Wear, 59 (1980) 135 -148 135

@ Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - Printed in the Netherlands

OBSERVATIONS OF THERMOELASTIC INSTABILITY IN

MECHANICAL FACE SEALS*

JAMES P. NETZEL
Crane Packing Company, Morton Grove, Ill. 60053 (U.S.A.)
(Received August 27,1979)

Summary

Sliding contact between the primary and mating rings of a mechanical

seal will result in the generation of frictional heat. In some cases this resul-
ting frictional heat will lead to a condition of thermoelastic instability of the
sealing planes. Various field and laboratory cases are reviewed with respect
to the development of surface disturbances at the seal interface. The effect
of interface cooling on the sealing planes is also shown.

1. Introduction

A mechanical face seal is most commonly used to seal liquids and gases
at various speeds, pressures and temperatures. The primary ring is in sliding
contact with the mating ring and as a result heat is generated at the seal
interface. The process fluid to be sealed is often used to cool and lubricate
the seal faces. This is accomplished by what is termed a seal flush which is
often a bypass from discharge line on a pump. Such an arrangement is illus-
trated in Fig. 1.
Poor seal performance exists when seal leakage is no longer acceptable
for the process being sealed. Leakage may be the result of any number of
mechanical reasons or possibly even heat checking at the seal interfaces.
Heat checking or thermally distressed seal surfaces can be categorized into
three groups as follows:
(1) full face distress through 360” ;
(2) partial distress through 60” - 120” of seal surface ;
(3) patches or spots of distressed area on the seal face.
Heat checking or thermally distressed surface through 360” may be
the result of the total loss of seal flexibility or seal flush to the stuffing box.
This type of condition may be the result of improper seal assembly or also

*Paper presented at the Workshop on Thermal Deformation, Annapolis, Maryland,

June 1979.
136

Fig. 1. Typical seal and piping arrangement.

Fig. 2. Appearance of mating ring from gearbox application.

the result of starting the equipment without liquid in the seal chamber.
In these instances failure will occur in just a matter of minutes. Partial heat
checking or distress through an arc of 60” - 120” may occur over a period of
a few days to several weeks. This would be the result of inadequate distri-
bution of seal flush to the stuffing box. Patches of thermally distressed
material or hot spots on the seal face are a direct result of thermoelastic
instability. This mode of failure has been defined theoretically and experi-
mentally by Burton [ 11, Dow [ 21, Banerjee [ 31, Heckmann [ 41 and Lebeck
[ 51. Thermoelastic instability will result in the development of hot spots
within the seal face that actually turn bright orange-red as reported by
Burton. These spots will move within the seal face. For the experimental
model it was reported that these spots move through one complete revolu-
tion of the seal face in approximately 30 min. Seals operating in certain
fluids at various pressures and speeds appear to develop this type of insta-
bility, resulting in patches of thermally distressed material or hot spots at
the seal face. The following are cases of observed thermoelastic instability
which resulted in unacceptable seal leakage or short seal life.
 137

2. Field and laboratory observations

2.1. case 1
The mating ring of a gear box seal is illustrated in Fig. 2. This seal had
failed after a number of hours of running at 19 000 rev mine1 in oil mist
with essentially no pressure in the stuffing box area. Type A automatic trans-
mission oil was used in the gear box. The seal size was 1.5 in. This seal was
constructed of a carbon primary ring and a 400 series stainless steel mating
ring. The mating ring rotated with the shaft.
Three patches of thermally distressed surfaces are highly visible on the
seal face. Carbon from the primary ring as well as carbonized oil highlight
the distressed area. Very little contact is observed between the patches of
distressed surface. The patches of distressed surface caused high wear of the
carbon primary ring. If allowed to run for a longer period of time these high
spots or patches of thermally distressed surface would have grown to cover
the full circumference of the seal face.

Fig. 3. Patch of distressed surface on a mating ring showing the effects of coning on
thermoelastic instability.

