A Model for the Static Sealing Performance of Compliant Metallic Gas Seals Including Surface Roughness and Rarefaction Effects

Abstract

The static sealing performance of compliant metallic gas seals is analyzed, accounting for both surface roughness and rarefaction effects. This is accomplished by a simultaneous solution of the contact and the flow problems for rough surfaces of which the compliant one is curved.

A simplified semi-empirical model is developed and its accuracy is established for a wide range of practical applications. The effects of various design parameters and operating conditions on the sealing performance, are investigated using this model. It is found that the most important parameters to obtain “gas tight” sealing are the hardness of the softer component, the composite RMS roughness of the two mating faces, and the seal curvature at the contact zone.

Presented at the 54th Annual Meeting Las Vegas, Nevada May 23–27, 1999

KEY WORDS:

• KEY WORDS
• Metallic Gas Seals
• Leakage Model
• Rarefaction Effects
• Contacting Rough Compliant Curved Surfaces

Notes

Presented at the 54th Annual Meeting Las Vegas, Nevada May 23–27, 1999