Spiral Groove Gas Face Seal Research Articles

Evolution mechanism and parametric investigation of relative negative pressure zone in spiral groove gas face seal for aero-engine at high rotational speed

As an advanced sealing technology, spiral groove gas face seal has excellent sealing performance. However, it is rarely used in aero-engine. Previous investigation proposed that the relative negative pressure zone (RNPZ) in the spiral groove gas face seal can regulate the sealing performance. In this paper, further numerical simulation work is carried out. By quantifying the obstruction effect, viscous pumping effect and shear effect, the evolution mechanism of RNPZ under different film thicknesses and groove depths is revealed. Then, the parametric analysis of spiral groove configuration and groove number is carried out. Through the sub-regional quantitative analysis of the groove, the influence mechanism of structural configuration on RNPZ is revealed. Finally, combined with the hydrodynamic performance analysis, the spiral groove seal structure under optimal conditions is obtained. It is found that under the condition of high speed and low inlet pressure of aero-engine, RNPZ is suppressed by adjusting the structure of the spiral groove to enhance the shear effect, the pumping effect at the top of the groove and reduce the pumping effect at the bottom of the groove. When the number of grooves is 20 and the groove depth is 3 μm, the stiffness-leakage ratio of structure B and C can be increased by 10.15 % and 12.68 %, and the sealing performance is the strongest. This work can provide a theoretical and data basis for the subsequent optimization design of aero-engine gas face seals.

Evolution and Action Mechanism of Relative Negative Pressure Zone in Spiral Groove Gas Face Seal for Aero-Engine

Abstract As an advanced sealing technology, the application of gas face seal in aero-engine is few; if possible, lower specific fuel consumption, higher thrust-weight ratio, and effective secondary flow control at minimal cost would be brought. A relative negative pressure zone (RNPZ) was found in the spiral groove gas face seal, and the evolution and action mechanism of RNPZ was investigated in detail, which may promote the above application. Three film thicknesses of spiral groove gas face seals at different rotational speeds and inlet pressures were numerically compared to obtain the pressure field in the groove area and the formation of RNPZ. Then, the radial and circumferential velocities in the groove were calculated to quantify the impact of the obstruction effect, viscous pumping, and shear effect, which revealed the evolution mechanism of the RNPZ stage by stage. At last, the action mechanism of RNPZ was clarified through the hydrodynamic performance analysis. It is found that the pressure field evolution in the gas face seal is in stage Ⅲ under the high rotational speed and low inlet pressure conditions in an aero-engine. Under the same film thickness, RNPZ can suppress leakage to a certain extent in stage Ⅱ, while in stage Ⅲ, it increases the opening force and stiffness-leakage ratio. This work can provide theory and data to help with the subsequent optimization design of gas face seals for aero-engine.

Influence of surface grooving methods on steady and dynamic performance of spiral groove gas face seals

In this paper, a structural form called double-sided spiral groove gas face seal is considered. Steady-state performances, such as film load-carrying capacity and film stiffness, of gas face seals with single-sided groove on the stator, single-sided groove on the rotor, and double-sided groove are compared. Introducing axial and angular excitations, coupled with gas lubrication, seal rings vibration, contact mechanics, and instantaneous changes in fluid film thickness, the complete dynamic behavior history is obtained. Two dynamic performance indicators, logarithmic decrement and period valley, are defined. The effects of groove depths and equilibrium film thickness on the dynamic performance of gas face seals with three different surface grooving methods are studied. Combined with the transient sealing performance and film dynamic coefficients, the mechanisms of several typical unstable conditions are analyzed. The results show that the double-sided grooving method has both high gas film load-carrying capacity and gas film stiffness when the equilibrium film thickness is relatively large. In addition, double-sided grooving has both advantages of high gas film damping of single-sided grooving on the stator and high gas film stiffness of single-sided grooving on the rotor, which can ensure stable operation under various operation conditions.

