CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

78

Vol. 26, No. 1, 2013

DOI: 10.3901/CJME.2013.01.078, available online at www.springerlink.com; www.cjmenet.com; www.cjmenet.com.cn

Flow Dynamics of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas Seal

WANG Bing1, 2, ZHANG Huiqiang1, 2, *, and CAO Hongjun1, 2
1 School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
2 Beijing 3E Energy Key Laboratory, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Received February 23, 2012; revised August 6, 2012; accepted September 6, 2012

Abstract: 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.
Key words: flow dynamics, spiral-groove dry-gas seal, turbulence effects, direct numerical simulation (DNS),
Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) method, Reynolds lubrication equation

Introduction

As a form of non-contacting mechanical seal technology,

the dry-gas seal has found extensive applications in
different industrial departments. A dry-gas seal performs
well in terms of less friction and wear, longer service life,
as well as reliability[15]. However, knowledge on the flow
dynamics properties of a sealing gas film is limited. As the
spin speed of a rotator shaft increases, turbulence arises
from the flow system and affects the seal performance.

the gas-film direction are all represented by the seal face

configuration factor h. The definition of h is discussed in
the succeeding sections.
However, the solutions of both the narrow spiral groove
theory and the Reynolds equation supply only
two-dimensional results. These results are useful for
performance estimations and preliminary designs, but are
not accurate in elucidating the flow dynamics in the gap
between two seal faces. Consequently, an accurate study of
flow fields is needed for performance designs and
optimizations to enable the quantitative applications of the

CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

these aforementioned investigations have never reported
detailed information on the flow fields in dry-gas seals. The
importance of turbulence effects on the sealing
performance has also not been described.
The
present
paper
numerically
mimics
a
three-dimensional flow in a spiral-groove dry-gas seal
system at a steady-state mechanical equilibrium. Both the
DNS and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)
simulation with a two-equation turbulence model are
employed to study the flow dynamics. Comparisons
between the DNS results and solutions of the classical
Reynolds lubrication equation are also presented.

Physical Model and Numerical Methods

79

T
H (E) = w, uw, vw, w2 + p .

The inviscid fluxes read as

T
F (V) = 0, xx , xy , xz ,
T
G (V) = 0, yx , yy , yz , ,
T
H (V) = 0, zx , zy , zz ,

where xx , xy , xz , yx , yy , yz , zx , zy , zz are the viscosity

stresses; and

xx = (u x + vy + wz ) + 2 u x ,
xy = yx = (u y + vx ),

2.1 Physical model

Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the physical
model of the rotator ring in a dry-gas seal. The ring face is
grooved and rotates on its shaft. In a mechanical
equilibrium condition, the fluid fills the grooves to a depth
h, as well as the gap between the rotator land and stator
face to a depth . The angular velocity of the rotator is .
The radii of the shaft and rotator ring are r o and r 2,
respectively. The radius of the groove root is r 1. The area
ratio of land to groove is = b1 / b, and the clearance
ratio is = ( + h) / . The ratio of the seal pressure is
= po / pi .

xz = zx = (u z + wx ),
yy = (u x + vy + wz ) + 2 vy ,
yz = zy = (vz + wy ),
zz = (u x + vy + wz ) + 2 wz ,
where = 2 / 3 . The present study adopts the isothermal
gas model, wherein the fluid agrees with the relationship
below:
p

= RgTref .

(2)

The computational coordinates are usually used in the

calculation process, whose relationship with the Cartesian
coordinates is as follows:
= ( x, y, z),

= ( x, y, z),

= ( x, y, z).

(3)

For the cylindrical coordinates, the above transform

becomes
Fig. 1.

Schematic diagram of physical model

x = r cos , y = r sin , z = z.

(4)

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YWANG Bing, et al: Flow Dynamics of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas SealY

( ) ( Vj)

+
=
+ Pk 2 ,
+ T

t
xj
x j
x j
k
(7)
where P k is the production rate of turbulence,
V Vk Vi

Pk = T i +
.
xk xi xk

(8)

The model constants are given by k = 2, = 2, =

5/9, = 0.075, and = 0.09.
2.4 Discrete methods and computation grids
The governing equations are discretized by the finite
volume method. The convective terms (inviscid flux) are
discretized by a second-order upwind scheme. The viscous
terms are approximated by a second-order central scheme.
Fig. 2 shows the computational domain and the grid system.

spin speed is 10 380 r/min. The groove spiral angle is 15.

Table 1.

Calculation parameters

Geometry parameter
Parameter
Inner radius r o/ mm
Outer radius r 2/ mm
Groove root radius r 1/ mm
Spiral angel / ()
Ratio of groove to land
Groove number n
Groove depth h/ m
Operation parameter
Parameter
Film depth / m
Sealed medium pressure po/ MPa
Environmental medium pressure pi/ MPa
Spin speed nr/ (r min1)
Medium property
Parameter

Value
58.42
77.78
69.0
15
1
12
5.0
Value
2.05
3.05
5.03
4.585 2
0.101 3
10 380
Value
Air
300

Medium
Temperature T/ K
Dynamics viscosity / (kg m s1)

1.8 105

The Knudsen number, commonly used to distinguish the

flow micro-effect, is defined as
Kn =

2 RT0
ph

(9)

where R is the gas constant (287 J kg1 K1), T0 is

reference temperature (300 K), and p is the sealing pressure.
Kn is less than 0.001. Therefore, the continuum assumption
of fluid mechanics still prevails. The non-slip-velocity
conditions are employed at the walls:
V (r , , z)
= 0 (at the stator face),
z= 0

V (r , , z)
= 0 (at the rotator face).
z= h or z= + h

(10)

The static pressure boundary condition is specified in the

radial direction,

CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2.6 Solution of the Reynolds lubrication equation
The steady governing equation of the dry-gas seal in
cylindrical coordinates is written as

rph3 p 1

r + r

ph3 p
( ph)

= 6r .

