Abstract
The history of mechanical seal interface studies is summarized and the underlying unity of different approaches is presented diagrammatically. The distinction between “cavitation” and “vapor-transition” is discussed and photographs of seal films are presented to demonstrate similarities. An analytical approach to the calculation of film cavitation boundaries is presented together with a total flow conservation numerical technique. Results from each are presented and it is concluded that cavitation extent will often be greater than expected using over-simplified treatments.

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