A Numerical Analysis Of Mechanical Seal Ring's Temperature Field & Stress Field And Its Experimental Investigation

For mechanical seal's equipment, the friction heat between mechanical seal rings may result in dry friction or a bigger temperature gradient which should produce greater thermal stresses and even hot crack. In this paper, the mechanical seal ring's temperature has been computed in terms of FEM, and at the same time, the stationary and transient temperature field of seal ring has been measured experimentally. Firstly, seal ring can be simplified as two axisymmetric independent models, and the finite element method is used to solve the problem of the temperature field and stress field of seal ring. After building up the physical model of the ring, the axisymmetric finite element formulas has been derived, and thermal boundary conditions has also been given. The distribution of the temperature field and the stress field of seal rings has been given by means of finite element analysis. Using the numerical analysis of transient temperature field to get the variation curve of the temperature and stress with the time during the start-up and obtain the time until the system reaches a steady state. Secondly, this paper measures the stationary seal ring's temperature field, gets the ring's temperature distribution, and compares them with the results of the numerical analysis. In addition, the variation of the temperature of internal point of the seal ring with the time has been measured when the system is beginning, and the time which the system spend has been given until the system becomes steady. In comparison, the testing result is consistent with that of the numerical analysis. Through the calculation and testing, the major factors influencing the temperature field and stress field of seal ring are as follows: the material's thermal conductivity, the working state of the system, the structure of the seal ring and the convective heat-transfer coefficient between the ring and liquid, etc. The above-mentioned thermal parameters can provide the basis for mechanical seal's monitoring and control. The results of this paper are basic for further research of the flash temperature and thermal-mechanical problems of the mechanical seal ring. They play a significant role in the research, design and application of the mechanical seal ring.