Spiral Groove Face Seal Behavior and Performance in Liquid Lubricated Applications

A series of experiments was conducted to study the behavior and performance of a spiral groove mechanical face seal in liquid lubricated applications. The seal's ability to contain water from ambient to near saturation conditions was tested. A comparison of experimental results with a numerical solution of the Reynolds equation under isothermal conditions was done. Two-phase and non-laminar flows were observed because of high speed, high temperature and high film thickness. Different lubrication regimes, such as mixed and hydrodynamic, were also reached. The results show that the spiral groove face seal can work for a large operating range with a lower friction factor but a higher leakage than the smooth face seal configuration.