of , the mean hydrostatic fluid pressure, pm , in the sealing
128
interface increases, which results in a lower value for Pf , defined as pf /pm .

Furthermore, it is shown that for a smaller value of Hmin (Fig. A.2), the effect
of a varying is stronger than for a larger value of Hmin (Fig. A.3), see also
Section 2.2.3.2. In the case of = 0, a situation as described in the previous
section occurs.
=
1
0
1
2.5
5
Pf
10
Hmin = 10
d
(
d(
dx
1(
1x

dimensionless seal geometry, , for different values of .
Finally, in Fig. A.4, Pf is plotted as a function of Hmin for different values

of . The seal geometry, , is taken to have a mean value of 9.5. In the
case of no coning, = 0, pm does not depend on the value of Hmin , resulting
in a horizontal line. With an increasing value of , pm increases, and, as a
consequence, Pf decreases. An increasing value of Hmin shows a higher value
for Pf , as pm decreases.
129
0
0.5
1
2.5
5
Pf
10
= 9.5
d
(
d(
dx
1(
Hmin
dimensionless minimum film thickness, Hmin , for different values of
.
130
B. PHOTO IMPRESSION OF THE

TEST RIG
Fig. B.1: Complete test rig. On the left-hand side the stationary unit,
on the right-hand side the rotating part.
Fig. B.2: Alignment construction, side view.
132
B. Photo impression of the test rig
Fig. B.3: Close-up of rotating seal and stationary seal.
Fig. B.4: Alignment construction, front view.
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Bibliography
INDEX
A
asperity
coefficient of friction, 25
contact, 25
contact area, 25
density, 26
elastic deformation, 26
load, 25
pressure, 25
reference plane, 26
shape, 26
asperity-asperity collisions, 19
assumptions
contact model, 26
full film model, 36
B
balance area, 19
balance ratio, 9, 20
balanced, 9
unbalanced, 9
bellows, 86
boundary layer, 24
boundary lubrication, see lubrication
C
calculating
Stribeck curve, see Stribeck curve
carbon, 98
carbon seal
shrink, 96
swell, 96
cavitation, 19, 38, 55, 60
dimensionless parameter, 45
cleaning
seal face, 101, 102
coefficient of friction, 3, 25, 65, 101
asperity, 25
boundary lubrication regime, 25,
66, 105
measuring, 101
micro-geometry, 103
compliance, 27
coning, 11, 23, 29, 31, 101, 102
analytical solution, 42
convergent, 11
divergent, 11, 43
effect, 43
production methods, 103
transition, 105
contact
heat, 101
material, 20
contact area
asperity, 25
hydrodynamic, 65
hydrodynamic lubrication, 25
nominal, 29
dimensionless, 31
fit, 31
contact model, 6, 23, 26
curvature, 9, 30
radius, 30
D
data acquisition, 88
deformation
elastic, 30
asperity, 26
140
distribution
asperity height, 28
Gaussian, 28, 69
M -inverted 2n , 68
measured, 28
standard deviation, 27
duty parameter, 4, 5
E
elastic deformation
asperity, 26
elasticity
reduced modulus, see reduced
modulus of elasticity
equilibrium
force, 19
experimental procedure, 101
experiments
friction
coning, 105
lubricant, 102
materials, 102
micro-geometry, 103
waviness amplitude, 103
iso-thermal, 101
roughness, 103
F
film thickness, 24, 60, 67
film thickness equation, 6, 23, 36,
52
0 < Pf 1, 54
1 < Pf 1.75, 55
Pf = 0, 54
= 0, 53
= 0, 52
assumptions, 36
convergent coning, 14
diverging coning, 14
fit, 36
force equilibrium, 19
form tester, 96
Index
friction, 3, 5, 88
BL, 3
boundary lubrication regime, 24
cavitation, 60
coning, 60
effect of
coning, 105
macro-geometry, 103
micro-geometry, 103
waviness amplitude, 103
force, 37
full film lubrication, 24, 60
design diagram, 60
geometrical component, 23
HL, 3
measurements, 85, 92
mixed lubrication regime, 25
ML, 3
rolling component, 23
seal geometry, 60
sliding component, 23
squeezing component, 23
static, 86
waviness, 60
full film lubrication, 7
leakage, 60
full film model, 23, 36
dimensionless equations, 42
dimensionless variables, 40
G
Greenwood & Williamson, 2628
H
Half-Sommerfeld condition, 38
height distribution, see distribution
height distribution function, 28
Hertz, 30
contact area, 27
contact load, 27
141
Index
contact parameters, 30
contact radius, 27
hybrid transducer, 86
hydrodynamic lubrication, see lubrication
hydrodynamic pressure, see pressure
hydrostatic lubrication, see lubrication
hydrostatic pressure, see pressure
I
inside pressurized seal, 8, 43, 87, 108
film thickness
divergent coning, 37
interference microscope, 29, 96, 101,
106
iso-thermal, 5, 101
K
K-factor, 9, 16, 19
kurtosis, 69
L
-variable, 66
leakage, 3, 5, 37, 60, 106
coning, 60
design diagram, 60
waviness, 60
liquid fraction, 36, 39
load
asperities, 28, 64
hydrodynamic, 64
spring, 19
load carrying capacity, 93
measurements, 85
results, 95
lubricant behaviour
Newtonian, 24
lubrication
boundary, 2, 71, 88
hydrodynamic, 2, 17, 39, 104

