ARTICLE IN PRESS

Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651

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An unsteady mixed soft EHL model, with application to a rotary lip seal
Dawei Shen, Richard F. Salant
Georgia Institute of Technology, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Atlanta, GA 30332 0405, USA
Available online 20 February 2006

Abstract

A rotary lip seal usually operates with full-film lubrication. However at low speeds, such as those encountered during startup and
shutdown, mixed lubrication occurs and asperities on the lip contact the shaft. To simulate this condition, a mixed soft EHL model has
been constructed. The fluid mechanics of the lubricating film is described by a Reynolds equation that can handle interasperity
cavitation. The bulk deformation of the lip is computed using influence coefficients, while the junctions between the asperities and the
shaft are modeled as Hertzian contacts. Since the shaft is rough, the flow is unsteady and an unsteady analysis is required. The model
shows how the shaft roughness affects such seal characteristics as load support, contact load ratio, contact area ratio, cavitation area
ratio, reverse pumping rate and average film thickness.
r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Elastohydrodynamic lubrication; Lip seals; Rotary seals

1. Introduction Practical experience and numerical models have shown that

A schematic diagram of a lip seal is shown in Fig. 1. As is
well-known, a successful lip seal operates with a thin
lubricating film between the rotating shaft and the lip
surface [1], and this film prevents damage to the lip surface.
It is also known that the load support and sealing
mechanism are associated with the micro-asperities on the
lip surface in the sealing zone [2]. Those microscopic
asperities act as mini-slider bearings and provide the load
support necessary to lift the lip off the shaft by generating
elevated pressures within the film [2]. The sealing mechan-
ism consists of the ‘‘reverse pumping’’ process. The
asperities, deformed by the shear stresses in the thin film,
act like vanes as fluid is dragged over them by the rotating
shaft, and therefore produce reverse pumping from the air
side of the seal towards the liquid side [2]. Such reverse
pumping counteracts the natural flow of fluid and prevents
leakage [3,4].
In addition to the asperities on the lip surface, the shaft
surface plays an important role in lip seal operation.
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: gte146t@prism.gatech.edu (D. Shen),
richard.salant@me.gatech.edu (R.F. Salant).
the surface finish can have a substantial influence on the
load support and reverse pumping rate [5]. However,
previous numerical models are only valid for full film
lubrication. After a successful seal has been run-in, it will
experience startup and shutdown transients. During those
transients, asperity contact will occur when the lubricant
film thickness is below a certain limit and the total load
support will be shared by the contact load and the
hydrodynamic load. This paper presents an unsteady
mixed soft EHL model, in which the fluid mechanics and
the asperity contact are analyzed.
2. Numerical model
The model simulates the mixed lubrication condition at
the interface between a moving rough, rigid surface (shaft)
and a stationary rough elastic surface (lip), as shown in
Fig. 2. The domain between the rough surfaces can be
divided into three regions: the liquid region, cavitation
region and contact region. In the non-contacting portion,
the fluid mechanics analysis yields the boundaries of the
liquid and cavitation regions, and the fluid pressure, by
solving the general Reynolds equation. In the contact
region, the contact mechanics analysis yields the location

0301-679X/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2005.11.011
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
D. Shen, R.F. Salant / Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651 647

Nomenclature Ra average roughness height

S cavitation index
a radius of contact region t time, U  t =L
A1 half amplitude of lip surface fluctuation, A1 =hr U 
speed of shaft surface
A2 half amplitude of shaft surface fluctuation, W total load support, W  =ðps  pc ÞL B
A2 =hr W Hertzian dimensionless asperity contact load support
Ac contact area ratio, Ac =ðL B Þ in the contact region, W Hertzian =ðps  pc ÞL B
B width of solution space (sealing zone) in axial W fluid dimensionless hydrodynamic load support in
(y) direction the non-contact region, W fluid =ðps  pc ÞL B
C defined by Eq. (11) x circumferential coordinate, x =L
d depth of the geometric overlap for each y axial coordinate, y =B
individual asperity contact
E elastic modulus Greek letters
E0 equivalent Young’s modulus, E  =(1u*2)
f dry friction coefficient between shaft and lip L aspect ratio, L =B
F fraction of sealing zone area that is cavitated d dimensionless circumferential displacement of
h film thickness, h =hr lip, d =L
havg dimensionless average film thickness, havg =hr F variable representing pressure/average density,
I1 influence coefficient for normal (radial) defor- defined by Eq. (1)
mation g dimensionless shaft speed, 6m U  L =h2
r ðps 


