Tribological behaviors of the thick metal coating for the contact mechanical seal under the water-lubricated conditions

Purpose The serious friction and wear problem occurs on the mechanical seal’s faces during the start-up stage of the high-speed turbopump for a liquid rocket engine. This paper aims to propose a kind of thick metal alloy coatings on the surface of the seal’s rotor so as reduce the friction and wear....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial lubrication and tribology 2019-03, Vol.71 (2), p.173-180
Main Authors: Zhang, Guo-yuan, Dang, Jia-qi, Zhao, Wei-gang, Yan, Xiu-tian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimony
Carbon
Chromium steel
Coefficient of friction
Dry friction
Friction
Friction reduction
Friction resistance
Graphite
Lubrication
Metal coatings
Microstructure
Rocket engines
Seals
Seals (stoppers)
Tin
Tribology
Turbine pumps
Wear resistance
Working hours
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Summary:Purpose The serious friction and wear problem occurs on the mechanical seal’s faces during the start-up stage of the high-speed turbopump for a liquid rocket engine. This paper aims to propose a kind of thick metal alloy coatings on the surface of the seal’s rotor so as reduce the friction and wear. Design/methodology/approach With the pin-disk (the graphite pin and the disk with the metal coating) tribology-tester, the tribological behaviors of four metal coatings are investigated. The special friction coefficients under the dry friction, boundary friction and different temperatures of water-lubricated conditions were obtained. Findings The test results show that the thick metal coating has a good performance of the wear resistance and friction reduction; and the friction coefficients of a Sn-Sb-Cu coating under the dry friction and water-lubricated conditions are 0.377 and 0.043, respectively, and the corresponding mass wear volumes are only 2.74 and 0.81 mg, respectively. Originality/value The thick metal coating scheme for the mechanical seal’s faces might lend itself to the harsh working conditions of the low-viscosity liquid rocket engine.
ISSN:0036-8792
1758-5775
DOI:10.1108/ILT-01-2018-0047