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Proceeding of the National Conference on – Recent Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE

NCRACCC2015, ASSORTMENT OF BELLOW SEAL BY STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

Conference Paper · August 2015

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 Proceeding of the National Conference on – Recent Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE
NCRACCC2015, August 7, 2015

ASSORTMENT OF BELLOW SEAL BY

K. K. Sutariya1
Middlesex University,
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
London, United Kingdom
Karan1816@yahoo.com

G. V. Patel2
Dept. of Mech. Engg,
ADlT, New V. V. Nagar,
Gujarat, India
ergvpatel@gmail.com
Mechanical seals are being used as the most effective element to prevent any sort of
leakage in centrifugal pumps. The mechanical seals help sealing the rotating part of the
shaft against the stationary part of the pump housing. This research paper focuses on an
effective way to reduce the leakage from pump & increase the life of seal by structural
analysis using computer simulation.

Keywords: Mechanical Seal, Bellow, Structural Analysis, Pump

1 Introduction
There are two main parts of a mechanical seal:
1. Stationary part, which is connected to the pump housing.
In a centrifugal pump, the mechanical seal helps in sealing the
rotating part of the shaft against the stationary part of the pump 2. Rotating part which is connected to the rotating shaft.
housing. Thus, mechanical seals are the devices that form a
packing between the rotor and the stationary part of pump to Each of these elements has a highly polished sealing surface. The
prevent the leakage of fluid being pumped by the pump [9]. polished faces of the rotating and stationary elements come into
contact with each other to form a seal that prevents leakage along
Prior to mechanical seals, the compression packing like gland the shaft.
packing were used as the sealants though they are still being used
in number of applications. In some situations, packing material is
not adequate for sealing a centrifugal pump shaft. One common
alternative method for sealing the shaft is with mechanical seals.

A mechanical seal is a device which helps join systems or

mechanisms together by preventing leakage (e.g., in a plumbing
system), containing pressure, or excluding contamination. The
effectiveness of a seal is dependent on adhesion in the case of
sealants and compression in the case of gaskets. A stationary seal
may also be referred to as packing [1].

A mechanical seal also acts as a check valve and as a slider

bearing. The obvious function is to prevent liquid under pressure
from leaking out of the pump, or from drawing air into the pump
when under vacuum conditions.
The face material defines the life span of a mechanical seal. The
most common types of seal faces are: Carbon, Ceramic, Ni-resist
and GFT (Glass filled PTFE, also called Teflon-R).
Fig. 1 Rotary unit of Teflon bellow mechanical seal
The mechanical seals are especially used in the process
applications where the centrifugal pumps handle hazardous
chemicals like HCL, H2SO4, etc. to meet the safety and
environmental standards as per the federal regulations. [2]

Mechanical seals are classified as follows: [8] 2 Problem Credentials

• Unbalanced or balanced
• Rotating or stationary seal head In a very short span of working life, mechanical seals fail
• Single-spring or multiple-spring construction leading to the leakage of centrifugal pump.
• Pusher or no pusher secondary seal design
The damaged mechanical seal is shown in figure 2.

2
Address all correspondence to this author

Department of Mechanical Engineering, C. U. Shah College of Engineering and Technology,

C. U. Shah University, Wadhwan City – 363 030, Gujarat, India
140
 Proceeding of the National Conference on – Recent Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE
NCRACCC2015, August 7, 2015

3.2 Modelling of Seal

The 3D model of rotating seal assembly and the Teflon bellow

is created using a modeling software from 2D drawing shown
in the following figure 3. [7]

Fig. 2 Damaged Mechanical Seal

Fig. 3 2D drawing of mechanical seal and bellow
So, the main objective of this research is to reduce the leakage
from pump & increase the life of mechanical seal.

3 Research Methodology

The above stated objective was achieved through a methodology

which follows steps listed below: [3]

1. Finding the reasons of failure of seal.

2. Modelling of seal.
3. Structure Analysis of existing seal.
4. Find out various alternatives for mechanical seal.
5. Analysis of the alternatives for mechanical seal.
Fig. 4 3D model of mechanical seal assembly and bellow
6. Finalizing the new alternative material for seal and
establishing the future scope of seal with new material.
3.3 Structure Analysis of existing seal [6]
3.1 Finding the reasons of failure of seal
In this step, authors analyzed the mechanical seal with Teflon
In this first step, authors try to determine the various causes of bellow by structural analysis in ANSYS 13.0. After the
failure of mechanical seal occurring in centrifugal pumps. analysis, the main reason for the seal failure was found to be
the excess deformation of bellow in the seal’s rotary unit due to
the pressure inside the pump.
A failure of a seal may be a major contributor to rotary equipment
failure and downtime. An understanding of the mode of seal
failure can lead to extending the life [10]. Although there are Glass Filled Teflon Bellow (GFT) is a fluorocarbon solid, as it
several factors affecting the failure, of which few significant is a high-molecular-weight compound consisting wholly of
factors are discussed in the following topic. carbon, fluorine and glass. GFT is hydrophobic: neither water
nor water-containing substances wet GFT, as fluorocarbons
demonstrate mitigated London dispersion forces due to the high
3.1.1 Causes of failure: electronegativity of fluorine. GFT has one of the lowest
coefficients of friction against any solid. [5]
Mechanical Seals failure seems to fall into four broad categories:
The table given below depicts the properties of Glass Filled
1. The seal motion restricted and the faces opened. Teflon Bellow. [11]
2. Heat causing the O-rings to deteriorate.
3. The seal materials attacked by fluid sealed. Table 1 Material properties of GFT
4. The seal installed incorrectly.
Sr. No. Property GFT
Among the above alternatives, one or more than one together can 1 Pressure (p) (MPa) 1
be the cause of failure of mechanical seal [4]. 2 UTS (MPa) 55
3 Density (ρ) (kg/mm3) 1.316×10-6
4 Poisson’s Ratio (ν) 0
5 Young Modulus (Y) (MPa) 4100

