CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 1146+ Vol. 24, No.1, 2011 Or: 10.3901/CIME.2011.01.146, available online at www.cjmenet com; wwwejmenet.com.en Numerical Analysis of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas Seal Considering Micro-scale Effects WANG Bing'® * and ZHANG Huigiang'” 1 Schoot of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China 2 Beijing 3E Energy Key Laboratory, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China Received December 15,2009; revised November, 2010; accepted November 26, 2010; published electronically November 30, 2010 Abstract: A dry-gas seal system is # 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 2 high pressure gas film between two sealing faces due to the deceleration of the gas pumped in or out. There is litle 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. Key words: micro-scale effect, spiral-groove, dry-gas seal, numerical analysis, Reynolds equation 1 Introduction Dry-gas seal technology has been extensively applied in the aviation and various other industries because of its many advantages, including low leakage, low power consumption, and long running life. Using a fluid dynamic pressure effect, a dry-gas seal system is just one kind of non-contact seal technology"). ‘The very thin gas film formed between the rotator and the stator face in a dry-gas seal system also has a lubrication function. Generally, the rotator face is grooved in depth from 3 to 10 microns. Researchers have found that, to obtain high performance, spiral grooves are one of the most functional configurations for the rotator face. During the operation process, the stator is lifted up by the increased pressure of fluid pumped in by the grooves when the spin speed of the rotator is larger than the critical open-up speed of the diry-gas seal system. A steady gas film, of depths from 3 to 5 microns, depending on the sealing pressure, is formed between the rotator and stator face until the static pressure force is equal to the string force in mechanical equilibrium. * Corresponding author. E-mail: wbing(@tsinghua edu en This project is supported by Scientific. Research Foundation for Retumed Scholars of Ministry of Education of China ‘The open force, friction power consumption, sealed medium leakage, and gas film stiffness, among other factors, must be considered in the design of the seal system*®. The main factors influencing performance are the groove depth, gas film depth, spin speed, and the physical properties of the seal medium. As is known, both the gas film and grooves are only several microns in ‘magnitude, so that under some conditions, micro-scale effects are significant and can substantially influence the flow properties and, hence, sealing performance. However, insufficient information conceming micro-scale effects is available for designers. This generated the necessity of studying micro-effects in a dry-gas seal system. Recently, RUAN", who used a finite element numerical solution of the Reynolds equation, studied the effects of velocity slip-condition on seal performance. FUKUI, etal"), derived a Reynolds equation with a Poiseuille flow rate correction and built a database for the theoretic analysis of dry-gas seals, PENG, et al”, proposed corrected lubrication equations, applicable to nano-scale flow. They analyzed the tribology problems in hard disk magnetic head surfaces. However, these investigations supplied limited information about micro-scale effects on dry-gas seal performance. The theoretical analysis of dry-gas seals has long been, numerically studied by researchers. The Reynolds equation is solved to obtain pressure distribution in a dry-gas film”.CHINESE JOURNAL OF MEt Three types of numerical methods are employed for solving the Reynolds equation: finite element(FF), finite volume (FV), and finite difference(FD)""'"!. The FE and FV ‘methods have disadvantages in the development of code, although they ate suitable to the complex geometry. It is easier to develop computer code for the FD method. Moreover, both the convergence speed and stability of the FD solver can be enhanced by the aid of a direct solution method or the successive-over-relaxation(SOR) iteration ‘method. Therefore, the FD method is effective for pressure field analysis of the whole seal face. In this paper, a numerical solution of the Reynolds equation is performed to study the micro-scale effects on flow properties and seal-performance in a dry-gas seal system. The conventional Reynolds equation is corrected by a Poiseuille flow rate factor, which is solved by a fast iteration method based on FD. The main performance parameters of open force, leakage, gas film stiffness, ete., in dry-gas seals are calculated based on the