The Effect of Combined Coning and Waviness on the Separating Force in Mechanical Face Seals

A mechanical seal model having face geometry of combined waviness and coning is analysed. A closed form analytical solution for the pressure in the lubricating film and the axial separating force is presented, covering the complete range of waviness and coning. The separating force is found to be linearly dependent on the number of waves and strongly affected by coning. A comparison with a seal model having angular misalignment combined with coning reveals that in both models the separating force is essentially of the same order of magnitude.