Gas film lubrication method on rotation shaft seal based on contact design

Purpose Wear failure happens frequently in rubber seal of high-speed rotating shaft because of the dry friction. Some traditional lubrication methods are not effective because of the restrictions on the relative high speed, temperature and others. This paper aims to present a new method of lubrication with gas film for the rotation shaft seal based on the contact design. Design/methodology/approach To obtain the generation condition of gas film and good effect of lubrication in the contact gap between the shaft and its seal, a series of micro-spiral grooves are designed on the contact surface of rubber seal so as to obtain a continuous dynamic pressure difference. Findings The result is that the distribution of the gas film in the micro-gap is continuous under the design of the spiral grooves and the contact with eccentricity because of the deformation of rubber seal, which is verified through the simulation calculation and experiment test. It is confirmed that the lubrication method with gas film through designing micro-spiral grooves on the contact surface is effective, and can achieve self-adaptive air lubrication for the high-speed shaft under the premise of the reliable sealing. Originality/value The method of gas film lubrication is realized through designing a microstructure of spiral grooves on the rubber surface to change the contact status, which can form a mechanism of adaptive lubrication to reduce the dry friction automatically in the contact gap. For the cross-scale difference between the rubber seal and gas film, a new modeling method is presented by building the mapping relation for the split blocks and repairing technique with integrated computer engineering and manufacturing, to reduce the possibility of nonconvergence and improve the efficiency and accuracy of calculation.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF HEAT TRANSFER AND CHEMICAL REACTION COUPLING IN THE RUBBER SEAL VULCANIZATION PROCESS

ABSTRACT Vulcanization parameters significantly affect the performance of rubber seals and the energy savings of the manufacturing process, which require a relationship between process parameters and vulcanization characteristics. Based on the vulcanization kinetics of rubber seal materials, a transient thermochemical-coupled finite-element model of the vulcanization process was established and solved. Changes in thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity during vulcanization were considered in detail. The effects of operational and structural parameters, such as mold temperature, heating duration, and rubber seal shape, cross-sectional dimensions on vulcanization characteristics were investigated. Finally, feasible suggestions for the vulcanization production of rubber seals are discussed. The study is expected to design parameters and control the vulcanization process of rubber seals accurately.

Analysis and treatment of insulation abnormality of a 220kV wall bushing end shield

This work expounds a case of insulation abnormality of a 220kV wall bushing end shield caused by the failure of rubber seal gasket. The mechanism and causes of insulation abnormality were put forward combined with the method of on-site inspection, XRF analysis, infrared spectroscopy (IR) analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. And suggestions for the improvement of sealing performance to prevent this kind of defect and management of operation and maintenance of bushing end shield were proposed.

Performance degradation of metal rubber seal under high temperature and pressure

Seals are crucial components of mechanical devices; seal degradation limits the performance of mechanical systems and even causes accidents. In this work, we used a complex sealing test system to conduct long-term leakage experiments of metal rubber seals as a function of temperature and pressure. The leakage rate was the performance degradation indicator. We developed an experimental performance degradation pattern by linear regression. We combined the leakage pattern of metal rubber seals with leakage theory and found that the increase in the equivalent leakage channel height is the immediate reason for metal rubber seal performance degradation, itself fundamentally attributable to the time-dependent plasticity caused by material creep.

Development and Application of 140 MPa Mandrel Casing Head in Ultra-High Pressure Gas Well

In view of the high shut in pressure of gas wells in Kuqa mountain front ultra-high pressure block where the highest shut in pressure of KeS X is 115MPa, the 105MPa casing head currently used can not meet the shut in demanding, so the risk of well control is high. A new 140MPa mandrel casing head was developed. Its sealing structure adopts the form of X Metal sealing at the upper end and rubber seal at the lower end, which has the characteristics of high pressure bearing and reliable sealing performance. The structural design verification of the 140 MPa mandrel casing head was conducted by finite element analysis(FEA) of the structural strength and sealing performance of the key components of the casing head, including casing head body and hanger. Then indoor evaluation tests were carried out on the material, strength and sealing performance of the casing head and hanger, as well as the overall structure, and the 140MPa mandrel casing is completed Finally, the quality control level of 140MPa mandrel casing head product has reached the requirements of ultra-high pressure field working condition through field trial in ultra-high pressure gas well, and it has the conditions for promotion and application in other ultra-high pressure gas wells. The results of and FEA show that the maximum bearing capacity of the mandrel type casing head is 793t, and no yielding occurs under the conditions of bearing capacity of 473t, external pressure of 140MPa and safety factor of 1.35; the maximum internal pressure resistance of the hanger is 212MPa, and no yielding occurs under the conditions of bearing capacity of 200t, internal pressure of 140MPa and safety factor of 1.35. The indoor evaluation test shows that: ① there is no sulfide stress cracking (SSC) and hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) in the casing head body (0Cr18Ni9) and hanger (718); ② there is no leakage in the casing head body under 210MPa clean water and hanger under 140MPa nitrogen; ③ there is no yield in the casing head step and hanger under 673t pressure in the mandrel type casing head. The field test shows that the test pressure of the mandrel type casing head is 117MPa and it is qualified under 280t setting and hanging tonnage. At present, the 140 MPa mandrel casing head has been successfully used in Kuqa mountain for 15 wells, which provides a reliable guarantee for the safety production of ultra-high pressure gas wells. The 140MPa mandrel casing head developed in this paper has the following three innovations: ① adopt the structure without top wire, fix the wear-resistant sleeve by installing the top wire flange during drilling, and avoid the leakage caused by the top wire hole in the later production; ② adopt the form of upper metal seal + lower X-type rubber seal in the sealing structure of hanger, which can not only avoid the metal seal of hanger during the lowering process The seal assembly is damaged and fails, and in case of unqualified pressure test, the metal seal assembly at the upper end of the hanger can be replaced; ③ a limited step is designed at the contact part between the metal seal assembly at the upper end of the mandrel hanger and the casing head body, which can transfer the excess pressure to the casing head body, so as to avoid the failure of the rubber seal and bearing step at the lower part of the hanger.