I2 influence coefficient for shear (circumferential) pc Þ
deformation l11 lip surface wavelength in x direction, l11 =L
L length of solution space in circumferential (x) l12 lip surface wavelength in y direction, l12 =L
direction l21 shaft surface wavelength in x direction, l21 =L
p dimensionless pressure, ðp  pc Þ=ðps  pc Þ, l22 shaft surface wavelength in y direction, l22 =L
where p ¼ pfluid in non-contact region and m viscosity of lubricant
p ¼ pHertzian in contact region r average density, r =rl
p dimensionless pressure for deformation analy- t shear stress
sis, ½pðps  pc Þ þ pc =E  , where p ¼ pfluid in u Poisson’s ratio
non-contact region and p ¼ pHertzian in contact
region Subscripts
pcontact static contact pressure
p
contact dimensionless static contact pressure for defor- ( )0 smooth shaft value
mation analysis, pcontact =E  ( )a ambient
pfluid dimensionless fluid pressure, ðpfluid  pc Þ= ðps  ( )avg average in both time and x-direction
pc Þ ( )c cavitation
pHertzian dimensionless Hertzian contact, ðpHertzian  pc Þ= ( )i evaluated at i node
ðps  pc Þ ( )r reference
Q reverse pumping rate, m B Q =ðps  pc Þh3r ( )s sealed liquid side of seal
r distance to the center point of each individual
asperity contact circle Superscripts
rc contact load ratio, W Hertzian =W
R0 equivalent radius of curvature, 1=ð1=Rlip þ ( )* dimensional quantity
1=Rshaft Þ

of the contact region and the contact pressure. The bulk considered
deformation of the elastic surface (lip) is calculated in the    
q 3 qSF 2 q 3 qSF
deformation mechanics analysis. h þL h
qx qx qy qy
qf½1 þ ð1  SÞFhg qf½1 þ ð1  SÞFhg
¼g þ 2g , ð1Þ
2.1. Fluid mechanics qx qt
where
The fluid flow in the non-contacting portion of
pfluid ¼ SF,
the interface is governed by the following general
Reynolds equation, in which interasperity cavitation is r ¼ 1 þ ð1  SÞF ð2Þ
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
648 D. Shen, R.F. Salant / Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651

Z
h3 qpfluid
Q¼  dx. (6)
12 qy
spring

elastomer
2.2. Contact mechanics

In the contact region the asperities on the lip surface are

shaft squeezed against asperities on the shaft surface, and the
sealed
junctions between the asperities of the lip and the shaft
fluid
x
surface are modeled as Hertzian contacts. The Hertzian
y solution provides a closed-form expression for two surfaces
in a purely elastic contact.
Fig. 1. Schematic of lip seal. The contact pressure in the contact region is given by
pHertzian ¼ 2E 0 ðd  =R0 Þð1=2Þ ½1  ðr =a Þ2 ð1=2Þ =p (7)
and
ZZ
W Hertzian ¼ ðpHertzian  pa Þ dx dy. (8)

Thus the total load support, W, is the summation of the

load support due to fluid pressure and that due to asperity
contact.
W ¼ W Hertzian þ W fluid . (9)
Fig. 2. Schematic of sealing zone.
Since the geometric overlap region is not the real contact
region in the Hertzian contact mode, the film thickness in
the overlap region, but not in the contact region, is
and determined from the following equation:
S ¼ 1 for FX0 liquid region;
h ¼ fa ðr2  a2 Þð1=2Þ  ð2a2  r2 Þ tan1
S ¼ 0 for Fo0 cavitated region: ð3Þ
 ½ðr2 =a2  1Þð1=2Þ =ðpR0 Þghr . ð10Þ
S is the cavitation index, which is defined to identify the
non-cavitating liquid regions and cavitating regions. The This expression is combined with the film thickness
function F represents the dimensionless pressure in expression (4) in the non-overlap region for use in the
the fluid region and the dimensionless average density in fluid mechanics analysis.
the cavitating region.
The film thickness is set equal to the sum of two cosine
2.3. Deformation mechanics
terms to represent the asperities on both surfaces plus an
average film thickness, havg, which is determined by the
To calculate the normal and shear deformations on the
normal deformation of the lip. d represents the circumfer-
lip surface, an influence coefficient method is used in the
ential displacement of the lip surface, which is determined
deformation mechanics analysis. Two influence coefficient
by the shear deformation of the lip.
     matrices, I1 and I2, are obtained from a finite element
xd 2py analysis (FEA), utilizing a commercial package. The
h ¼ A1 cos 2p cos
l11 l12 normal deformation of the lip surface determines the
   
