THE EVOLUTION AND APPLICATION OF MECHANICAL SEAL FACE MATERIALS

William Dietzel Jack Vasko

Engineering Supervisor Product Manager – Engineered Seals
Flowserve Corporation Flowserve Corporation
Kalamazoo, MI, USA Bridgeport, NJ, USA

William Dietzel is a supervisor in the historical discussion frames the discussion on

Flowserve mechanical seal Applied contemporary seal face material selection philosophy.
Technical Solutions Group. During his
12 years at Flowserve he has provided EARLY ERA OF MECHANICAL SEALS: PRE 1940
technical support to several regions of
the United States. He has experience The history and development of mechanical seals is
in application, troubleshooting and closely linked to the popularity and growth of the
design of mechanical seals. He is centrifugal pump and compressor. Centrifugal pumps and
currently an Engineering Supervisor at Flowserve’s compressors have commonly been found in operation
Kalamazoo, Michigan location. William received his since the 19th century, but their use was limited by the lack
bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from of an economical and reliable power source to generate
Western Michigan University. rotation. This changed dramatically around 1895 as
electricity spread and the reliable electric motor brought a
Jack Vasko is the Product Manager for stable power source to the centrifugal pump. This lead to
Flowserve’s engineered mechanical industry applying them in simple applications as industry
seals applied in the oil & gas, determined the use of these new centrifugal fluid handling
petrochemical, and power markets. devices. The applications began to grow as the benefits
Jack joined Flowserve in 2005 and were quickly realized and industry started to apply them in
took on the role of Product Manager in more challenging services.
2011. Prior to this role, Jack worked
in various pump and seal sales The popularity of the new electrically powered pumps
positions in Philadelphia, PA and Houston, TX. Jack created a condition where the existing pump suppliers
holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering could not keep up with the demand. This stimulated
from the Georgia Institute of Technology. several new companies to enter the market with new
designs while older companies reconfigured their products
ABSTRACT to remain competitive. This growth in the industry
sparked an initiative to standardize the markets which led
The advancement of seal face material technology since to the creation of several institutes such as the Hydraulic
the first known mechanical seal design in 1903 can be Institute (HI) in 1917 and the American Petroleum
closely tied to standardization, regulation, and social Institute (API) in 1919. These institutes remain active and
concerns in industry. The authors will show how these strong leaders in the industry today.
different factors interacted and resulted in the
advancement of mechanical seal faces and ultimately the During this early era there was very little development in
advancement of mechanical seal applications. The the area of the primary “seal” between the pump and
compressor’s rotating and stationary elements. Most early
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sealing devices were an adaptation of the existing steam metal or plastic. Typical hard faces used during this
packing or lantern rings that were most commonly used by period included materials pump companies were familiar
steam engines at that time. The application of these sealing with such as cast iron and hardened steel. These early
technologies in non-hazardous steam was relatively ‘hard’ seal faces were simple and did not incorporate
straight forward; however, in centrifugal pumps and many considerations such as flatness, smoothness and
compressors the application ranges were broader, which perpendicularity that are taken into account today. As a
quickly revealed the limitations of packing and the need result, the opposing face material needed to have the
for a different sealing concept. A new sealing concept, the flexibility to match the surface profile of the ‘hard’ metal
end-face mechanical seal, was first introduced in 1903 by seal face. Pump and seal manufacturers experimented
George Cook. While the original “Cook seal” was with different compliant seal face materials to run against
intended for a centrifugal compressor refrigeration the ‘hard’ seal face. During this period a large number of
application, the technology was soon applied in centrifugal materials were tried including materials traditionally used
pumps. From here on, this tutorial will focus on for braided packing (graphite based), neoprene rubber,
mechanical seals used in centrifugal pumps. leaded bronze, Bakelite, Micarta, and a wide range of
metal impregnated graphites. Copper, tin, lead, antimony,
Early seals, modeled after the ‘Cook seal,’ had some of the bronze and zinc were all common Babbitt materials used
basic design concepts of the modern mechanical seal, but in early mechanical seals.
were still heavily influenced by traditional packing. The
biggest change incorporated by early seal designs was the Although advancements in mechanical seals were taking
change of the sealing interface from along the shaft to a place during this period, they were still considered a
radial surface perpendicular to the shaft. Figure 1 shows product for a niche market and only considered if packing
an example of an early mechanical seal. would not work in the application. This period still had
the vast majority of centrifugal pumps supplied and
operated with packing as it was considered simple and
reliable.

