Effect of Relative Velocity Between Rough Surfaces: Hydrodynamic Lubrication of Rotary Lip Seal

Since the sixties, most of numerical studies that model the rotary lip seal lubrication have been restricted by assuming that one of the two opposing surfaces is smooth: either the lip or the shaft. This hypothesis, although it is verified only for a shaft roughness ten times smaller than that of the seal, is the best solution to avoid the transient term “∂h/∂t” in the deterministic approach. Thus, the subject of the present study is twofold. The first part validates the current hydrodynamic model with the international literature by assuming the asperities on the lip and shaft as a two-dimensional cosine function. In the second part the Reynolds equation for rough surfaces with relative motion is solved. The numerical results show that the relative motion between rough surfaces impacts significantly the load support and the leakage rate, but affects slightly the friction torque.