(13)

The angle velocity of the rotator is = 2nr , nr is the shaft

spin speed, is the fluid dynamics viscosity, and h is a
function of the film depth.
The Reynolds equation uses a simplified two-dimensional
model, in which the rotator ring face geometry is
represented by a gas-film depth distribution function
defined as
+ h, groove,
h(r , ) =
,
land.

(14)

81

reason for the open force being under prediction in the

design of a dry-gas seal based on a solution of the Reynolds
lubrication equation. The result also indicates that solutions
of the Reynolds lubrication equation are not sufficiently
accurate to investigate the flow dynamics in a dry-gas seal.
These solutions cannot reveal the effects of turbulence on
the performance of a dry-gas seal system.
The velocity field distributions obtained via DNS are
shown in Fig. 4. Very large velocity gradients are found in
the gas film. There exist large radial and circumferential
velocity components in the grooves because of the pumping
effects of the grooves. As the rotator ring spins, the fluids
are pumped into the grooves. When the pumped-in fluids
meet the walls of the grooves, they decelerate. Their
dynamic pressure head (kinetic energy) is also transformed
into the hydrostatic head. The pressure of the fluid in the
grooves is then enhanced.

The above Reynolds lubrication equation is numerically

solved by the finite difference method[12].

3 Results and Discussions

3.1 Flow dynamics analysis
Fig. 3 shows the pressure distribution in the gas film.
The gas film is 3.05 m in depth. The results are compared
with those obtained by solving the Reynolds lubrication
equation. A higher pressure is obtained at the root regions
of the grooves, which is about 34% higher than the outer
environmental pressure po.

Fig. 4.

Velocity magnitude contours obtained via DNS (m/ s)

Fig. 5 shows the static pressure contours in the grooves.

YWANG Bing, et al: Flow Dynamics of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas SealY

82

The flow Reynolds number in the dry-gas seal flow is

defined as
Re =

Vd (r2 + ro ) / 2
=
,

(15)

Fig. 8 presents the contours of turbulent eddy viscosity.

Fig. 9 shows the turbulence kinetic energy in the gas film.
There are very large gradients in the gas film, both for the
distributions of viscosity and turbulence kinetic energy.

where Vd is the line velocity of the seal face. If the gas film
is 3.05 m, the Reynolds number is 940.
Fig. 6 shows the static pressure and velocity contours in
the gas film from the RANS simulation. Considering the
turbulence effects, the maximum pressure of the gas film
decreases, which implies that the fluid hydrodynamics
effect generated by the grooves is decreased.
Fig. 8. Eddy viscosity distribution in the gas film simulated
by the RANS method (Pa s)

Fig. 9. Turbulence kinetic energy distribution in the gas film

simulated by the RANS method (m2/ s2)

3.2 Performance analysis

The pressure along the radial direction is plotted in
Fig. 10. The DNS results agree well with experimental data
from literature, whereas the solutions of the Reynolds
equation are less accurate. The RANS method predicts a
lower peak value of the gas film pressure.
Fig. 6. Pressure and velocity magnitude contours
in the gas-film simulated by the RANS method

Very large velocity gradients are found to still exist in the

gas film, even when the flow is regarded as a turbulent one.
Fig. 7 shows that the velocity decreases in the grooves,
compared with those shown in Fig. 4(b). This result

CHINESE JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

The calculated open forces are compared with the
experimental results in Table 2. The DNS results are in
good agreement with the measurements. The result via a
solution of the Reynolds equation is lower than both the
experimental data and DNS results.
Table 2.

Comparisons of seal performances

in terms of the open force

Film
depth
/ m

Experimental
data

2.05
3.05
5.03

40 711.8
33 168.7
29 569.2

Open force F o/ N
Results with
Results
turbulence
via DNS
model
35 172.2
34 222.3
31 503.9
30 525.8
29 366.0
27 198.1

Result via the

Reynolds
equation
29 230.1
30 941.3
31 688.7

Both the experimental measurements and DNS results

show that the open force increases with the film depth.
However, the Reynolds equation solution shows an inverse
variation.
Due to over-simplification, the conventional Reynolds
lubrication equation suffers from significant calculation
errors and a small application scope. Therefore, the solution
of the Reynolds equation is restricted to a certain extent in
guiding the design and analysis of the performance of a
dry-gas seal.
According to Eq. (15), the flow Reynolds number
increases with the film depth. The effects of turbulence on
seal performance are strengthened as the Reynolds number
increases, as shown in Table 2. Given that viscosity
increases in large-Reynolds-number turbulent flows, the
pumping effects of the grooves are weakened. The pressure
of the gas film is lowered, and consequently, the open force
is decreased.

Conclusions

(1) The flow dynamics of a spiral-groove dry-gas seal are

numerically investigated by DNS and the RANS method.
In the RANS simulation, the two-equation k- turbulence
model is considered. The calculated performance parameter
of the open force is in good agreement with the

83

design and performance analysis of dry-gas seal.

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YWANG Bing, et al: Flow Dynamics of a Spiral-groove Dry-gas SealY

Tsinghua University, China. He received his PhD degree from the

same university in 1997. His research interests include power and
propulsion technologies, as well as combustion and numerical
heat transfers.
Tel: +86-10-62772112; E-mail: zhanghq@tsinghua.edu.cn

CAO Hongjun, born in 1984, is currently a PhD candidate at

School of Aerospace, Tsinghua University, China. His research
interests include power and propulsion technology, as well as
combustion and numerical heat transfers.
Tel: +86-10-62781621; E-mail: chj06@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn