SEALING ELEMENTS Selection The sealing problem can be described as the ability to control the flow of fluid between two different media, which has a common boundary in general. While in dynamic applications, there is a significant relative movement of the boundary surface, there is no such movement in static state.
"Reducing the functional gap" can be seen as one of the sealing solutions. This requires machining with very precise tolerances and is costly. The separate elements used to reduce these gaps are called "seals".
No matter how small it is, a gap between the functional surfaces always allows fluid molecules to pass through this region. For this reason, sealing cannot be thought of as precisely stopping molecular flow. Instead, it would be more accurate to use this to mean keeping this flow at a reasonable level. Leaking or leakage is normally described as the amount of fluid that flows out of the system through the sealing element. However, in some cases, the flow of fluid outside the system into the machine can also be described as leakage or leakage.
Types of Leak
• Diffusion: Dimensions of gas or vapor molecules smaller than one nanometer out of the system by diffusion through small gaps existing in the system despite being a sealing element.
Convection: It occurs as a result of fluid transfer due to the movement of the sealing element in the system. In some cases, the rotating sealing member can transfer fluid into or out of the system due to its geometry. This feature is used in active sealing applications (especially in contactless sealing systems).
• Flow due to pressure difference: It is the most common type of fluid leakage in applications. Oil leaks in the liquid phase that may occur due to the pressure difference are encountered by drip or normal liquid flow. In the flow caused by the pressure difference, the oil leakage rate increases with the pressure gradient and decreases with the viscosity of the fluid, unless another parameter changes.