However, as this period was ending the needs and

expectations of industry were changing and with it was the
opportunity for end-face mechanical seals. Industry was
beginning to explore more mechanical seals for a broader
range of services. The marketing campaigns of several
major packing companies in the 1930’s also highlighted
mechanical seals and helped increase the installed
population.

THE MECHANICAL SEAL EVOLUTION: 1940-1980

The period between 1940 and 1980 was a period of rapid

Figure 1. Early mechanical seal, US Patent #1,315,822 growth for mechanical seals and seal face materials. In
Published September 9th, 1919 fact, nearly all the common seal face materials used today
were developed during this period.
There were several benefits to changing orientation of the
seals but the biggest was it reduced and changed the loads The general attitude towards sealing device technology
acting on the seal and allowed the exploration of more during this period was influenced by several factors.
compliant materials designed for use as seal faces. Advancements in rotating equipment design and operation
were encouraged by new regulations which required
Early mechanical seal designs reflect a desire to pair industry to consider environment and personnel safety.
dissimilar materials running opposite each other. The The emergence of widespread global trade and
classic combination included a conforming face made of a competition pressured plant operators to reduce
soft or flexible material and a hard or stiff face made of operational costs and improve plant efficiency. All of
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these factors forced industry to start looking for a better self-lubricating properties. The initial use and
performing, more reliable, and more economical sealing incorporation of this material proved to be challenging
solution for their rotating equipment applications. because low quantity usage only made it economical to
purchase and manufacture from raw tube stock. This was
At the heart of the advancements was the experimentation a problem because carbon is not a homogeneous material
and development of the rubbing surfaces or the like metal but is a material full of interconnecting voids
mechanical seal faces. Early development of face sealed with an impregnation material. This was quickly
materials concentrated on achieving low wear by pairing discovered as the carbons were machined to their final
readily available compliant seal face materials with shape; the thin impregnation layer was removed leaving
corresponding ‘hard’ metal bodies. As mechanical sealing only porous carbon remaining. This translated into the
evolved, the focus shifted to developing materials that carbon requiring extra manufacturing steps and giving
would broaden the mechanical seal application range, carbon the reputation of being difficult to work with.
while incrementally reducing their leakage rates. To However, once the manufacturing process was understood,
achieve these new goals, while maintaining wear the benefits of this self-lubricating material were
resistance, new developments in seal face design and demonstrated in early trial applications. The next step for
materials were required. applying this material was determining the grade(s) of
carbon that could be used in mechanical seals.
As mechanical seal manufacturers grew their knowledge
through experimentation, they started to understand and Carbon manufacturers during the 1950s were a
develop the set of material properties that are used today. constrained group and most of their time was spent
They understood that a suitable compliant face is a developing materials for the chemical and metallurgical
balance between having enough material strength to resist industries. These industries did not have an abundance of
excessive deflection from pressure loading and still be soft funding available for new materials, which resulted in the
enough to allow the face to wear evenly when paired with slow introduction of new materials to industry. During the
a harder face. They knew that materials are subjected to 1960s, the arrival of the nuclear and aerospace industries
the process fluid and must resist mechanical attack from increased the funding available for improving the quality
abrasives and chemical attack from corrosive fluids. They and reliability of the existing carbon grades and
learned other material characteristics such as thermal development of several new grades of carbon (Paxton
conductivity, thermal expansion, and having a certain 1979). This rapid expansion of mechanical carbon grades,
range of mechanical properties heavily influence the combined with the quality requirements of the nuclear and
performance of the seal face materials. aerospace industries, helped drive the mechanical carbon
industry and ASTM to release new testing guidelines from
Mechanical seal manufacturers started to evaluate face
the late 60s until the early 80s to help improve quality and
materials by their identified material properties and lower
reliability with the new and existing carbon materials.
cost and availability.
The initial development and use of carbon by mechanical
At this point several early face materials were found
seal manufacturers was complicated by the number of
unsuitable for the long term performance mechanical seal
carbon manufacturers and their substantial inventories of
manufacturers were trying to achieve. However, seal
unique grades. The combination of companies and grades
manufactures started to experiment with new materials,
created several hundred choices of carbon grades available
and they organized these materials into two categories:
for use in mechanical seals. From these grades,
compliant soft materials and hard materials.
mechanical seal manufacturers found numerous grades of
carbon that performed well in poor lubricating fluids.
COMPLIANT SOFT FACES
The abundance of choice has since decreased by several
Mechanical Carbon
orders of magnitude due to the consolidation of several
mechanical carbon companies and their subsequent efforts
Carbon-graphite or “carbon” was identified by mechanical
to rationalize the grades they offer. Working with the
seal manufacturers during the 1940-1950s as a viable
mechanical seal industry, the mechanical carbon industry
mechanical seal face material due to its excellent
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standardized approximately a dozen grades for use in excellent properties allow its use in a wide range of
mechanical seal applications. applications. An example of resin carbon under
magnification is shown in Figure 2.
Carbon Manufacturing