2.2. case 2
Figure 3 illustrates a portion of tungsten carbide mating ring which had
been in service on a pump handling anhydrous ammonia. The stuffing box
pressure and shaft speed were 600 lbf iris2 gauge and 7200 rev min-’ respec-
tively. The seal size was 4.5 in. While only one segment of the distressed
area is shown, a total of three patches developed on the seal face. As with
the part shown in case 1 little contact was observed between the patches of
distressed surface. This seal had been allowed to run for several days,
resulting in extreme wear of the distressed patches on the tungsten carbide
surface. This wear was measured and ranged from 100 to 250 pm deep. The
extent of the surface damage is shown in the waviness trace in Fig. 4. High
138

Fig. 4. Waviness trace of the mating ring discussed in Case 2 showing the extent of the
surface damage.

wear of the carbon primary ring also occurred. The tungsten carbide mating
ring was rotating with the shaft while the seal head was stationary.
Much can be learned from the observation of this patch of distressed
material. The light surface near the outside diameter of the seal face repre-
sents a portion of the lapped surface not in contact with the stationary
primary ring. The seal interface, i.e. that portion of the lapped surface
making contact with the primary ring, starts at the inside diameter of the
light surface and extends to the inside diameter of the second light colored
band. Within this interface and patch of distressed material there are three
distinct regions of contact. First a dark band is visible near the outside
diameter of the seal interface. As in case 1 carbon is smeared on this portion
of contact surface. The second region of distinct contact is just below the
dark band. Here there is an area of lightly colored surface containing a
number of fine surface cracks known as heat checking. By close observation
one can determine that these cracks extend into the dark band of smeared
carbon, but no lower than the second region of contact in the patch. The
third region of contact extends from the inside diameter of the heat checked
zone to the second darker band. Here there was no visible sign of any
damage. This region had been running a lot cooler than the other areas where
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distress has occurred. The darker and lighter bands at the inside diameter are
areas related to the atmosphere and position where the seal had been held
for rotation. This type of patch generation is the result of coning or negative
rotation of the primary ring. The higher unit loading from this condition
resulted in the development of hot spots near the outside diameter of the
sealing surface. No serious surface disruption was found at the inside diam-
eter because of lower unit loading. If allowed to run, this patch would have
grown on the circumference of the outside diameter of the seal interface and
then toward its inside diameter as primary ring wear occurred.

Fig. 5. Hot spot developed in a mating ring after 46 min operation.

2.3. Case 3
The mating ring shown in Fig. 5 had been in service only 45 min on a
pump handling anhydrous ammonia. The pump stuffing box pressure was
850 lbf in-’ gauge. The ammonia temperature was 70 “F and the shaft speed
was 3600 rev mine1 . The seal size was 4 in. Two hot spots developed on the
seal face 180” apart. The hot spot shown is highly visible while the other
spot not shown in the photograph was barely visible. The distressed spots
can clearly be seen on the waviness trace shown in Fig. 6. The spots on the
waviness trace are distinguished by the spikes in the waviness measurement.
These spikes also indicate the initial signs of heat checking which were barely
visible to the unaided eye. Very fine cracks were formed on each side of the
hot spots. Profile measurements of the spots are also shown in Fig. 6. The
darker highly visible spot measures almost 10 pin higher than the flat surface
of the seal face. The spot barely visible measures only 5 pin. More severe
damage on the mating ring would have occurred if the unit had been allowed
to run longer. The patches of heat checked surface would have grown and
perhaps overshadowed the initial development of the hot spot. In this case
high wear on the rotating carbon ring was not observed. It is noted that
during operation sputtering or puffing sounds occurred from the stuffing
Fig. 6. Profile and waviness traces of the mating ring in Case 3. The top curve is a profile
trace through the highly visible spot. The center curve is a profile trace through the barely
visible spot. The bottom curve is the waviness trace of the entire seal surface.

box every 4 s. This was significant for it may allow the detection of thermo-
elastic instability while the equipment is in operation. In effect, while travel-
ling on the surface of the mating ring, the hot spots were also turning at
shaft speed. This sets up a high temperature zone which will cause light
specific gravity liquids to flash as in the case of anhydrous ammonia or
lubricating type liquid to carbonize at the seal interface. The seal described
in this case was experiencing severe flashing. However, it has been observed
in the field that flashing on light specific gravity liquids can occur at intervals
of several minutes which indicates instability at the seal interface.