Discriminative Features of Abnormities in a Spiral Groove Gas Face Seal Based on Dynamic Model Considering Contact

It is a difficult task to root the cause of the failure of a gas face seal because different causes may result in similar observations. In the work being presented, the discrimination of multiple types of abnormities in a spiral groove gas face seal is studied. A dynamic model is employed to analyze groups of cases in order to uncover the dynamic behaviors when the face contact is induced by different mixtures of abnormities, whose discriminative features when motion and contact are monitored are studied and uncovered. A circumferential-pattern-related oscillation phenomenon is discovered, which is extracted from contact information and implies the relative magnitude of the moment on stator and the rotor tilt. The experimental observation shows consistent results. It means that the grooves (or other circumferential patterns) generate useful informative features for monitoring. These results provide guidance for designing a monitored gas face seal system.

Thermo-distortion characteristics of spiral groove gas face seal at high temperature

Thermal distortion characteristics of spiral groove gas face seals are investigated for cases of high temperature. The influence of ambient temperature and temperature difference on the thermal distortion and the sealing performance is analyzed with consideration of gas thermoviscosity effect. It is found that, the thermal distortion makes the opening force decrease slightly with the increasing ambient temperature, while the thermoviscosity effect causes the leakage rate decrease obviously. Temperature difference between the inner and outer diameters plays a more important role in thermal distortion of the seal face, which results in a sharp divergence distortion accompanying with decrease of the opening force and increase of the leakage rate. This means a large temperature difference may significantly reduce the sealing performance.

Application of Fractal Contact Model in Dynamic Performance Analysis of Gas Face Seals

Fractal theory provides scale-independent asperity contact loads and assumes variable curvature radii in the contact analyses of rough surfaces, the current research for which mainly focuses on the mechanism study. The present study introduces the fractal theory into the dynamic research of gas face seals under face-contacting conditions. Structure-Function method is adopted to handle the surface profiles of typical carbon-graphite rings, proving the fractal contact model can be used in the field of gas face seals. Using a numerical model established for the dynamic analyses of a spiral groove gas face seal with a flexibly mounted stator, a comparison of dynamic performance between the Majumdar-Bhushan (MB) fractal model and the Chang-Etsion-Bogy (CEB) statistical model is performed. The result shows that the two approaches induce differences in terms of the occurrence and the level of face contact. Although the approach distinctions in film thickness and leakage rate can be tiny, the distinctions in contact mechanism and end face damage are obvious. An investigation of fractal parameters D and G shows that a proper D (nearly 1.5) and a small G are helpful in raising the proportion of elastic deformation to weaken the adhesive wear in the sealing dynamic performance. The proposed research provides a fractal approach to design gas face seals.

Evolution of bi-Gaussian surface parameters and sealing performance for a gas face seal under a low-speed condition

Abstract A spiral groove gas face seal, serving as a typical non-contacting seal, commonly encounters face contact during a low-speed condition such as the startup, shutdown, barring and warming-up operations. By using a discrete manner, the surface-topography evolution of the two mated sealing rings during a low-speed barring process is achieved, and is in a great agreement with the previous standard tests. The bi-Gaussian surface-topography evolution is found to well identify the end running-in, material adhesion and deep scratches. Furthermore, the surface-topography evolution exhibits a high correlation with the recorded seal-performance indexes including leakage rate, torque and acoustic emission signal, which is helpful in exploring the deterioration mechanism of sealing performance.