numerical data from the pressure field. A comparison is made between pressure fields and performance parameters to show the micro-scale effects on the spiral groove dry-gas_ seal system, 2 Equations and Methodology 2.1. Physical model and equations Fig. 1 shows the schematic of the physical model of a rotator ring in a dry-gas seal. The ring face is grooved and rotated on its shaft. In the mechanical equilibrium condition, the fluid fills in the grooves at a depth of ft and the gap between the rotator land and the stator face with a depth of & The angle velocity of the rotator is @. The radius of the shaft is rg. The radius of the rotator ring is r>. The radius of the groove root, as shown in Fig. 1, is ri. The area ratio of land to groove is =b)/b. Here, b; is the width of the groove and b is the width of the land region, The clearance ratio is 7=(6+h)/5, The ratio seal pressure is e=p,/p,. Here, os the outer pressure or sealed medium pressure, and p, is the inner pressure or environmental medium pressure. Ratio of pressure =n F, Pressure p, Landigroove pmb /b a Clearance ratio yearns Fig. 1 Schematic diageam of physical model CHANICAL ENGIN sae ING For the theoretical analysi are made: (2) The fluid in the gas film obeys the isothermal and ideal gas model, (2) The fluid’s viscosity is constant. (3) The flow in the gas film is laminar. (4) The ring face is rigid and smooth, (5) There is no misalignment of the rotator. A steady governing equation of a dry-gas seal in cylindrical coordinates is written as the following assumptions 10 30 (ph) 00 =6or eh 2| . @ pit ap a Or a 00 where the angle velocity of the rotator @=2rm, nis the shaft spin speed: sis the fluid dynamic viscosity. The above Reynolds equation uses a simplified 2D model, in which the rotator ring face geometry is represented by a gas film depth distribution function 6+h, groove, r.0) = = 15. and e) Fig. 2 shows the gas film depth distribution on the rotator face. The blue region represents the land area with a ‘gas film depth of 6, while the red represents the grooves with a gas film depth of 3-+h. 0.04 oad Coordinate y 02! oat ‘Do8 om 0 (OO Coordinate Fig. 2. Gas film depth distribution on the rotator face If the film is very thin in depth and the sealing pressure is, very low, the flow of fluid generates micro-effects. Therefore, the Reynolds Eq. (2) needs an applicable correction to describe the flow property in the gas film. The nudsen number, defined below, is commonly used to distinguish the flow micro-effect: sf2RT, Kn = 2K 6) ph here 2 is the gas constant, equal to 287 J/(kg + K): To is the reference temperature, taken as 300 K; and p isthe seal pressure. Ifthe Kn number is varied from 0.001 to 0.1, the+148 + flow belongs to the slip flow regime, so that the continuum, assumption of fluid mechanies is no longer a good approximation, In this study, the Kn number is changed from 0.005 to 0.12 with a variation in film depth and seal pressure Therefore, to consider the flow micro-scale effects, Eq. (1) is corrected by the Poiseuille flow rate factor, proposed by FUKUI, et al! when they studied the micro-scale Poiseuille flow, as follows: 42, ph Op _ 6, a [AE 28 = or 0, #06} where ge is the Poiseuille flow rate factor, a function of the inverse of the Knudsen number. In Ref. [4], to determine the coefficients, the interpolation formula is presented as 6) where D,=1/Kn, Table 1 shows the coeflicients in Eq, (5). Table 1. Coefficients in Eq. (5) ‘Knudsen number Kn 4 a @ F Kns0.2 61062 106532354 02 (9)CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING +149 + ie, at the inner side, the pressure is equal to the environmental pressure, while at the outer side, it is equal to the seal medium pressure. In the circumferential direction, the periodic conditions are applied. ‘The SOR iterative procedure is used to solve Eq. (7), to inerease the convergence or to enhance the numerical iterative stability, shown as follows: Pi) +O ~ Pips a9) where @ is the SOR factor; p\") are the pressure values at iterative step 1; p\"*” are those at step n-+1; and A" are the temporary values at step +1. The convergence condition is taken as ay where & is convergence accuracy, taken as 1.0% 10 here. 2.3. Performance parameters If the solution process is convengence, the pressure field in the gas film is obtained to calculate the performance parameters. The open force is computed as Raff nts= fo rmnron a Assuming a disturbance film depth /, imposed to the steady gas film, the open force is F,,,, then changed and recalculated based on the film depth /t + hp, Therefore, the stiffness of the gas film is calculated as ——. 3) The radial leakage is calculated as “de (4) The friction torque is orn, hr a Mg= “he, 2) vag, la Sf aS ze (as) ‘The friction power consumption is then calculated as N= RY, (16) where Vis the mean line velocity, equal to. = tr, +7)/2. 