An Improved Design of Spiral Groove Mechanical Seal

The coupling effect among the flow of fluid film, the frictional heat of fluid film and the thermal deformation of sealing rings is inherent in mechanical seals. The frictional heat transfer analysis was carded out to optimize the geometrical parameters of the sealing rings, such as the length, the inner radius and the outer radius. The geometrical parameters of spiral grooves, such as the spiral angle, the end radius, the groove depth, the ratio of the groove width to the weir width and the number of the grooves, were optimized by regarding the maximum bearing force of fluid film as the optimization objective with the coupling effect considered. The depth of spiral groove was designed to gradually increase from the end radius of spiral groove to the outer radius of end face in order to decrease the weakening effect of thermal deformation on the hydrodynamic effect of spiral grooves. The end faces of sealing rings were machined to form a divergent gap at inner radius, and a parallel gap will form to reduce the leakage rate when the thermal deformation takes place. The improved spiral groove mechanical seal possesses good heat transfer performance and sealing ability.

Leakage and Stiffness Characteristics of Bionic Cluster Spiral Groove Dry Gas Seal

Spiral groove dry gas seal(S?DGS), the most widely used DGS in the world, encounters the problem of high leakage rate and inferior film stability when used in high?speed machinery equipment, which could not be well solved by optimization of geometrical parameters and molded line of spiral groove. A new type of bionic cluster spiral groove DGS(CS?DGS) is proved to have superior film stability than S?DGS at the condition of high?speed and low?pressure numerically. A bionic CS?DGS is experimentally investigated and compared with common S?DGS in order to provide evidence for theoretical study. The film thickness and leakage rate of both bionic spiral groove and common spiral groove DGS are measured and compared with each other and with theoretical values under different closing force at the condition of static pressure, high?speed and low?pressure, and the film stiffness and stiffness?leakage ratio of these two face seals are derived by the relationship between closing force and film thickness at the steady state. Experimental results agree well with the theory that the leakage and stiffness of bionic CS?DGS are superior to that of common S?DGS under the condition of high?speed and low?pressure, with the decreasing amplitude of 20% to 40% and the growth amplitude of 20%, respectively. The opening performance and stiffness characteristics of bionic CS?DGS are inferior to that of common S?DGS when rotation speed equals to 0 r/min. The proposed research provides a new method to measure the axis film stiffness of DGS, and validates the superior performance of bionic CS?DGS at the condition of high?speed and low?pressure experimentally.

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.

Numerical Analysis of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas Seal Considering Micro-scale Effects

A dry-gas seal system is a non-contact seal technology that is widely used in different industrial applications.Spiral-groove dry-gas seal utilizes fluid dynamic pressure effects to realize the seal and lubrication processes,while forming a high pressure gas film between two sealing faces due to the deceleration of the gas pumped in or out.There is little research into the effects and the influence on seal performance,if the grooves and the gas film are at the micro-scale.This paper investigates the micro-scale effects on spiral-groove dry-gas seal performance in a numerical solution of a corrected Reynolds equation.The Reynolds equation is discretized by means of the finite difference method with the second order scheme and solved by the successive-over-relaxation（SOR） iterative method.The Knudsen number of the flow in the sealing gas film is changed from 0.005 to 0.120 with a variation of film depth and sealing pressure.The numerical results show that the average pressure in the gas film and the sealed gas leakage increase due to micro-scale effects.The open force is enlarged,while the gas film stiffness is significantly decreased due to micro-scale effects.The friction torque and power consumption remain constant,even in low sealing pressure and spin speed conditions.In this paper,the seal performance at different rotor face spin speeds is also described.The proposed research clarifies the micro-scale effects in a spiral-groove dry-gas seal and their influence on seal performance,which is expected to be useful for the improvement of the design of dry-gas seal systems operating in the slip flow regime.

Dynamic Coupling Correlation of Gas Film in Dry Gas Seal with Spiral Groove

In working state, the dynamic performance of dry gas seal, generated by the rotating end face with spiral grooves, is determined by the open force of gas film and leakage flow rate. Generally, the open force and the leakage flow rate can be obtained by finite element method, computational fluid dynamics method and experimental measurement method. However, it will take much time to carry out the above measurements and calculations. In this paper, the approximate model of parallel grooves based on the narrow groove theory is used to establish the dynamic equations of the gas film for the purpose of obtaining the dynamic parameters of gas film. The nonlinear differential equations of gas film model are solved by Runge-Kutta method and shooting method. The numerical values of the pressure profiles, leakage flux and opening force on the seal surface are integrated, and then compared to experimental data for the reliability of the numerical simulation. The results show that the numerical simulation curves are in good agreement with experimental values. Furthermore, the opening force and the leakage flux are proved to be strongly correlated with the operating parameters. Then, the function-coupling method is introduced to analyze the numerical results to obtain the correlation formulae of the opening force and leakage flux respectively with the operating parameters, i.e., the inlet pressure and the rotating speed. This study intends to provide an effective way to predict the aerodynamic performance for designing and optimizing the groove styles in dry gas seal rapidly and accurately.