The benefits of carbon start with choosing the right

combination of base ingredients and then having the right
methods of manufacture to create the desired properties.
Carbon manufacturing begins with choosing the right
blends and types of filler (Natural graphite, synthetic
graphite, Petroleum graphite, lampblack, charcoal), binder
(synthetic resins, coal tar pitch, petroleum pitch, metals), Carbon
and any additives (Abrasives, film formers, antioxidant,
graphitizing aids) required to achieve the desired Resin
properties of the finished carbon parts. Once the
ingredient mixture is complete, it is formed into a near-
final shape using die molding, isostatic molding, or an
extruding process. The carbon is then ready for high
Figure 2. Resin Impregnated Carbon
temperature heat treatment. During the heat treatment the
binding agent is converted to carbon while a small amount at 100x magnification
volatizes and leaves the carbon. At the end of this stage Metallized Carbons
the resulting carbon is soft and contains porosity
throughout the part. As the name implies, metallized carbons are impregnated
with a molten metal to increase the strength, thermal
To eliminate the porosity, an impregnation material
conductivity and modulus of the base carbon material.
capable of flowing into the voids to seal the leakage paths
These types of carbons are actually categorized with the
is required. This amount of impregnation material in the
thermoplastic impregnant materials because the metals
final carbon ring is pretty significant and has a large
have the potential to melt and run back out of the carbon at
influence on the final material properties of the carbon
high temperatures. The metals used to impregnant seal
ring.
faces must have good tribological properties and a
Typical fillers used as impregnation material include moderate melting point. Soft babbitting materials such as
resins, thermoplastics, metals, inorganic salts and other bronze, copper, nickel, antimony, and tin meet these
materials. The characteristics of each impregnant will requirements and have been used as impregnation
determine what types of enhancements or limitations it can materials of carbon rings. Of these materials the addition
provide to the base carbon. of antimony has proven to be the most success for use as a
seal face material due to its higher melting point relative to
Resin Impregnated Carbon other babbiting materials.

General purpose resin carbon is one of the most common Antimony carbon is considered a high quality material that
materials used for carbon seal faces. The thermosetting provides good operation in higher pressure and speed
impregnate (phenolics, epoxides, polyesters, furan) is applications and it is also considered to have an increased
applied with a vacuum-pressure process to impregnate the blister resistance when compared to standard resin carbon-
material as deep as possible. A high penetration depth is graphite materials. Though this material provides
desirable to fill the porosity, improve lubricating qualities, advantages in higher duty service, the antimony
and maximize mechanical strength. A heating process is impregnate limits the temperature capabilities and reduces
typically used to cure the material and will not soften once the corrosion resistance of the seal face. Antimony
it has been cured. Resin bound carbon has a moderate impregnated carbon is generally not recommended for use
high temperature capability, moderate hardness and in strong acids or bases. An example of antimony
strength, and excellent chemical compatibility. These impregnated carbon is shown in Figure 3.
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 lubrication. Acid grade carbons are most appropriate for
low duty applications which operate at low speeds and
pressures.

