Mechanical face seals are used in many industrial applications such as turbopumps, rocket engines, and chemical processing equipments to protect against loss of fluids in rotating equipment. The non-contact operation in these seals is achieved by permitting the sealed fluid to penetrate between the mating surfaces to provide means of lubrication. The purpose of the proposed investigation is to study the dynamic characteristics of face seals to provide a computer model for performance prediction. The project is a combined theoretical and experimental program. Once the theoretical model is verified by experiments, a computer model will be developed. This research and development will advance the state of knowledge in seal design.