Flow Dynamics of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas Seal

The dry-gas seal has been widely used in different industries. With increased spin speed of the rotator shaft, turbulence occurs in the gas film between the stator and rotor seal faces. For the micro-scale flow in the gas film and grooves, turbulence can change the pressure distribution of the gas film. Hence, the seal performance is influenced. However, turbulence effects and methods for their evaluation are not considered in the existing industrial designs of dry-gas seal. The present paper numerically obtains the turbulent flow fields of a spiral-groove dry-gas seal to analyze turbulence effects on seal performance. The direct numerical simulation （DNS） and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes （RANS） methods are utilized to predict the velocity field properties in the grooves and gas film. The key performance parameter, open force, is obtained by integrating the pressure distribution, and the obtained result is in good agreement with the experimental data of other researchers. Very large velocity gradients are found in the sealing gas film because of the geometrical effects of the grooves. Considering turbulence effects, the calculation results show that both the gas film pressure and open force decrease. The RANS method underestimates the performance, compared with the DNS. The solution of the conventional Reynolds lubrication equation without turbulence effects suffers from significant calculation errors and a small application scope. The present study helps elucidate the physical mechanism of the hydrodynamic effects of grooves for improving and optimizing the industrial design or seal face pattern of a dry-gas seal.

超高速干气密封微织构气膜润滑特性研究

针对航天航空领域,设备超高速、高压运转,干气密封稳定性问题,依据槽型织构优化设计,提出一种槽底微织构螺旋槽干气密封结构,以解决密封在超高速旋转过程中气膜稳定性问题。基于气体润滑理论,建模、划分网格,再导入FLUENT软件对流场进行仿真模拟;改变工况参数和槽型结构参数后,在超高速、高压工况下,相比于普通螺旋槽,槽底微织构螺旋槽干气密封的动压效果有显著提升。结果表明,槽深h_(g)=6μm,膜厚h_(0)=2μm,微织构槽深δ=2μm、微织构槽宽取3.97 mm,微织构槽位于螺旋槽底中间位置时,槽底微织构螺旋槽相比于普通螺旋槽可产生明显的动压效应。

基于湍流模型的螺旋槽机械密封端面流动特性分析

为了研究高转速液膜润滑螺旋槽机械密封湍流流动特性,基于k-ω湍流模型,计算了密封端面液膜相对速度、压力与湍动能分布,并分析了不同转速与膜厚下密封开启力、泄漏率与端面各流动熵产损失占比。结果表明:槽区位置流体速度小,密封堰区流体速度大;液膜压力分布呈周期性,在螺旋槽背面前1/2流向位置处产生了空化;螺旋槽入口湍动能较大,在螺旋槽深度方向上,越靠近密封动环螺旋槽底壁面,流体湍动能越大;流体膜区域总熵产损失明显大于螺旋槽区域,总壁面熵产损失占比≥60%,总湍流流动损失占比≥30%;随着转速增加,开启力与泄漏率增大,壁面熵产损失增加,直接熵产损失降低,当转速≥10000 r/min时,湍流与脉动熵产损失相对稳定,占比35.64%~37.24%;随着膜厚增加,开启力降低,泄漏率增大,壁面熵产损失先增大后减小再增大,直接熵产损失降低,当膜厚≥4μm时,湍流与脉动熵产损失相对稳定,占比40.26%~42.15%。研究结果可为高转速低能耗机械密封结构设计提供理论指导。

磁流体润滑螺旋槽机械密封中的热流固耦合分析

为了研究磁流体润滑螺旋槽机械密封中的热流固耦合效应,利用ANSYS Workbench软件计算了磁流体膜的压力分布、温度分布和动环的变形量,分析了电流强度、转速和磁性颗粒体积分数对磁流体膜压力、温度和动环变形的影响。结果表明:随着电流强度、转速和磁性颗粒体积分数的升高,磁流体膜的动压、温度和密封环的热变形都增大;内径处的磁流体温度最高但压力最低,磁流体基液易汽化;动环的压力变形远小于热变形;磁流体膜的压力、磁流体膜温度的数值解大于试验值和解析值,其主要原因在于数值解考虑了密封堰和离心力对磁流体膜的影响。

