Abstract
Although rotary shaft garter spring seals are widely used throughout industry, very little is known about the sealing mechanism of the lip-shaft interface. It is now generally accepted that some sort of fluid film separates the lip and the shaft. Previous workers have also postulated a relationship between the coefficient of friction and a non-dimensional hydrodynamic parameter, as in standard lubrication theory. This present paper clarifies this relationship, and shows that seals can also operate over the mixed friction, as well as the full film lubrication region. The results were obtained by accurate knowledge of the operating temperature under the sealing lip. Two types of surface thermocouple were developed to do this and these are described in full.
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