A THERMOHYDRODYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF A MISALIGNED MECHANICAL FACE SEAL

A thermohydrodynamic analysis is performed for a misaligned mechanical face seal. Temperature variations both across the sealing gap and alo ng its radial and circumferential extent are considered. The energy eq uation is solved analytically and temperature distribution is presente d in an implicit form. It is shown that, in most practical cases, the amplitude of temperature variation along the seal circumference due to misalignment is negligible compared to the mean temperature. The radi al temperature distribution can be obtained by solving an equivalent a ligned seal whose face separation is reduced by a factor that contains the effect of misalignment.