contact area, 25
hydrostatic, 9
microasperity, 18
mixed, 2, 64, 71
modes, 2, 23
regimes, 2, 23
M
macro-geometry, 101
material
deformation, 102
dimensions, 102
silicon carbide
properties, 102
specification, 102
mean plane
summit heights, 26, 65
surface heights, 26, 65
measuring procedure, 101
micro-geometry, 101
coefficient of friction, 103
microasperity lubrication, 18
misalignment, 17, 86
mixed lubrication, see lubrication
mixed lubrication regime, see lubrication
model, 5
contact, 6, 23, 26
assumptions, 26
full film, 23, 36
assumptions, 36
Stribeck, 64
mounting
inside, 8
outside, 8
N
nominal contact area, 29, 64
dimensionless, 31
fit, 31, 32
142
O
Optimum Similarity Analysis, 40
outside pressurized seal, 8
boundary conditions, 37
film thickness
divergent coning, 37
P
pin-on-disc device, 95, 98
pneumatic cylinder, 86
predicting
pressure
asperity, 25, 64
distortions, 17
fluctuations, 86
fluid, 19, 37
effect, 44
hydrodynamic, 17, 20, 64
macro-geometry, 103
micro-geometry, 103
hydrostatic, 8, 19, 55
cartesian coordinates, 10
curvature, 9
measuring, 108
polar coordinates, 9
mixed lubrication, 64
vapour, 38, 55
pressure distribution
coning, 14
minimum film thickness, 14
pressure gradient factor, see K-factor
pressure vessel, 86
pv, see load carrying capacity
R
radial taper, see coning
reduced modulus of elasticity, 27,
29, 70
reference plane
summit heights, 26
Index
surface heights, 26
Reynolds equation, 7
cartesian coordinates, 12
cavitation, 39
polar coordinates, 12, 36
squeeze film term, 8, 18
squeeze term, 37
stretch term, 37
wedge term, 7
roughness, 4, 101, 105
S
seal dimensions, 102
seal face
cleaning, 101
flat, 103
grinding, 102
lapping, 102, 103
seal geometry
effect, 44
seal width, 31
separation, see film thickness
shear, 24
boundary layer, 24
lubricant, 24
rate, 24
stress, 24, 25
silicon carbide, 98, 102
properties, 102
wear, 106
skewness, 69
spring
load, 19
squeeze film, 19
standard deviation, 27, 107
summits, 67, 104
Stribeck curve, 2, 92
calculating, 64
effect of
s , 106
axial load, 69, 107
143
Index
coning, 67, 105

