Frictional Vibration Performances of Dry Gas Seal Rings with DLC Film Textured Surface via Chaos Theory

Abstract

In this study, the frictional properties of dry gas seal rings with a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film textured surface were investigated using a vertical universal friction and wear tester. The ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method was applied to extract friction and vibration signals. In combination with chaos theory, analyses of the friction and wear of dry gas seal rings were performed under specific working conditions. The results show that the variation in friction vibration attractors and phase-point average distance is consistent with the change in the friction coefficient. The DLC film textured surface effectively improves the frictional properties of dry gas seals. The edges of the microtextured pits can cut debris, so the diameter of the debris becomes increasingly smaller. At the same time, the microtextured pits can also capture wear debris. The optimized dimple diameter and area density were 250 μm and 15%, respectively. In this case, the texture pit can catch almost all of the debris, but the friction vibration was not severe.