• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.66-72
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• 2006

Leakage reduction through annular type labyrinth seals of steam turbine is necessary for enhancing their efficiency and the precise prediction method of seal leakage is needed. In this study, numerical analysis for leakage prediction of the combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal has been carried out using FLUENT 6 which is commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code based on FVM (Finite Volume Method) and SIMPLE algorism. The present CFD results are verified with the theoretical analysis based on Bulk-flow concept which has been mainly used in predicting seal leakage. Comparing with the result of Bulk-flow model analysis, the leakage result of CFD analysis shows good agreement within 7.1% error.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.29-45
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• 1991

Lip type stern tube sealing systems have used in almost all the middle or large ships which are being constructed in these days. It seems that the pressure fluctuation of the seal ring interspace, the cross-section profile and the materials quality of the seal rings have great effects on the sealing fuction of this sealing system. In this paper, the mechanical movement of lip seal ring which plays the most important role in stern tube sealing system and the possibility of leakage caused by pressure fluctuation are studied by theory and experiment. Using the finite element method for the axi-symetric object which receives the torsional load, the displacement and stress analysis of the seal rings, and also the possibility of crack occurance is checked by theoretical analysis. If the force which seal ring lip periphery receives is too small, there will be the possibility of leakage caused by the pressure fluctuation of the seal ring interspace, and if this force is too large, the frictional force between the seal ring and the liner will become problematical. The possibility of leakage caused by hardening of seal ring materials and creep phenomena of tested seal rings are also examined. The trial seal rings were designed and manufactured using the program of displacement and stress analysis developed in this study and the experimental apparatus to test the trial seal rings was also designed and manufactured. This trial seal rings were fitted in the experimental apparatus which was made in the same form as an actual stern tube. The one side of this apparatus was filled with sea water and the other side of it was filled with the lubricating oil. The leakage of oil and sea water was checked and the temperature was measured, rotating the propeller shaft at the constant velocity by D.C. motor. It was proved that the trial seal rings made in Viton rubber functioned excellenty but the trial seal rings made in N.B.R. rubber had problem in its durability.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.39-42
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• 1994

This paper deals with the distributions of the contact stress in oil seals. The distributions of the contact stress due to the temperature effects are analyzed for various values of the interference for a nitrile rubber seal. The calculated FEM results show that the relative maximum stresses occur at the contacting area against the shaft, the flex zone, and the contacting area of the garter spring grooves. Using the coupled temperature-stress FEM a nalysis, the contact force of a radial lip seal with and without the garter spring are studied as a function of shaft diameter. The calculated results of mechanical analysis show good correspondence with those of the coupled thermal-mechanical analysis method except small values of the interference. And the calculated results indicated that the thermal stresses only have a very minor influence on the deformed shape of the lip seal as the interference increases. But the coupled temperature-stress analysis will be very useful tool to predict the contact behaviors of rubber lip seals for small values of the interference.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.66-71
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• 2011

This study analyzed the mechanical characteristics and evaluated their subsequent performance for two types of seals which reinforced characteristics with lower friction and anti-wear functions among the foremost important features in the automotive engine seals; one with the addition of glass fiber to PTFE(Polytetrafluoro ethylene); the other with the addition of self-lubricant molybdenumin addition to the glass fiber. Based on the configuration design of seal installed to the front part in the automotive engine, this study carried out interpretations on the stress and reaction for those two types of oil seals to compare the maximum stress and contact load generated from the seal steel, rubber and PTFE lip. This study also verified the stress concentration and anti-wear performance through the coefficient of friction, torque and durability test by producing two types of PTFE seals actually.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.7166-7175
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• 2015

This paper is a study on using gas springs for reduced friction in the elevation of the large television stand. Target is applied to the operation of the elevation over 50-inch television that uses a gas spring. Gas seal lip technology is needed for development acting on the piston rod in order to obtain a reduction in friction in elevation operation. In order to acting on the gas seal lip technology, the improved friction force can be obtained through the inner diameter of gas seal lip, the design of cutting angle and the changes of material.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.307-312
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• 2018

