Contact End Face Seals Considering Wear: Modelling and Experiments

A theoretical model for narrow end face contact seals lubricated by oil was proposed in this work, in which the wear of end face during steady wear state was considered. The basic concept of the present model was the load balance between close force and open force, which was the composite of solid contact force and fluid support force at the sealing interface. In addition, the Archard wear model was utilized, resulting in an novel assumption which was the uniformity of wear along the radial direction of the end face seals. Then, the solid contact force, fluid load capacity, and the fluid film thickness distribution were estimated approximately by semi-analytical formulae. Next the mechanical and thermal deformation of seal components were involved to form the classic thermal elastic hydrodynamic lubrication model. Finally, the performance parameters of end face seals, e.g. leakage of seals and end face temperature, were predicted. Corresponding experiments were conducted and compared with the prediction values of the present model. The results illustrate the validity of this novel model, which could be a guideline for the performance analysis and structure optimization of narrow end face contact seals.