Stability and tracking analysis of gas face seals under low-parameter conditions considering slip flow

Dynamic property of a gas face seal is about an internal ability of the mass-spring-damper system consisting of the nonlinear gas film, the flexible support, and the component mass or moment of inertia to handle ambient disturbances. Stability and tracking properties are important dynamic components, the current research for which mainly focuses on high-speed and high-pressure conditions in turbomachinery applications. In this paper, perturbation theory is used to obtain the linearized properties of the gas film in a spiral groove gas face seal, where the Boltzmann-Reynolds model with Fukui-Kaneko approximation is involved to account for slip flow under low-parameter conditions. Transmissibility of the step jump method is introduced into the perturbation method, and a critical ambient-disturbance amplitude is further proposed to cover the defect of transmissibility in characterizing the tracking property. The effects of slip flow on the stability and tracking properties of gas face seals are explored. The results show that slip flow induces an extra “relaxation region” in the critical transverse moment of inertia, providing a softer demand for angular stability. With regard to transmissibility, slip flow will induce an advantageous effect on transmitting the rotor motion to the stator. However, after considering the space required for tracking motions, the results of critical amplitude indicate that slip flow will induce an extra “rigorous region”, leading gas face seals to require more conservative design and more rigorous manufacture and assembly for non-contacting tracking.

Applicability Analysis of Steady-state Models for Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

Applicability Analysis of Steady-state Models for Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

Influence analysis of secondary O-ring seals in dynamic behavior of spiral groove gas face seals

The current research on secondary O-ring seals used in mechanical seals has begun to focus on their dynamic properties. However, detailed analysis of the dynamic properties of O-ring seals in spiral groove gas face seals is lacking. In particular a transient study and a difference analysis of steady-state and transient performance are imperative. In this paper, a case study is performed to gauge the effect of secondary O-ring seals on the dynamic behavior (steady-state performance and transient performance) of face seals. A numerical finite element method (FEM) model is developed for the dynamic analysis of spiral groove gas face seals with a flexibly mounted stator in the axial and angular modes. The rotor tilt angle, static stator tilt angle and O-ring damping are selected to investigate the effect of O-ring seals on face seals during stable running operation. The results show that the angular factor can be ignored to save time in the simulation under small damping or undamped conditions. However, large O-ring damping has an enormous effect on the angular phase difference of mated rings, affecting the steady-state performance of face seals and largely increasing the possibility of face contact that reduces the service life of face seals. A pressure drop fluctuation is carried out to analyze the effect of O-ring seals on the transient performance of face seals. The results show that face seals could remain stable without support stiffness and O-ring damping during normal stable operation but may enter a large-leakage state when confronting instantaneous fluctuations. The oscillation-amplitude shortening effect of O-ring damping on the axial mode is much greater than that on the angular modes and O-ring damping prefers to cater for axial motion at the cost of angular motion. This research proposes a detailed dynamic-property study of O-ring seals in spiral groove gas face seals, to assist in the design of face seals.

Thermo-hydrodynamic characteristics of spiral groove gas face seals operating at low pressure

Thermo-hydrodynamic behaviors of spiral groove gas face seals are investigated for the cases of low seal pressure. Pressure and temperature fields of gas film are calculated, and then influence of thermal distortion on seal performance are analyzed. It is found that spiral grooves lead to complex film temperature distributions and rotational speed results in the increase of whole film temperature. But the shear heat and pumping effect of spiral grooves have little influence on film temperature gradient along the leakage direction. The face thermal distortion, forming divergent clearance along the leakage direction, makes the opening force decrease and the leakage increase. A higher seal pressure and clearance will result in a larger thermal distortion. And the rotational speed may enhance the face thermal distortion further in some low pressure cases.

Effect of Surface Roughness on Performance of Spiral Groove Gas Film Face Seal

The three dimensional model was established for studying performance of spiral groove gas face seal. According to machining features of different surface area, the seal face can be divided into three parts, rotor ring grooved area, rotor ring non-grooved area and static ring area. The effect of roughness on seal performance was analyzed based on calculation of three dimensional flow field. The analysis results show that the surface roughness of rotor ring grooved area has great influence on the seal performance, but the influence is little when roughness on non-grooved rotor ring surface and static ring surface. The influence must be considered when surface roughness of rotor ring grooved area bigger than 0.2μm. Roughness of rotor ring surface can increase the loading force while it also can cause the increase of leakage. It is important to select rational roughness when designing gas face seal.