2.4. Case 4
Figure 7 shows a primary ring from an anhydrous ammonia pump. This
seal had been operating at approximately 700 - 800 lbf in-’ gauge with shaft
speeds of 3600 rev min-’ . It was estimated that the ammonia temperature
was 70 “F. The shaft size is 4 in. This illustrates quite clearly that not only
are metallic members subject to thermocracking, but also in certain instances
the softer carbon rings can heat check. Heat checking occurred through 360”.
 141

Fig. 7. Carbon primary ring with a cracked sealing surface through 360”.

Fig. 8. Primary ring with five patches of thermally distressed surface.

It is assumed that this ring had started up under full pressure conditions with
no flow of cooling in the seal cavity.

2.5. Case 5
Figure 8 shows the mating ring for a pump seal tested in water at
600 lbf inW2gauge [ 61. The shaft speed and water temperature were 7200
rev min-l and 158 “F respectively. The materials of construction were
carbon uersus tungsten carbide. The seal size was 4.5 in and the tungsten
carbide mating ring rotated with the shaft. The mating ring failed in 48 h,
developing five patches of thermally distressed material on the seal face.
These patches of distressed material are shown on the waviness trace in
Fig. 9 by the spikes on the curve. From observation it would almost appear
142

Fig, 9. Waviness traces before and after testing for the mating ring in Case 5.

that a sixth patch should have developed. The intensity of damage varies
from very slight in zone 4 to very severe in zone 1. Waviness of the mating
ring increased from an initial 10 pin to 20 pin which indicates that a certain
amount of thermoelastic deformation had taken place during the test.
A closer inspection of zone 1 in Fig. 10 reveals what may be a hot spot
within the patch of thermally distressed surface. The spot appeared to have
a stronger discoloration which indicates a possible higher surface tempera-
ture at that point. A radial profile trace is shown in Fig. 11. The top trace
is taken through the spot and indicates a surface disruption of 10 pin. The
bottom profile trace is the condition of the nominally flat surface of the seal
taken in an area where no thermal distress had taken place. Obse~ations
made on the carbon primary ring indicate detection of what appear to have
been hot spots in the carbon face. As shown in Fig. 12 the arrow indicates
the most discolored spot which appeared to be running at a higher tempera-
ture than the surrounding surface. A profile trace (Fig. 13) through that
point indicates that it is approximately 25 r.tin larger than the surrounding
surface. The bottom profile trace was taken through one complete section of
the carbon primary ring. Note the massive carbon wear creating the concave
surface.
Fig. 10. Enlarged view of the distressed surface in zone 1 with what appears to be a hot
spot in the center of the patch.

Fig. 11. Profile traces of the mating ring. The top curve is the profile trace taken through
the hot spot at the center of the distressed area. The bottom curve is taken through the
nominal flat surface of the seal.
Fig. 12. Appearance of hot spots in the carbon primary ring run against the mating ring
in Case 5.

It is interesting to note that this seal did not fail because of leakage.
Failure was the result of increased power which did not allow the test rig
to operate properly. It is estimated that the horsepower increase prior to
equipment shutdown was in the range of 9 hp. The average horsepower
loss for the seal installation was 3 hp.