24 Verification and validation of numerical method Gabriel's experimental data and RUAN’s numerical calculation" are compared with the present calculation results to verify and validate the present numerical method The calculation conditions for Gabriel's experiment are shown in Table 2, and those for Ruan’s Finite Element calculation are shown in Table 3. Table 2, Calculation conditions of Gabriel's experiment for validation of the numerical method = ‘Geometry parameters meter Value Taner radi rm 38.42 ‘Outer radius 2/mm 178 Groove root rai r/mm 0 Spiral angel a/(°) 15 Ratio of groove to land f° 1 Groove number 2 Groowe depth hm 40 = ____ Operation parameters = Parameter a ‘im depth 5m 305 Sealed medium pressure p,/ MPa 45852 Environmental medium pressure p,/MPa 0.1013 Spin speed m/(r+ min") 10380 Medium ic Medium property Parameter Value “Temperature 7/K 300 Dynamics viscosity 1/(g +m +s!) 0.018 — parameters > Valve Thner radius /mm 30 Cuter radius r2/mm 40 Groove root radius n/m 35 Spieal angel /(°) 20 Ratio of groove to land & 1 Groove number 2 Groove depts jum 25 ‘Operation parameters Parameter Value Film depth 37m 12 aled medium pressure p./MPa 0303 Environmental medium pressure p/MPa 0.101 Spin speed m/(e* min") 3.600 Medium Ait ‘Medium propery Parameter Valve Femporatue T/ 300 ooi79 Dynamics viscosity 4/(@em The comparisons are presented in Table 4. For the experimental measurement case, the present results. for open force, leakage quantity, and stiffiiess show good correlation with previous experimental and numerical data. In Gabriel’s case, the micro-scale effect is not taken into account in the calculation, because the Kn number is+ 150+ 0,001 6. RUAN" did not present the exact open force in his calculation. Therefore, only the leakage and stiffness of the gas film are compared in this ease. The comparison considers the micro-scale effect because Kn=0.02. The present numerical method is effective and correct to next step investigations of micro-scale effects on dry-gas seal performance. Table 4. Comparisons of performance parameters em ‘Open force Leakage Sites FIN Quter'*s') _KJQUNem'y Gabriels experiment 331687 26x10 Present results withoot ai micro-scale effect 390594 3.010 RUAN’ . > caleulation”™ me a8 Present results with so a so micro-seale effect 3. Micro-scale Effects on Dry-gas Seal Performances The operation parameters for the spiral-groove dry-gas seal system are shown in Table 5. The environmental pressure is 1atm while the sealed medium pressure is 100, 200, or 303 kPa. The spin speed of the rotator shaft is 3 600 1/min, Air at a temperature of 300 K is taken as the sealed medium. There are a total of 12 grooves in the ring surface and each, with a spiral angel of co=I15°, is $ jum in depth, The area ratio of groove to land is unity. The physical dimensions of the rotator are: inner radium r,=30 mm, outer radius r2=40 mm and groove root radium r)=35 mm. In the below study, the film depth is specified as 0.6, 1, 2, and 25. Table. Calculation parameters ‘Geometry parameters Parameter Value Taner radius r/mm 30 (Outer radius r/mam 40 Groove root radius n/m 35 Spiral ange! @/(°) 15 Ratio of groove to land f Groove number 2 2 Groove depth ym 5 (Operation parameters Fil depth 3/am Sealed medium pressure p./KP2 Environmental medium pressure p,/kPS Spin speed n/(e* min) Medium WANG Bing, et al: Numerical Analysis ofa Spiral-groove Dry S al Considering Miro-seae Efects 3.1 Analysis of pressure field The pressure distribution in the gas film in the condition of p.=303 kPa, p.=101 kPa, and =Iym is obtained as shown in Fig. 5. The pressure peak in the radial direction increases gradually. In the outer region, r>33mm; the gas film pressure is larger than 0.303Mpa (the sealed medium pressure). The maximum pressure is found in the groove roots region (35 mm 0 z 200 a 100 ~002} oh io ort Coordinate x (6)&n=0.025 witout the Posie flo re itor ap | aca rn 2 300 co ao 5 4 100, -00n| Sor aon = aos Coordinate x (4) Kn=0.025 with the Poiseuile Flow rate factor Fig. 6. Pressure distribution in the gas film (kPa) _CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING ae Table 6. s-seal performance with micro-scale effects Pevformane Without With micro-scale ‘Open force Fal Leakage @,/(em’ +5") 987 Fretion torque Mo/(m * m) 5.889 Fretion power Ni/W 223 Gas-film sitiness K/MIN +!) Bea Fig. 7 shows the gas-seal performance at di pressures and different gas film depths. The open force increases with the sealing pressure. At a fixed sealing pressure, the open force increases considering the micro-scale effects. The difference is more evident as the air is more rarefied, i.e., the