润滑液膜在热力耦合下对螺旋槽密封环变形的影响

以螺旋槽机械密封的动静环为研究对象,首先在Solidworks建立三维密封环模型,然后将其导入ANSYS-Workbench的Static Structural场进行热-力耦合模拟计算,研究两环在液膜力与环境热共同耦合作用下的变形情况。结果表明:动环端面由于微沟槽存在结构不连续,应力集中明显,槽根径区域的应力较大;静环端面结构连续,中径处没有应力集中现象,内外径边缘由于强制约束以及接触应力的作用,致使应力较大。动静环的变形量均随压力的增大线性增大,密封环材料始终处在线弹性阶段,材料对热效应不敏感。此时,应力引起的变形起主导作用。

煤层气压缩机干气密封仿真实验研究

为探究煤层气压缩机干气密封结构可能的优化路径,以螺旋槽型干气密封为例,在建立干气密封结构仿真模型的基础上,对该结构的压力分布进行分析,基于压力分布结果,进一步针对设备主轴转速、螺旋角度和螺旋槽数量三项主要参数对干气密封结构密封性能的影响开展仿真分析,并据分析结果提出干气密封结构设计与优化的相关建议,以期为今后的研究工作提供参考与借鉴。

Research on the Performance of Supercritical CO_2 Dry Gas Seal with Different Deep Spiral Groove

The performance of supercritical CO_2(SCO_2) dry gas seal(DGS) with different deep spiral groove is investigated with the thermal-fluid-solid coupling method. The performance parameters of DGSs with five different kinds of grooves are obtained. The influence of inlet temperature, inlet pressure, velocity and film thickness on performance is analyzed compared with air DGS. The average film pressure, open force and leakage decrease while the average face temperature and flow velocity increase as the spiral groove number increases. The average film pressure, average face temperature, open force and leakage of DGS with radial different deep groove are higher than those of DGS with circumferential different deep groove respectively under the same spiral groove number while the average flow velocity is the opposite. SCO_2 DGS can generate larger average film pressure, open force and leakage with lower average face temperature than air DGS. SCO_2 DGS could maintain better sealing performance despite larger leakage with the variations of inlet temperature, inlet pressure, velocity and film thickness. The variables hold a more remarkable influence on SCO_2 DGS compared with air DGS.

Performance comparison and parametric study on spiral groove gas film face seals

Several spiral groove gas film face seals (SGFS) with different layouts are compared quantitatively to analyze their merits and faults and application behaviors. In addition, a parametric study on downstream mode SGFS is conducted to determine its optimal parameters under certain working conditions. In tne computation of gas film pressure on the face, finite element method (FEM) is applied to adapt to complicated geometrical boundary.

Optimization design of main parameters for double spiral grooves face seal

The optimization design of the parameters, such as the groove depth, groove number, ratio of the groove width to the land width, and spiral angle of a new kind of double spiral grooves face seal, which works under the condition of high velocity, high sealing pressure and ultra-low temperature, is presented under the assump-tion of fixed closure force by finite element analysis method. The results show that the stiffness of the maximum film can be obtained when the ratio of the groove width to the land width is 0.5 and the spiral angle is about 75 degrees, when the influence of the groove number on the sealing performance is not obvious.

螺旋槽异型结构参数对密封润滑膜汽化特性及性能的影响

为了了解螺旋槽异型结构参数对密封润滑膜汽化特性及性能的影响,建立了涉及饱和蒸汽压力与温度关系、黏温效应和流体内摩擦效应的密封润滑膜汽化计算模型,对比研究了螺旋槽、Z型槽和雁型槽密封的润滑膜汽化特性和密封性能.研究表明:液膜汽化主要发生在槽堰区及其附近坝区;Z型槽和雁型槽的外槽根周向槽具有储压作用,Z型槽内槽根周向槽有槽区汽化抑制作用.Z型槽密封的开启力明显高于雁型槽和螺旋槽密封,雁型槽密封的开启力略优于螺旋槽密封;Z型槽密封的润滑膜汽化程度最低、泄漏量最小.Z型槽密封开启力在径向偏转系数为0.500~0.625、周向偏转系数为0.375~0.500时取得最大值,但随螺旋角的增大呈近线性下降;润滑膜平均气相体积分数在径向偏转系数为0.625左右、周向偏转系数为0.375、螺旋角为20°左右时获得最小值;泄漏量在径向偏转系数为0.625左右、周向偏转系数为0.500时获得最小值,但随螺旋角的增大呈近线性增大.

