Mechanical Seal Failure Analysis

Abstract This article presents a study on failure analysis of mechanical face seals using reliability tools such as the Weibull and WeiBayes techniques. The Weibull tool is used when a reasonable number of failure data are available, whereas the WeiBayes approach is employed when the failure data are scarce or nonexistent. Results from this study have been used in determining the characteristic life and slope used in assessing warranty cost as well as for selecting the best design from a pool of different designs. Weibull and WeiBayes techniques have been applied to analyzing failures of a wide variety of machines and machines components. This study is an example of the application of the techniques to failure analysis of mechanical face seals. KEY WORDS: Characteristic LifeSlopeWeibullWeiBayesFailure DataAverage Life ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors are grateful to AESSEAL plc for its financial and technical support of this work. Review led by Tom Lai