2.6. Case 6
Thermoelastic instability resulting in hot spots or patches of thermally
distressed material are evident in the previous cases for conventional seal
face configurations. The flow rate of coolant to a stuffing box can be
increased for light specific gravity fluids without any effect in controlling
thermoelastic instability. A change in the unit loading at the seal face could
offset the unstable operation of the seal. However, the most positive means
of controlling thermoelastic instability is with direct interface cooling
through the use of hydropads or cooling grooves. Hydropads are semicircular
recesses cut into the surface of the seal faces. An evaluation was made with a
seal having direct interface cooling through the use of hydropads. The seal
in case 5 was reconditioned and a number of hydropads as shown in Fig. 14
were added to the rotating ring. A 100 h performance test was completed
without any distress to the seal face. Figure 15 illustrates the results of sur-
face waviness before and after testing. The initial waviness increased from
Fig. 13. Profile trace of the carbon primary ring in Case 5. The top curve indicates a hot
spot 25 /An above the surrounding surface. The bottom curve is a complete profile trace
180” across the primary ring.

Fig. 14. Modified mating ring from case 5 with semicircular recesses.
146

10
4
x
x I x

Fig. 15. Waviness of a mating ring with hydropads. The condition of the surface before
and after performance testing is shown.

Fig. 16. The condition of a carbon primary ring which has run against a mating ring
with hydropads.
 I
/

I
/ 2 3 /
x

Fig. 17. Waviness of a carbon primary ring before and after performance testing.

10 to 15 pin. Note that both curves are smooth which indicates that there is
no surface distress.
The condition of the carbon primary ring is shown in Fig. 16. Here
again, as with the case of the tungsten carbide mating ring, there are no
visible signs of any deteriorating surface conditions. The waviness for the
primary ring was measured before and after testing. The initial waviness was
15 pin. This increased to 50 pin after 100 h of testing. The results of the
waviness traces are given in Fig. 17.

3. Conclusion

What researchers have developed theoretically and experimentally seem

to agree with field results. However, it is noted that when seal faces trans-
form themselves from a conventionally flat face to one of thermoelastic
instability where patches of distressed surface exist, a hot spot can usually
be detected near its center. When thermoelastic transition occurs there is an
increase in power. The power loss at the seal face increases causing first
distressed patches of material which will result in high wear of the primary
ring leading to unacceptable leakage. The number of patches or hot spots
148

could be two, three, four, five or possibly six. The distressed surface may be
found on the rotating of stationary seal face. In actual operation when an
audible sound or puffing can be detected from the stuffing box area thermo-
elastic instability exists at the seal faces. This is particularly common with
seals operating in light specific gravity liquids. When this condition occurs
additional axial movement of the primary ring along the shaft would be
experienced. This will cause heavy wear on other parts of the seal used as
drive or anti-rotation devices. Continued operation in this unstable region
will result in extreme wear of the carbon primary ring with possible edge
chipping,
A solution to the avoidance of damage from thermoelastic instability
without changing materials or operating conditions appears to be to develop
interface cooling. This can be accomplished through the use of hydropads or
cooling grooves in the mating or primary seal rings.

References

1 R. A. Burton, Thermomechanical effects in sliding wear, Znt. Conf. on Fundamentals

of Tribology, June 1978, NTIS Contract N00014-75-C-0761, Massachusetts Inst.
Technol., Cambridge, Mass.
2 T. A. Dow and R. A. Burton, Role of wear in the initiation of thermoelastic insta-
bilities of rubbing contact, ASME/ASLE Joint Lubrication Conf., October 1972,
J. Lubr. Technol., 95 (1973).
3 B. N. Banerjee and R. A. Burton, Experimental studies on thermoelastic effects in
hydrodynamically lubricated face seals, ASME/ASLE Joint Lubrication Conf.,
October 1978, J. Lubr. Technol., 98 (1979).
4 S. R. Heckmann and R. A. Burton, Effects of shear and wear on instabilities caused
by frictional heating in a seal like configuration. ASLE/ASME Joint Lubrication
Conf., October 1975, J. Lubr. Technol., 20(l) (1977).
5 A. 0. Lebeck, Theory of thermoelastic instability of rotating rings in sliding contact
with wear, Trans. ASME, 96 (1976) 277 - 285.
6 E. Adamczyk, Mechanical Test Lab. Rep. 1956, Crane Packing Company, Morton
Grove, Ill. 60053, November 1978.