Unlike a typical static seals, spring-energized static seals exhibit improvement in leak-tightness by reinforcing the spring inside the aluminum lining. Thus, spring-energized static seals are widely used in various industrial fields, such as aerospace, semiconductors, and petrochemical industries. The primary objective of this study is to develop design guidelines for spring-energized static seals in a wide range of temperatures, including that of cryogenic environments, by analyzing the required performance and influence of design variables through simulations. There are various parameters that can be controlled to design a leak-tight seal. In this study, the finite element analysis (FEA) is performed by controlling the parameters related to the spring and the thickness of the aluminum lining, and the result of the leakage between the seal and the casing is confirmed. Considering the influence of each parameters, all of them are found to be important. However, it is observed that the spring-related variables are more important than the aluminum lining or other variables when complexity is considered. We can identify the threshold value of spring stiffness that changes leak-tight performance of the seal by performing FEA. Simulation results, under the conditions that are considered in this study, show that spring stiffness should be at least 3.6 N/m to maintain leak-tightness caused by the sufficient contact force between the aluminum lining and the upper and lower casings.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.39-47
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• 2013

Effect of semicircular rib or groove on the performance of a rim-seal was evaluated using three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The turbulence was modeled using the one-equation Spalart-Allmaras turbulence closure model. Reynolds number based on the axial chord of the turbine blade was 500,000 at the mainstream outlet. The numerical results for a sealing effectiveness was validated in comparison with experimental data. To examine the effect of the semicircular rib or groove on sealing effectiveness of the rim-seal, location and diameter of the rib or groove were selected as the parameters to be performed. The rim-seals with the semicircular groove showed a higher sealing effectiveness than that with the semicircular rib. The semicircular groove installed on the stator side showed best sealing effectiveness among the numerical simulation results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.537-545
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• 2013

The elastic recovery of a metal seal is a factor that can be used to assess its sealing performance. In this study, a compliant mechanism topology optimization has been performed to find a structure of a metal O-ring seal that can maintain excellent sealing performance with a maximized elastic recovery over extended operation. An evolutionary structural optimization (ESO) was used as a topology optimization algorithm with two different types of objective functions considering both flexibility and stiffness. In particular, a circular design domain was adopted to consider the outer shape of the metal O-ring seal. The elastic recovery of the optimal topology was calculated and compared to that of a commercial product.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2019

In the case of high-voltage connectors applied to automobiles, waterproofing has become an important issue for the safety of automobiles. In this study, structural analysis is performed on silicone rubber-type waterproof seals used in the voltage connector. For the structural analysis, the tensile properties of the actual rubber seal are evaluated using a miniaturized tensile testing machine. The Mooney-Rivlin material constants of the rubber seal are determined as follows; $D_1=0$, $C_{01}=0.241$, $C_{10}=0.0142$. The analysis shows that the contact pressure at the top of the seal where the seal and male connector are in contact is approximately three times higher than that at the bottom of the seal where the seal and female connector are in contact. It is confirmed that the waterproofing performance of the rubber seal depends on the contact pressure of the seal bottom where the seal and female connector are in contact. The contact pressure for waterproofing is found to be 4.7 bar. The strain concentration of the curved part is attributed to excessive initial tension. Therefore, a redesign is recommended for uniform stress or strain distribution in the curved section of the seal in response to the stress relaxation problem due to permanent deformation.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.49-54
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• 2018

Hydraulic reciprocating seal has been widely used to prevent fluid leakage in hydraulic systems. Also, hydraulic reciprocating seal plays a significant role to provide lubricant film at contacting interface to minimize tribological problems due to sliding with counter material. To predict lifetime of hydraulic reciprocating seal, quantitative understanding of wear characteristics with respect to operating conditions such as normal force and sliding speed is needed. In this work, effect of sliding speed on wear of polyurethane (PU) hydraulic reciprocating seal were experimentally investigated using a pin-on-disk tribo-tester. The wear characteristics of PU specimens were quantitatively determined by comparing the confocal microscope data before and after test. It was found that the wear rate of PU specimens decreased from $4.9{\times}10^{-11}mm^3$ to $1.1{\times}10^{-11}mm^3/Nm$ as sliding speed increased from 120 mm/s to 940 mm/s. Also, it was observed that the friction decreased slightly as the sliding speed increased. Improvement of lubrication state with increasing sliding speed was likely to be responsible for this enhanced friction and wear characteristics. This result also suggests that decrease in sliding distance between PU elastomer and counter materials at lower sliding speed is preferred. Furthermore, the quantitative assessment of wear characteristics of PU specimen may be useful in prediction of lifetime of PU hydraulic reciprocating seal if the allowed degree of wear for failure of the seal is provided.