湍流效应对高速机械密封端面型槽冷却性能影响分析

高速工况下密封间隙内流体黏性生热严重且流动行为复杂,流体流动状态是影响跨尺度间隙流固传热过程和温度分布的关键因素之一,应用ANSYS Fluent软件在湍流与层流计算模型下建立了环形槽与螺旋槽复合式端面构型(ASG)的三维热流体动力润滑(THD)模型,对比了两模型下螺旋槽的冷却性能差异与环形槽的降温作用,以此揭示了流动状态对端面型槽冷却作用的影响机理,分析了型槽几何参数对两模型下温度场及密封性能的影响规律。结果表明:湍流模型下深螺旋槽内存在的大片死流体区阻碍了槽口冷流体进入到槽根部,致使螺旋槽对间隙内高温流体的冷却作用衰减;层流模型下深螺旋槽内充满更多的冷流体,冷却作用较强。内径侧环形槽在两模型下均具有显著的降温作用,且随槽深、槽宽的适当增加其降温作用得到强化;持续增加螺旋槽槽深并不能达到持续降温的目的。液膜温度峰值在湍流模型下的预测值高于层流模型29~40 K。

干气密封气膜流变特性对摩擦特性影响研究

干气密封是高速轴重要的密封形式,通过螺旋槽密封设计改变其接触间隙流变特性是改善其摩擦磨损的重要手段。在传统研究中,密封接触面开槽区的间隙导致的气膜分布不均极易被忽略,从而使流变特性分析产生误差,给摩擦特性研究带来影响。在平板模型的基础上,考虑气膜分布不均匀性,提出平均间隙模型用于描述干气密封开槽区气体流变特性,实现接触界面摩擦力矩计算,使数值计算误差减小。通过对气膜流变特性数值模拟,确定了关键参数黏度与流变特性的关系,获得了转速等工况参数和螺旋槽结构参数对气膜摩擦特性的影响规律。

超临界二氧化碳组合型干气密封性能分析

为了提高在超临界二氧化碳(SCO_(2))临界点附近干气密封的综合性能,依据叠加组合原理,设计一种由宽螺旋槽与窄螺旋槽叠加而成的组合型螺旋槽。在考虑实际气体效应、惯性效应和湍流效应的情况下,改变组合螺旋槽的几何参数并建立相应的数学模型,计算得到端面气膜压力分布。结果表明:在离心效应、惯性效应和黏性泵送的影响下,组合型螺旋槽的密封性能随着槽长和槽数的增加而提高,随着槽深、螺旋角和气膜厚度的增大而降低;槽长为69 mm、槽深为5μm、槽数为12、螺旋角为15°、气膜厚度为2.05μm时干气密封的刚漏比最大,密封综合性能最好。

不同槽型柱面气膜密封性能的数值计算研究

为了探索柱面螺旋槽模型的密封性能,利用Fluent软件对柱面螺旋槽、T型槽和一字槽3种模型进行了数值模拟计算。在转速、压差以及偏心率3种变工况下,对3种槽型柱面气膜密封进行了研究。研究结果表明:在不同的工况参数和结构参数下,螺旋槽结构的密封效果优于T型槽结构和一字槽结构,且螺旋槽结构动压效应更优。转速、压差对螺旋槽密封性能有较大的影响,偏心率影响较小,当转速在20000~30000 r/min、压差在0.4~0.7 MPa、偏心率在0.5左右时,螺旋槽柱面气膜密封的各项密封性能参数均较好。该研究成果可为柱面气膜密封结构研究与优化提供指导。

螺旋槽机械密封在气液两相下的工作特性研究

为了分析螺旋槽机械密封在气液两相润滑工况下的性能,采用液氮模拟涡轮泵的低黏介质润滑环境,获得了不同试验条件下液氮在两相中的比例k。引入气液时变混合因子λ,建立了λ与两相介质混合密度ρ和混合黏度μ的关系。给出了螺旋槽机械密封的气液两相量润滑计算模型,计算得到了两相润滑时机械密封的开启力F和泄漏量Q,并和试验结果进行了对比,在150~190 s时添加时变混合因子计算方法计算出的开启力和泄漏量较实测数据平均误差分别为6.71%和4.32%。结果表明:考虑两相影响的开启力和泄漏量计算值均小于不考虑两相影响的计算值,且端面液膜气化降低开启力的同时也减小了泄漏量。气液两相量润滑计算模型增加了螺旋槽机械密封性能计算的准确性,研究结果可为两相工况下的机械密封设计及性能优化提供参考。