Pressure dam influence on the performance of gas face seals

The introduction of grooves, micropores, and other forms of surface geometric modifications onto the mating seal plates has been performed to enhance the gas face seal performance. Reducing fluid leakage through the seal surface has been the main motivation for the development of efficient sealing technology for industrial turbomachinery. Pressure dams are generally etched on the seal inner and outer radii to improve even more the seal capability of reducing the gas leakage to atmosphere. This paper presents a finite element analysis carried out to determine the opening force, the flow leakage and the dynamic force coefficients of flat gas face seals with pressure dams operating under stringent conditions. Several curves of steady-state and dynamic seal performance characteristics depict the influence of the pressure dam position and width on the seal performance and efficiency.