Department of Mechanical Engineering, C. U. Shah College of Engineering and Technology,

C. U. Shah University, Wadhwan City – 363 030, Gujarat, India
141
 Proceeding of the National Conference on – Recent Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE
NCRACCC2015, August 7, 2015

3.3.1 Stress analysis of rotary part of seal Table 2 Material properties SFT & SiC

The fig 5 given below shows the stress analysis of the Teflon Sr. No. Property SFT SiC
bellow. 1 Pressure (p) (MPa) 1 1
2 UTS (MPa) 15 86.19
3 Density (ρ) (kg/mm3) 2.25×10-6 3.1×10-6
4 Poisson’s Ratio (ν) 0 0.15
5 Young Modulus (Y) (GPa) 4.1 405

3.5 Analysis of the alternatives for mechanical seal

The structure analysis was performed on both the materials as

shown in figure 7.
Fig. 5 Stress analysis of the Teflon bellow

From the stress analysis it is observed that the stress generated in

the bellow is within permissible limits. Hence, as a further step
the deformation analysis was performed.

Fig. 7 Total deformation in SFT and SiC

From the above figure, it is clear that the maximum

deformation for SFT was found to be 4.47 mm and 0.091 mm
for SiC.
Fig. 6 Total deformation of Teflon bellow
3.6 Finalizing the new material for seal & establishing the
From the above figure, it is clear that the max deformation for future scope of seal with new material.
GFT was found to be 11.559 mm. Hence, it was concluded that,
due to this enormous deformation the liquid might come in
between the rotary face & stationary face of the seal. Due to this
abrasion and corrosion takes place between the two faces of seal
leading to the gradual failure of the rotary part of the mechanical
seal. [3]

Hence, it was decided to switch on to an alternative material for

Teflon bellow.

3.4 Find out various alternatives for mechanical seal

Two alternatives were considered as a replacement of Glass

Filled Teflon Bellow.
1. Silicon Filled Teflon (SFT)
2. Silicon Carbide (SiC)
The structure analysis of both the above mentioned materials
were carried out using a process similar to that of GFT.
The table 2 shows the properties of SFT and SiC.
Fig. 8 Comparison of max. deformation in GFT, SFT & SiC
From the above figure, it is clear that the maximum
deformation for GFT was found to be 11.559 mm, for SFT was
4.4706 mm and 0.091 mm for SiC.
Hence, SiC is the best alternative as a substitute of GFT as the
deformation is very less & also the strength of SiC is much
higher compared to GFT.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, C. U. Shah College of Engineering and Technology,

C. U. Shah University, Wadhwan City – 363 030, Gujarat, India
142
 Proceeding of the National Conference on – Recent Advances in CAD/CAM/CAE
NCRACCC2015, August 7, 2015

4 Conclusions

From the analysis of the mechanical seal, it is concluded

that due to the deformation of bellow the chemical
enters in between the below seal face and back plate of
pump. So abrasion and corrosion takes place and seal
failure occurs.

By using SFT as bellow seal material, the deformation

decreases, and on further replacing it by SiC as bellow
seal material, the deformation is found to be negligible,
hence it is more suitable than GFT and SFT.

Acknowledgments

The authors are enormously gratified to the Department

of Mechanical Engineering, ADIT, New V. V. Nagar for
providing the valuable resources to perform the
computer simulation. The research work was conducted
for Alpha Pumps (P) Ltd., Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Nomenclature

p Pressure
ρ Density
ν Poisson’s Ratio
Y Young Modulus
UTS Ultimate Tensile Strength

References

[1] Karassik I. J., Messina J. P., Cooper P., Heald C. C.,

2008, “Pump Handbook”, 4th, McGraw-Hill
Publications, Ch 1, 2, 5, 8, 12.
[2] Perry R. H., Green D. W., 1999, “Perry’s Chemical
Engineer’s Handbook”, 7th, McGraw-Hill publications.
[3] Tournerie B., Frene J., 1984, “Principle research areas
on mechanical face-seals”, Butterworth & Co Publishers
Ltd, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 179-184.
[4] Suna J. J., Hea X. Y., Weib L., Fengb X., “Failure
Analysis and Seal Life Prediction for Contacting
Mechanical Seals”, Proceedings of the ICEM 2008,
SPIE,Vol.7375, id. 73753L
[5] Kharde Y. R., Saisrinadh K. V., 2011, “Effect of oil and
oil with graphite on tribological properties of glass
filled PTFE polymer composites”, Bulletin of Material
Science, Indian Academy of Sciences, Vol.34, No.4,
pp. 1003–1012.
[6] Bajaj A., Patel G. V., Makwana M. N., 2014,
“Restructuring of an Air Classifier Rotor by Finite
Element Analysis”, International Journal of Engineering
Research and General Science, Vol. 2, Issue 5, pp. 302-
306.
[7] http://www.alphapumps.com/brochure/Alpha_Pumps_
Brochure.pdf
[8] www.mechanicalseals.net
[9] http://www.easterny.com/Terms-and-Definitions.htm
[10] http://www.easterny.com/go.php?id=32
[11] http://www.theplasticshop.co.uk/ptfe-technical-
information -2525-0.html

Department of Mechanical Engineering, C. U. Shah College of Engineering and Technology,

C. U. Shah University, Wadhwan City – 363 030, Gujarat, India
143

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