Search results

The research purpose of this paper is to obtain a transition process of lubrication condition of water-lubricated rubber bearing (WLRB) by investigating Stribeck curve of WLRB with either straight grooves or spiral grooves using a comparison experiment and providing guidance for structure optimization and application extension of WLRB.

This study tested the Stribeck curve of WLRB with either straight or spiral grooves using a comparison experiment; the variables used are rotary speed and external load.

Stribeck curves of WLRB with straight or spiral grooves under varied load are obtained with the experiments, and the speed turning points when the lubrication condition of WLRB transit are acquired. Research results indicate that the transition of the speed turning point for lubrication condition of WLRB with spiral grooves is smaller than that of WLRB with straight grooves. Besides, it was found that within the whole speed range, the friction coefficient of WLRB with straight grooves decreases with the increase in load under the same speed. However, Stribeck curves of WLRB with spiral grooves show that the coefficient increases first and then decreases with the increase in load and finally comes to a steady value. Under the same rotary speed and external load, the friction coefficient of WLRB with spiral grooves is smaller than that of WLRB with straight grooves, claiming that the WLRB with spiral grooves has better lubrication properties.

By testing the Stribeck curve of WLRB with straight grooves or spiral grooves using the comparison experiment, lubrication properties of the WLRB are obtained. The transition mechanism of the lubrication condition for WLRB is acquired, revealing the effects of speed and load on the lubrication property. The research offers a scientific basis for the structure optimization of WLRB.

This study aims to study the gas film stiffness of the spiral groove dry gas seal.

The present study represents the first attempt to calculate gas film stiffness in consideration of the slipping effect by using the new test technology for dry gas seals. First, a theoretical model of modified generalized Reynolds equation is derived with slipping effect of a micro gap for spiral groove gas seal. Second, the test technology examines micro-scale gas film vibration and stationary ring vibration to determine gas film stiffness by establishing a dynamic test system.

An optimum value of the spiral angle and groove depth for improved gas film stiffness is clearly seen: the spiral angle is 1.34 rad (76.8º) and the groove depth is 1 × 10^–5 m. Moreover, it can be observed that optimal structural parameters can obtain higher gas film stiffness in the experiment. The average error between experiment and theory is less than 20%.

The present study represents the first attempt to calculate gas film stiffness in consideration of the slipping effect by using the new test technology for dry gas seals.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the hydrodynamic lubrication characteristics of ferrofluid film for spiral groove mechanical seal in external electromagnetic field and to analyze the effects of the volume fraction of ferrofluid, parameters of the electromagnetic field, operating parameters and geometrical parameters of mechanical seal on the characteristics of ferrofluid film.

The relationship between the ferrofluid viscosity and the intensity of external electromagnetic field was established. Based on the Muijderman narrow groove theory, the pressure distribution was calculated with the trial method by trapezoid formula.

It was found that pressure, average viscosity, average density and opening force of ferrofluid between end faces increase with the increase in intensity of current, volume fraction of ferrofluid, rotating speed, pressure differential and spiral angle; decrease with the increase in temperature; and increase at first and then decrease with the increase in the ratio of groove width to weir and the groove length. All of them reach the maximum value when the ratio of width of groove to weir is 0.7 and the ratio of groove length is 0.6. Leakage of ferrofluid increases with an increase in intensity of current, volume fraction of ferrofluid, rotating speed, pressure differential, spiral angle and ratio of groove length; decreases with an increase in temperature; and increases at first and then decreases with the increase in the ratio of groove width to weir. The tendencies of characteristics of silicone oil are consistent with those of ferrofluid, and the characteristics of silicone oil are smaller than those of ferrofluid under the same condition.

The volume fraction of ferrofluid, rotating speed, spiral angle, ratio of groove width to weir, groove length and temperature have a significant influence on the characteristics of ferrofluid film; however, intensity of current and the pressure differential have slight influence on the characteristics of ferrofluid film. An analytical method for analyzing hydrodynamic lubrication characteristics of ferrofluid film in a spiral groove mechanical seal was proposed based on the Muijderman narrow groove theory.

Magnetic fluid has excellent function used as lubricants in bearings and mechanical seals, and the purpose of this study is to investigate the sealing performance in a spiral groove mechanical seal lubricated by magnetic fluid.