2p 2py average film thickness, havg, and can be expressed (at the i
 A2 cos ðx  tÞ cos þ havg . ð4Þ axial node) as
l21 l22
Asperity contacts occur when the computed film thickness, X
n
ðhavg Þi ¼ C þ ðI 1 Þik ðp 
avg  pcontact Þk , (11)
using Eq. (4), becomes zero or negative. A very small value K¼1
of the film thickness is then set at the contact points, and at
these points the computed values of pfluid (from Eq. (1)) are where C, is the initial average film thickness when the lip is
replaced with zero. mounted to the shaft; it is equal to 0.57A1 [6]. It should
The dimensionless fluid load support and reverse be noted that the dimensionless pressure p is equal to pfluid
pumping rate can be computed from in the non-contact region and is equal to pHertzian in the
ZZ contact region. In order to obtain the circumferential
W fluid ¼ ðpfluid  pa Þ dx dy, (5) displacement of the lip surface, the dimensionless shear
stress is set equal to the viscous shear stress in the
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
D. Shen, R.F. Salant / Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651 649

Initial input: 1) design and operating parameters

2) Influence coefficients and contact pressure from FEM

Initial guess for average film thickness and circumferential deformation

Identify the contact region and non-contact region

Fluid Mechanics Model Asperity Contact Model

(Calculate pfluid from Reynolds equation) (Calculate pHertzian from Hertizian theory)

Output pfluid in the whole domain Output pHertzian in the contact region

Mixed-EHD Loop
No
In the contact region?

Yes
p= pHertzian p= pfluid

Deformation Mechanics Analysis

No
Film thickness converge? Relax havg

Yes

Output results and post process

Fig. 3. Overall solution scheme.

fluid region, 1:02  105 Pa, pc ¼ 0 Pa, h*r ¼ 1 mm, l*11 ¼ l*12 ¼ 5  105 m,
t ¼ ðhhr ðps  pc Þ=2E  L Þ  ðdpfluid =dxÞ l*21 ¼ l*22 ¼ 104 m, A*1 ¼ 0.5 mm, A*2 ¼ 0.05 mm, shaft dia-
meter ¼ 4.445  102 m, E* ¼ 6.2  106 Pa, Poisson ratio
þ ðm U  =hhr E  Þ ð12Þ
of lip ¼ 0.49, dry friction coefficient ¼ 0.25. The corre-
and to the dry contact friction in the contact region, sponding dimensionless parameters are: L ¼ 1, l11 ¼ l12
t ¼ fpHertzian =E  . (13) ¼ 0.1, l21 ¼ l22 ¼ 0.2, A1 ¼ 0.5, A2 ¼ 0.05, pa ¼ ps ¼ 1.
Both sides of the seal are assumed to be flooded so that
The shear deformation is given by the reverse pumping rate can be calculated. A grid analysis
X
n has shown that a 101  101 mesh is sufficient for the
ðdÞi ¼ ðI 2 Þik ðtavg Þk : (14) analysis.
k¼1 The time-averaged reverse pumping rate Q for two cases,
a smooth shaft and a rough shaft, is shown in Fig. 4 as a
2.4. Computational scheme function of dimensionless shaft speed g. Once the shaft
starts rotating at very low speeds, the lip begins to liftoff
In the solution scheme for the mixed soft EHL model, due to the hydrodynamic pressure in the film, and a very
the fluid mechanics, deformation mechanics analysis and small value of the reverse pumping rate is obtained. As
the asperity contact analysis are strongly coupled; there- speed is increased, the reverse pumping mechanism
fore, an iterative computation procedure is required as becomes more significant, and that leads to a larger Q.
shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 also shows that a rough shaft produces a larger
reverse pumping rate than a smooth shaft. It is important
3. Results to note that the shaft surface microgeometry actually
improves the sealing ability of the seal.
The above model is used to compute the performance of Fig. 5 shows the time-averaged total load support
a representative lip seal. The base parameter values are: (including the hydrodynamic load and contact load) as a
L ¼ B ¼ 5  104 m, m ¼ 2:5  102 Pa s1 , ps ¼ pa ¼ function of speed. At very low speed, there are substantial
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
650 D. Shen, R.F. Salant / Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651

20 (%)
60
18
16
50
14
12 A2=0.05
40
10
Q

8 30 A2=0

F
A2=0.05
6
A2=0
20
4
2
10
0
-2
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
γ
γ
Fig. 4. Reverse pumping rate versus speed.
Fig. 6. Cavitation area versus speed.