Knudsen number is larger; for example, in the present study, Kn>0.03. The gas film stiffness increases with the sealing pressure. The gas film stiffness decreases with the film depth depending on whether the micro-scale effects are considered. At a fixed pressure, micro-scale effects significantly reduce the gas film stiffness. The medium leakage quantity increases with the sealing pressure. It is very low if the film depth is very small, regarded as zero leakage. The effects of micro-scale on friction power can be neglected. This is because the power consumption is mainly determined by the spin speed, and due to the very high spin speed of the rotator face, even if the micro-scale effect influences the open force, the power consumption is hardly changed Fig. 8 shows the variations in open force, leakage, and gas film stiffness with the spin speed. Open force decreases, and leakage increases, with increased spin speed. However, the gas film stiffness does not vary monotonously; it increases first and then decreases with the spin speed. Generally, for the present calculation conditions, the micro-scale effects have increased the open force by approximately 1.2%, and the leakage by approximately 20%. The gas film stiffness is decreased more than 7.5%. The micro-scale effects must be considered in the design of the dry-gas seal. As known, if the spin speed is increased, so is the friction power. Therefore, there is an optimum value for the largest gas film stiffness. 4 Conclusions (1) Flow micro-scale effects in the spiral groove dry-gas seal are studied by means of a numerical solution of the Reynolds equation with a Poiseuille flow rate correction in cylindrical coordinates. (2) The gas film pressure distributions are presented at different seal pressures and gas film depths, with a Kn number changing in the range between 0.005 and 0.12, depending on the seal parameters. The influence of micro-scale effects on the seal performance parameters of open force, leakage, stiffness, friction torque, and friction power consumption are compared.rise WANG Bing, al: Numerical Analysis ofa Spiral-groove Dry-gas Seal Considering Micro-scale Effets me With icroscae eet 480 Joop = S Without mcrnseale tet = Without microscale feet, asl = wih mcoscaletit hn 09m sr 465) ae S$ ‘003 10 1320-35-30 35 Spin sped /(kremn-) (2) Open force 1630) 600) hy=2S ym 550) Vkn=340 Open force KIN & ‘Open fore &/kN Tor 130-3035 ‘Sealed medium pressure 7, /&Pa 2) Open force 09-2 Without micro-scale elect += With microscale erect, “Mg os to 1s 20-25-30 asa Spin speed /(hremi-1) () Leakage Leakage Q, lems“) 5 2 é Too 180300387 Sealed medium pressure 2 /APa (6) Gas film stiess —2— without micro-scale effect So, ewan microscale est 20pm = With mieroseateetet Te A Se Wihowtmerscae tc he=1 Dum = a Vin=i36 i Zw i So a 2.0 um 2 2 2 Uan=272 s f+ 9 ~ sof fy=25 ym as 10 1330-23-30 35 ao Vkn=340) Spin speed (hemi) Too 180 S038 (6) ies mdi presse 7, /MPa Eee Fig. 8. Open fore, leakage, and gas-film stiffness Leakage in he radial dct praia aoa eee seers me wit nro scale ence (3) Both the open force and the leakage of a sealed Bp o> a Without mio sea effect medium are increased considering the micro-scale effects, depending on how rarefied the fluid flow is, while the gas-film stiffness is decreased. The friction torque and friction power consumption are, however, hardly changed. (4) There is an optimum value of spin speed to obtain maximum gas film stifftess, when the other conditions remain unchanged, (5) The micro-scale effects must be considered in the performance analysis and design process of a dry-gas seal ‘operating in the slip flow regime. Sealed medium pressure p,/KPA (a) Friction power References [1] MUNDERMAN E A. Spiral groove beavings{M]. The Netherlands Fig. 7. Effects of micro-scale on seal performance Philips Technical Libvan, 1964a a “4 (51 (3) a 8) °) 10) ou CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. 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Transactions of the ASME, Journal of Tribology, 2001, 123(1): 196-204, 013 1 ua} us) Biographical notes WANG Bing, born in 1977, is currently an assistant professor in School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, China. He received his PhD degree from Tsinghua Universin: China, in 2005. His research interests include fluid mechanics, dry-gas seal technology, power and propulsion technology, and CFD. “Tel: +86-10-62772112; E-mail: whing@tsingha.edu.cn ZHANG Huigiang, bom in 1966, is currently an associate professor in Tsinghua University, China. He received his PhD degree from Tsinghua University, China, in 1997. His research interests include power and propulsion technology, combustion ‘and numerical heat transfer. E-mail: zhanghq@tsinghua.cdu.en