The sealing characteristic parameters of the lubricating film between the end faces of two sealing rings were calculated based on the Muijderman narrow groove theory for a spiral groove mechanical seal lubricated by magnetic fluid. The film thickness was determined according to the balanced forces on the rotating ring, and the effects of operating conditions, intensity of the magnetic field and diameter of nanoparticles on the sealing characteristics were investigated.

It has been found that the intensity of magnetic field has a great effect on the viscosity of magnetic fluid, film thickness and friction torque while has a little effect on the mass flux of magnetic fluid. The film thickness, mass flux of magnetic fluid and friction torque increase with the increasing volume fraction, rotating speed and diameter of magnetic nanoparticles in magnetic fluid. The mass flux of magnetic fluid decrease with the increasing closing force, and the friction torque decreases with the increase of media pressure.

The change of intensity of magnetic field can affect the viscosity of magnetic fluid and then changes the sealing performance in a mechanical seal lubricated by magnetic fluid. To reduce the mass flux of magnetic fluid and friction torque, the volume fraction, diameter of solid magnetic particles and film thickness should be 5%–7%, 8–10 nm and 2–9.3 µm, respectively.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2023-0032/

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the hydrodynamic performance of liquid film seals with oblique grooves (OGs) and spiral grooves (SGs), considering cavitation, compare and analyze the differences between them.

Considering cavitation effect, the incompressible steady-state Reynolds equation was solved to obtain the sealing performance parameters of the liquid film seal with oblique groove and spiral groove.

The hydrodynamic performance of oblique groove seal (OGS) and spiral groove seal (SGS) shows a similar trend with the change of operating parameters. When the groove angle is less than 20°, the load-carrying capacity of SGS is better than that of OGS, while when the groove angle continues to increase, the hydrodynamic performance of OGS is slightly better than that of SGS, and more suitable for use under small differential pressure and high speed.

The hydrodynamic characteristics of liquid film seals with oblique grooves and spiral grooves considering cavitation effect were studied, which provides a theoretical reference for the application of oblique groove seal.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and improve the lubrication performance of a floating cylindrical seal by investigating micro spiral groove.

The lubrication model of is solved by finite difference, considering the influence of convergence eccentricity and Rayleigh step on the gas film period. A lubrication model, which is a gas film of floating microgroove cylindrical seal, is solved under high-precision central difference (finite-difference method-center) for the critical problems of convergence eccentricity and Rayleigh step. And then, an idea on the opening-leakage ratio is proposed, and a multiobjective optimization model is established. Finally, an experiment is conducted on a narrow gap to determine the gas film opening force and leakage by the modules of testing system, and the theoretical results are verified by real tests.

The theoretical calculation results agree well with the experimental data, which proves the correctness of the lubrication optimization model, and the optimized groove has better lubrication performance. On the other hand, the sealing pressure plays a more important role in the seal operation.

The theoretical model carries out low complexity and high sparseness, thus being very suitable for large-scale gas film problems. A multiobjective optimal function is established based on the opening-leakage ratio for optimizing groove. Finally, a curved groove of high precision and gas film opening force is obtained completely.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-02-2020-0048/

The purpose of this paper is to improve opening performance of bi-directional rotation gas face seals by investigating the hydrodynamic effect of non-closed elliptical grooves.

A model of non-closed elliptical groove bi-directional rotation gas face seal is developed. The distribution of lubricating film pressure is obtained by solving gas Reynolds equations with the finite difference method. The program iterates repeatedly until the convergence criterion on the opening force is satisfied, and the sealing performance is finally obtained.

Non-closed elliptical groove presents much stronger hydrodynamic effect than the closed groove because of drop of the gas resistance flowing into grooves. Besides, the non-closed elliptical groove presents significant hydrodynamic effect under bi-directional rotation conditions, and an increase of over 40 per cent is obtained for the opening force at seal pressure 4.5 MPa, as same level as the unidirectional spiral groove gas seal. In the case of bi-directional rotation, the value of the inclination angle is recommended to set as 90° presenting a structure symmetry so as to keep best opening performance for both positive and reverse rotation.

A model of non-closed elliptical groove bi-directional rotation gas face seal is established. The hydrodynamic mechanism of this gas seal is illustrated. Parametric investigation of inclination angle and integrity rate is presented for the non-closed elliptical groove bi-directional rotation gas face seal.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence rule and mechanism of three degrees of freedom film thickness disturbance on the transient performance of spiral groove, upstream pumping spiral groove dry gas seal (UP-SDGS) and double-row spiral groove dry gas seal (DR-SDGS).

