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Study on the water-lubricated high-speed non-contact mechanical face seal supported by a disc spring

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Abstract

A type of non-contact mechanical face seal supported by a disc spring with high bending stiffness is proposed for actual working conditions and may be used in high-speed turbopumps with large axial loads and heavy random vibration. First, the separated speed of the seal is obtained, which shows that the initial contact mechanical seal can transform into a non-contact seal when the rotational speed is higher than the separated speed. Second, the steady-state model is proposed to describe the performance of the seal. The model includes the Reynolds equation, energy equation, lubricant temperature–viscosity relationship equation, and moment equilibrium equation, and the finite-difference method is used to solve the model. Third, with water as the sealed fluid, the effects of the geometric parameters and working parameters (e.g. spring stiffness, axial load, rotational speed) on the main performance parameters (film thickness, the maximum pressure, temperature, power loss, leakage) are obtained. The results show that with an increase in the stiffness of the spring, the film thickness and temperature increase change only slightly. With an increase in seal load, the film thickness decreases and the temperature increases. The film thickness increases and the temperature decreases with an increase in rotational speed. The results show that the proposed mechanical seal supported by such disc spring can be used in turbopump systems with higher speeds and smaller leakage requirements.

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Abbreviations

C :

Coefficient (c = Ds/ds)

c p :

Specific heat of the fluid

d s :

Inner diameter of the disc spring

D s :

Outer diameter of the disc spring

E :

Spring material elastic modulus

F c :

Close force of the seal

F s :

Spring force of one single disc spring

G p :

Tilting angle of the seal ring along the swinging pitch line

h m :

Initial seal’s gap (fluid film thickness)

h min :

Minimum film thickness

I :

Rotor ring’s moment of inertia

K :

Axial stiffness of flexible support

K θ :

Angular stiffness of flexible support (springs)

M :

Coefficient (\(m = {{\frac{1}{\pi }\left( {\frac{c - 1}{c}} \right)^{2} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\frac{1}{\pi }\left( {\frac{c - 1}{c}} \right)^{2} } {\left( {\frac{c + 1}{c - 1} - \frac{2}{\ln c}} \right)}}} \right. \kern-0pt} {\left( {\frac{c + 1}{c - 1} - \frac{2}{\ln c}} \right)}}\))

M f :

Friction moment of the seal

M x :

Total moment of the seal in x-axis

M y :

Total moment of the seal in y-axis

M 1 :

Moment acting on the seal ring from the bending spring (x-axis)

M 2 :

Moment acting on the seal ring from the bending spring (y-axis)

M 3 :

Moment on the seal ring from the spring compression (x-axis)

M 4 :

Moment on the seal ring from the spring compression (y-axis)

N :

Seal’s power loss

p :

Fluid film pressure

p i :

Fluid inlet pressure

p max :

Maximum film pressure

Q :

Seal’s leakage

r :

Radius of one position on the seal ring

r c :

Radius of the film pressure centre position

R di :

Inner radius of the seal dam

R do :

Outer radius of the seal dam

R e :

Equivalent radius of the sealing fluid

R e-in :

Equivalent inner radius of the seal ring exerted by the fluid

R e-out :

Equivalent outer radius of the seal ring exerted by the fluid

R i :

Inner radius of the seal ring

r m :

Radius of the position at the minimum liquid film thickness

R o :

Outer radius of the seal ring

t :

Spring thickness

t 0 :

Maximum compression of spring

T :

Temperature of the fluid film

T 0 :

Inlet temperature of the sealed fluid

T max :

Maximum film temperature

W :

Seal’s load

α :

Tilting angle or swinging angle of the seal ring

β :

Viscosity coefficient

γ s :

Radial location of the flexible support

θ :

Circumferential angle of one position on the seal ring

θ c :

Circumferential angle of the film pressure centre position

θ m :

Circumferential angle of the position at the minimum liquid film thickness

θ p :

Circumferential angle of the swinging pitch line

θ 1 :

Angle between the centre line OO1 and the x-axis

ϕ :

Circumferential angle of the grooves’ shape

δ :

Spring deformation value (or the spring compression value)

ρ :

Fluid density

μ :

Fluid viscosity

μ 0 :

Fluid viscosity at the inlet temperature T0

ν :

Poisson’s ratio

ω sep :

Separated speed

Ω:

Rotational speed of the seal’s rotor

∆T avg :

Average film temperature rise

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 51575418) and CSC (China Scholarship Council) scholarship (No. 201606965015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechano-Electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an, 710071, China

    Guo-Yuan Zhang, Yi Zhang & Guo-Zhong Chen

  2. Department of Design, Manufacture and Engineering Management, The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XJ, UK

    Xiu-Tian Yan

  3. Xi’an Aerospace Propulsion Institute, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), Xi’an, 710100, China

    Wei-Gang Zhao

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  1. Guo-Yuan Zhang
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Correspondence to Guo-Yuan Zhang.

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Technical Editor: André Cavalieri.

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Zhang, GY., Yan, XT., Zhang, Y. et al. Study on the water-lubricated high-speed non-contact mechanical face seal supported by a disc spring. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 40, 351 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1270-x

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