Effects of the cavitation and fluid inertia on the performance in dimpled mechanical seal

Abstract

To develop a hydrodynamic lubrication model of mechanical seals considering cavitation and fluid inertia and investigate the effects of cavitation and fluid inertia on the sealing performance of a textured mechanical seal, a finite element numerical procedure combined with a Newton-downhill scheme is developed. The numerical model was validated by comparing the results of the Reynolds equation with JFO theory (RE-JFO) and CFD simulation. The effects of fluid inertia and cavitation on the sealing performance are numerically compared and analyzed. Compared with the RE-JFO, the present model gives a better description of cavitation and fluid inertia. The results show that the centrifugal inertia can produce a throttling effect, and thus the leakage rate is reduced. The occurrence of cavitation improves the load-carrying capacity and reduces the coefficient of friction. The textures have a dominant influence on the sealing performance.