Mechanical shaft seal contact pressure, leakage and friction

Contact pressure on the seal face, leakage flow, friction coefficient and heat generation for an axial (mechanical) shaft seal with a thin parallel lubricating film.

✓ validated against legacyoriginal: /calculators/e11_1.htm

Sealing pressure differential, dp = p₁ − p₂MPaBalance ratio, k = A_H/APressure gradient factor, k₁ (parallel film: 0.5)Spring load per seal face area, p_fMPaSeal face inner radius, r_imSeal face outer radius, r_omRotational speed, nrpmEffective film thickness, h10⁻⁶ mViscosity, ηPa·s

Contact pressure on seal face, p_G1.2 MPa

Leakage, Q0.02299645822427728 liter/hour

Mean sliding velocity, v11.17883385902368 m/s

Friction coefficient, μ0.009315694882519732

Heat generation, N29.935238599946658 W

Method & references

Flowserve — mechanical (axial) shaft seal, parallel-film lubrication model.

The computation is a literal port of the original client-side JavaScript from /calculators/e11_1.htm. Results are verified equal to the original by an automated golden-master test. No formula has been re-derived or “improved”.

Mechanical shaft seal contact pressure, leakage and friction — Engineering ABC