The transient performance of spiral groove, UP-SDGS and DR-SDGS are obtained by solving the transient Reynolds equation under different axial and angular disturbance coefficients. The transient and steady performance of the above-mentioned DGSs are compared and analyzed.

The film thickness disturbance has a remarkable impact on the sealing performance of DGS with different structures and the calculation deviations of the leakage rate of the UP-DGS will increase significantly if the film thickness disturbance is ignored. The axial and angular disturbance jointly affect the film thickness distribution of DGS, but there is no significant interaction between them on the transient sealing performance.

The influence mechanism of axial disturbance and angular disturbance on the transient performance of typical SDGSs behavior has been explained by theory. Considering small and large disturbance, the interaction between axial disturbance and angular disturbance on the transient performance have been studied.

A new type of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic non-contacting face seals has been designed to meet the requirements of lower leakage, longer life and more repeatedly start and stop on shaft seals raised by liquid rocket engine turbopumps. And an experimental study on the performance of the face seal in the actual liquid oxygen turbopump was completed where low-viscosity water was selected as the seal fluid for the sake of safety. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Different performances of face seals under preset conditions were obtained by repeatedly running tests, and the main performance parameters encompass leakage, fluid film pressure between the faces, operating power, face temperature, and so on.

The results indicate that the designed face seal has a smaller amount of leakage, with a minimum value of 3 ml/s. Furthermore, the designed face seal has been proved to demand lower operating power. Since its operating power changes slightly with different sealed fluid pressures, the new seal can be deployed in the harsh working condition with high pressure or with high speed (greater than 20,000 rpm). However, one proviso is that when liquid is employed as the seal fluid, the groove depth should be relatively deeper (greater than 10 μm).

In response to future engineering requirements, study on the controllable spiral-groove face seals to improve the current design is being conducted.

The advancement of such non-contacting face seals proffers important insights to the design of turbo-pump shaft seal in a new generation of liquid rocket engine with regard to the requirement of frequent start and stop as well as long life on it.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a leakage model of metallic static seals, which can be used to accurately predict the leakage rate and study the corresponding seal characteristics. The metallic static seal is effectively applied to severe rugged environments where conventional seals cannot meet the needs. More research efforts for deepening the understanding of its seal characteristics are important for its effective and safe applications, of which the study about its leak is one key component.

In the microscopic observations of the turning surface that is general in the processing of flange surfaces, it is found that the spiral morphology is dominant, which had been also obtained by other researches. There are two potential leakage paths for the flange surface of spiral morphology, one is the radial direction perpendicular to the spiral ridges and the other is the circumferential direction along the spiral groove. Based on the microgeometry characteristics of spiral morphology, the micromorphology of turning flange surface is simplified for the calculation of leakage rate, and the simplified methods of the radial and circumferential leakage paths are presented separately. The topography of flange surface studied in this paper is actually measured, and the Abbott bearing surface curve is adopted to represent the micro-profiles parameters. The radial and circumferential leakage models are further developed based on the assumption of laminar flow of the viscous compressible gas.

The experiments used to verify the leakage models were carried out, and the experimental values are well agreed with the calculated values. As the contact pressure increases, the change rules of both radial and circumferential leakage rates are obtained and the obvious transition from radial leak to circumferential leak can be found. Using the proposed leakage models, the effects of the key micro-profiles parameters on the leakage rates are studied, and some specific conclusions are given simultaneously, which are favorable for the theoretical study and practical application of the metallic static seal.

By the interpretations of the micromorphology characteristics of turning flange surface, the leakage mechanism of the metallic static seal is further made clear. The proposed leakage model reveals the relationships between the key micro-profiles parameters and some sealing performances about the leakage and can predict the leakage rates of the metallic static seal used in various working conditions.

For the metallic static seal, the simplification of the radial leakage path and the radial leakage model are put forward for the first time, so the total leakage model can be systematically reported based on the micromorphology characteristics of turning flange surface. The effects of the key micro-profiles parameters on the seal behaviors including of the leak rate, critical contact pressure and transition from radial leak to circumferential leak etc are also clarified firstly.