4.2 0.8

4.1 0.7

4 0.6
A2=0.05

0.5
3.9 A2=0.05
W

havg

A2=0 0.4
3.8
0.3 A2=0
3.7
0.2
3.6
0.1
3.5
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 0
γ 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
γ
Fig. 5. Total load support versus speed.
Fig. 7. Average film thickness versus speed.

asperity contacts in the solution domain, and the contact
load is dominant. As the speed is increased, the hydro-
dynamic load increases while the contact load support
decreases, and the total load support increases. Fig. 5
shows that roughness on the shaft surface increases load
support and eventually makes the liftoff process easier. The
cavitation area ratio which is defined as the ratio of the
cavitation area to the total domain area is shown as a
function of speed in Fig. 6. The curves follow similar trends
as the load support curves; as speed increases, so does the
cavitation area.
Fig. 7 shows the variation of the average film thickness
havg as a function of speed. As would be expected, the
average film thickness increases with speed over the range
of interest. This trend is consistent with the total load
support curves since a larger value of load support should
produce a larger average film thickness. For the same
speed, the rough surface produces a higher value of the
average film thickness, compared to the smooth surface,
accelerating the liftoff procedure.
An important characteristic parameter for tracing the
liftoff process during the startup period is the contact
area ratio, Ac, defined as the ratio of the contact area
to the total domain area. Fig. 8 shows the contact area
ratio as a function of speed over the entire speed range.
It decreases with speed until it becomes zero at (and
after) the liftoff speed. Once the lip completely lifts off,
the interface is in the full film regime. Since lip wear occurs
during mixed lubrication and is proportional to contact
area, it is desirable for the liftoff speed and the contact
area to be as low as possible. Fig. 8 shows that shaft
roughness can lessen the wear in the mixed lubrication
region by reducing both the contact area and the liftoff
speed.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
D. Shen, R.F. Salant / Tribology International 40 (2007) 646–651 651

(%) contact load ratio, as well as in the contact area ratio. The
30
contact load ratio decreases with the speed due to the liftoff
of the lip from the shaft; this is consistent with the curves
25 for the contact area ratio. The contact load ratio reaches
zero once the lip completely lifts off from the shaft and
20 asperity contact ceases. As shown in Fig. 9, the rough shaft
produces a lower contact load ratio than a smooth shaft
except at a very low speed; that is also consistent with the
Ac

15
curves of the contact area ratio.

10 A2=0 4. Conclusions
A2=0.05
5 The results of this study demonstrate that an unsteady
mixed soft EHL model can generate the important
performance characteristics of a lip seal, such as load
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 support, contact load ratio, contact area ratio, cavitation
γ area ratio, reverse pumping rate and average film thickness.
This work also shows that microasperities on a shaft surface
Fig. 8. Contact area ratio versus speed.
can improve sealing ability and accelerate the liftoff process.

(%) Acknowledgment
100

90 The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the

80 National Science Foundation, Grant no. CMS-9907956,
and the Georgia Power Company.
70

60 References
50
rc

A2=0 [1] Jagger ET. Rotary shaft seals: the sealing mechanism of synthetic
40 rubber seals running at atmospheric pressure. Proc Instn Mech Engrs
A2=0.05 1957;171:597–616.
30 [2] Salant RF. Theory of lubrication of elastomeric rotary shaft seals.
IMechE J Eng Tribol 1999;213:189–201.
20
[3] Stakenborg MJL. On the sealing mechanism of radial lip seals. Tribol
10 Int 1988;21:335–40.
[4] Salant RF. Elastohydrodynamic model of the rotary lip seal. ASME J
0 Tribol 1996;18:292–6.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
γ [5] Salant RF, Shen D. Hydrodynamic effects of shaft surface finish on lip
seal operation. STLE Tribol Trans 2002;45:404–10.
Fig. 9. Contact load ratio versus speed. [6] Shi F, Salant RF. Numerical study of a rotary lip seal with a quasi-
random sealing surface. ASME J Tribol 2001;123:517–24.

Fig. 9 shows the contact load ratio, rc, which is the ratio
of the contact load support to the total load support, as a
function of speed. The liftoff process is reflected in the