Viscoseal—Pressure Generation and Friction Loss under Turbulent Conditions

A new theory is developed that predicts the sealing coefficient and the friction factor of a viscoseal under turbulent flow conditions. This theory, being a synthesis of Boon and Tal's laminar viscoseal theory and Ng, Pan, and Elrod's turbulent lubrication theory, shows very satisfactory correlation with available experimental data. The results have been given in simplified formulas such that they are readily usable for design purposes. At high Reynolds numbers the seal geometry has been optimized, although performance near the optimum is rather constant for rather different values of the geometrical parameters. Existing theories on the turbulent behavior of the viscoseal are briefly discussed. Presented at the 23rd ASLE Annual Meeting in Cleveland, May 6–9, 1968.