The directionality of surface dimples can guide the direction of fluid flow in the seal gap and produce fluid cumulative effect in the dimple length direction

which leads to obvious hydrodynamic effect. As a result

the seal faces separate and full film lubrication is formed. The textured mechanical face seals with different dimple shapes

such as circle

diamond

ellipse and rectangle were studied. Based on the mass-conserving JFO cavitation algorithm

a mathematical model was presented by taking the cavitation of liquid fluid between the two seal faces into consideration. The Reynolds equation was solved by use of the finite difference method

and pressure distribution was obtained. Comparative analysis of mechanical face seal performance with different dimple shapes at different operating parameters and geometric parameters was presented. The results showed that inclined dimple displayed better hydrodynamic effect than circle dimple under low speed or high pressure condition. The rectangle dimple showed the best hydrodynamic effect

and the diamond dimple had a lower leakage. Excellent hydrodynamic effect could be obtained for inclined dimple with different shapes when film thickness h0=1.5-2.5 mm

pore depth hp=2-3 mm

axial ratio γ=3-4

opponent texturing proportion β=0.5

inclination angle α1=30°-50° and α2=120°-140°.