Elastic deformation of liquid spiral groove face seals operating at high speeds and low pressure

• A numerical model of high-speed spiral groove liquid face seal is presented considering elastic deformation and cavitation effect. • The novelty of this study is that the pressure distribution of cavitation region is modeled as an uneven distribution rather than as a constant, which has significant influence on elastic deformation. • The elastic deformation can weaken cavitation effect and change the pressure distribution. • The coupling effect of elastic deformation and cavitation makes the sealing performance more complicated. The uneven distribution of fluid pressure in the spiral groove area leads to the elastic deformation of the seal faces, which not only affects the sealing performance but also affects the running stability. In this paper, a numerical model of a high-speed spiral groove liquid face seal is proposed with the consideration of elastic deformation and cavitation medium compressibility. The novelty of this study is that the pressure of the cavitation region is modeled as an uneven distribution rather than as a constant. This uneven pressure distribution of sealing surfaces is generally regarded to have an influence on face deformation. Based on the assumption that the fluid exists at a complete gas state in the cavitation, the elastic deformation and pressure distribution of sealing surfaces are calculated. The influence of elastic deformation on sealing performance is further investigated. Results show that the elastic deformation of sealing surfaces and cavitation effect has a significant influence on the stability of sealing clearance, which may produce a negative effect on the sealing performance of liquid face seals. The face deformation causes a divergent gap between two seal faces. With the increase of rotational speed, the elastic deformation of sealing surfaces reduces at low seal pressure but increases at higher seal pressure, which may influence the cavitation behavior and pressure distribution of surfaces. Furthermore, the sealing performance of spiral groove liquid face seal becomes more complicated because of the coupling effect of cavitation effect and elastic deformation. The changing trend of sealing performance is different under various seal clearance and seal pressure. The obtained results may provide guidance for the future design of liquid face seals in engineering applications under high-speed conditions.