Finite Element Analysis of the Misalignment Effects on the Dynamic Force Coefficients of Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

This paper presents a finite element procedure specially devised to analyze the misalignment effects on the behavior of spiral groove gas face seals operating at high speeds. In this study, the seal stationary face is slightly misaligned and the flexibly mounted face is perfectly aligned. Predictions of some steady-state and dynamic performance characteristics versus misalignment angle are presented for spirally grooved gas seals operating under stringent conditions. Curves of dynamic force coefficients versus the static misalignment angle of the seal face indicate that the seal misalignment affects considerably the dynamic response of gas lubricated face seals. At high speeds, the static seal misalignment not only results in increased stiffness coefficients but also leads to negative damping coefficients, which may be a sign of the seal susceptibility to excessive angular motions.

A Semi-Analytical Solution to the Dynamic Tracking of Non-contacting Gas Face Seals

The gas film stiffness and damping coefficients for a non-contacting gas face seal are obtained from the unsteady nonlinear Reynolds equation using the perturbation method. The seal assembly is converted to an equivalent spring-damper-mass system. The stator tracking motion is treated as a forced vibration caused by the rotor motion due to its runout and misalignment. The seal steady-state dynamic responses are solved semianalytically. Results for a typical spiral groove gas face seal agree well with that from a full numerical simulation. Stability of the seal axial pulsating and conical whirl are examined using the frequency dependent dynamic force and moment coefficients.

An Efficient Finite Element Procedure for Analysis of High-Speed Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

An efficient and accurate finite element procedure is specially devised to analyze the performance of gas-lubricated spiral groove face seals operating at high speeds. The procedure is based on the Galerkin weighted residual method with a new class of high-order shape functions, which are derived from an approximate solution to the nonlinear Reynolds equation within an element. Static and dynamic performance characteristics, such as seal opening force, flow leakage and frequency-dependent dynamic force coefficients, are determined to study the effects of high speeds on the behavior of spiral groove gas face seals.

Parametric Study of Spiral Groove Gas Face Seals

A finite element analysis for the isothermal flow in spiral groove gas face seals is detailed along with a successive approximation method for the iterative solution of the nonlinear Reynolds equation. Zeroth- and first-order pressure fields are calculated for evaluation of the seal opening force and leakage and the axial stiffness and damping force coefficients, respectively. A parametric study shows the static and dynamic force behavior of a baseline SGFS operating with a large pressure ratio. The recommended geometric parameters presented ensure large static stiffness and damping force coefficients while still allowing for low seal leakage rates. A reduction in the power loss and a significant increase in the seal static stiffness coefficient are unique features of thin seal dams. Presented as a Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Paper at the STLE/ASME Tribology Conference in Orlando, Florida, October 11–13, 1999

Finite Element Analysis of the Spiral Groove Gas Face Seal at the Slow Speed and the Low Pressure Conditions — Slip Flow Consideration

A Finite Element model for the noncontacting gas face seal is developed based on the modified Reynolds Equation developed by Fukui and Kaneko (4), (5) that considers the slip flow effects. Numerical studies of a representative spiral groove seal at the slow speed (≤, 500 rpm) and the low pressure (≤ .303 MPa) conditions showed that slip flow can significantly affect the seal performances such as the lift-off speed, leakage rate, load carrying capacities. Without the consideration of the slip flow effect, the lift-off speed and the corresponding leakage rate would be greatly underestimated, especially at near ambient pressure condition. By examining the F-h characteristic curves, it was found that under the parameters presented in the present study the slip flow could be significant for Knudsen number, Kn as small as .05, and the slip flow in effect reduces the viscous pumping resulting in a loss of load carrying capacities. Presented at the 55th Annual Meeting Nashville, Tennessee May 7–11, 2000