s s , 67
hydrostatic fluid pressure, 70,
108
reduced modulus of elasticity,
70
roughness, 67
s , 68
viscosity, 70
waviness amplitude, 66, 103,
106
2n -height distribution, 68
experimental validation, 101
experiments
materials, 102
friction, 23
lubricant, 102
mixed lubrication regime, 64
predicting, 64
prediction vs. experiment, 104
procedure, 64
roughness, 105
summary, 71
theoretical results, 66
transition, 3
summits
radius, 104
standard deviation, 67, 104
T
Talyrond, 101
taper, see coning
Taylor series expansion, 30
test rig
data acquisition, 88
pulse generator, 89
rotating part, 87
stationary part, 85
suspension, 87
thermal effects, 17
thermal wedge, 18
transition, 5
definition, 3
diagram, 106
effect of
s s , 68
s , 68, 106
axial load, 107
coning, 67, 105
hydrostatic fluid pressure, 70,
108
load, 69
M -inverted 2n , 69
reduced modulus of elasticity,
70
viscosity, 70
waviness amplitude, 67, 106
measuring, 3, 104, 106
velocity, 67, 107
V
velocity
angular, 37
viscosity, 70
viscosity wedge, 18
W
waviness, 17, 23, 29, 101, 102
amplitude, 29
effect, 43
number of waves, 43
production methods, 102
transition, 106
wear, 3, 5, 16, 20, 102, 106
measurements, 85, 95
methods, 95
results, 98
specific wear rate, 97
wedge
thermal, 18
viscosity, 18

Mechanical Seal Lubrication

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ON THE LUBRICATION

The research project was sponsored by Flowserve B.V.

ON THE LUBRICATION OF MECHANICAL FACE SEALS

ter verkrijging van

Dit proefschrift is goedgekeurd door:

Hence, in this thesis, a model is presented which is able to calculate a complete

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals . . . . . .

4. The test rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5. Verification of model with experimental results . . . . . . . .

6. Conclusions and recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

B. Photo impression of the test rig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

load of an individual asperity

number of circumferential waves on a seal face

dimensionless coning angle

dimensionless seal width

Mechanical face seals

Fig. 1.1: Mechanical face seal, schematically.

1.2 Problem definition

Lubrication parameter (log)

Fig. 1.3: Lubrication modes.

lot of these friction measurements and plotted them in a graph as a function of

1.3 Objective of this research

Objective of this research

Chapter 2 presents an overview of existing knowledge on the lubrication of

2. REVIEW ON THE LUBRICATION

Already a lot of research has been performed on the lubrication of mechanical

squeeze film term

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

Principle of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.1: Unbalanced outside

Fig. 2.2: Balanced inside

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

An important parameter, well known in the sealing industry, is the balance

Effect of seal radii on hydrostatic pressure distribution

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

Integrating this expression yields:

Solving the equation for the integration constants C and D by substituting

Fig. 2.3: Boundary conditions in the sealing interface.

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.5: Pressure distribution for different values of

Effect of coning on hydrostatic pressure distribution

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.6: Rectangular geometry.

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.7: Mean hydrostatic pressure as a function of .

the Reynolds equation can be written in a dimensionless form as follows:

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

whereas for divergent coning the film thickness equation becomes:

Solving Eq. (2.14) with convergent coning results in:

The hydrostatic pressure distribution in a diverging gap reads:

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.9: Hydrostatic pressure distribution for different values of ,

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

Fig. 2.10: Hydrostatic pressure distribution for different values of

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

Fogg (1946) studied hydrodynamic lift in a thrust bearing with nominally

Cameron (1966) analyzed the effect of varying viscosity caused by temperature

2.2 Principle of mechanical face seals

2. Review on the lubrication of mechanical face seals

where ps is the spring pressure and the balance ratio Br is defined as in

Fig. 2.11: Equilibrium of forces acting on a mechanical face seal [after

Summary and conclusions

2.3 Summary and conclusions