Effect of Bottom Configuration of Surface Texture on Performance of Liquid Lubricated Mechanical Seals

The “cavitation” behavior in the negative pressure area of the surface texture seriously affects the overall sealing performance of the textured seal face. Three square pit textures with flat bottom, left tilt and right tilt, were prepared on the end face of silicon carbide sealing ring by laser processing technology. The effects of the bottom configurations on sealing performance parameters such as end friction coefficient, leakage and temperature and other under different rotational speeds and axial loads were studied by using the self-developed high-speed sealing test machine. Fluent 17.0 software was used to simulate and analyze the pressure and streamline distribution of three bottom configuration sections. The results show that with the increase of rotational speed and axial load, the bottom left oblique texture can significantly reduce the friction coefficient of the end face and suppress leakage, and reduce the heat of the seal end face, and effectively improve the mechanical seal performance. When the axial load is 110−140 N and the rotating speed is 7 000 r/min, the left inclined texture of the bottom surface can obtain the best comprehensive sealing performance. The area of negative pressure zone at the entrance of the left-leaning oblique texture at the bottom is significantly reduced, the “cavitation” behavior of the fluid medium is effectively suppressed, the streamline in the texture area is complex and disordered, the reflux is stronger, and the fluid micro-pressure effect is more obvious.