Additional Compliant Soft Faces

Carbon There are a few additional softer face materials used in

Antimony mechanical seals for very specific applications. Softer
metals such as tin bronze can be applied in applications
that exceed the limits of carbon material but require some
degree of forgiveness when paired with a harder face
material. The benefits of this material are typically an
increase in strength, hardness, thermal conductivity and
thermal expansion, when compared to typical carbon
materials. Although these materials do have significant
Figure 3. Antimony Impregnated Carbon benefits in certain applications, they are not self-
at 100x magnification
lubricating and tend to experience increased thermal
distortion due to the higher thermal expansion rates of the
Dry-Running Carbons
material. For these reasons the window to apply these
Dry running grades of carbon are used in sealing materials tends to be limited as the benefits do not
applications where there is not a liquid fluid film present outweigh the concerns in the majority of applications.
to lubricate the faces. These grades are applied when the
Plastics like nylon, rubber, or solid filled PTFE can also be
seal face material itself is required to create the lubricating
used as seal faces but these tend to have very low melting
film. These grades of carbon are typically softer than
points, low thermal conductivity, and a low modulus of
other grades due to the higher amount of graphite used to
elasticity. Having these weak properties only make the use
promote the formation of the fluid film. Other carbons in
of these materials viable for very low duty applications.
this category use a special impregnation material such as a
salt (i.e. barium fluoride, lithium fluoride) to improve the
HARD FACES
performance of the carbon by aiding in film formation
between the faces (Huebner 2005). During the same period of advancement in compliant
materials, mechanical seal suppliers began to look towards
Acid Grade Carbon
improving the properties of the mating faces. Until now,
the most commonly used materials were already found in
Acid grade carbons are materials with minimal amounts of
industry, such as hardened alloy steels and tool steels.
components and impurities that are subjected to the effects
While these materials were certainly harder than the
of aggressive chemicals and can be used in these highly
corrosive applications. Carbon manufacturers create these compliant materials they were being paired with, they
grades of carbon by removing as many ingredients as lacked sufficient wear resistance for long life. Early
metallic hard faces also lacked sufficient stiffness to
possible. This includes items such as beneficial additives
maintain flatness, which made it hard to achieve low
and key fillers like graphite. They further reduce the
leakage levels over a wide range of application conditions.
potential for corrosion by using an extremely pure source
for the base carbon material which has had chemically
In order to broaden the application range of mechanical
incompatible impurities removed. These steps to remove
seals, manufacturers developed a number of hard overlays
impurities are important, because the aggressive process and ceramics to be used as seal face materials. These
fluid will leach out some common additives and impurities materials had better tribological properties when paired
in the carbon. The absence of these additives leaves a very
with the aforementioned mechanical carbons, and
weak carbon structure (Huebner 2005). These special
therefore tended to generate more consistent wear and
grades of carbon have increased chemical resistance but
lower leakage.
compromise on other properties, including strength and
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Coatings and Overlays Ceramics

Just after World War II, industries with wear-resistant Seal face surfaces can be made extremely flat and smooth
needs began to widely apply hard overlays on stainless using a machining process known as lapping. Lapping is a
steel substrate materials. One of the most popular process where the seal face is rubbed against a flat surface
overlays used on mechanical seal face surfaces was cobalt- with an abrasive media between them. In the early days
chromium (CoCr). Applications of cobalt-chromium in of mechanical seal innovation, leaded bronze emerged as a
mechanical seals began to appear as early as 1949. The preferred metal face material because of its ability to be
combined properties of good availability, low cost, and a easily and quickly lapped. Bronze also had desirable
high hardness (40-50 Rockwell C (HRC)) made CoCr a properties including good thermal conductivity and non-
dominant face material choice for over 20 years. For sparking. However, early metallic materials, including
some applications, CoCr remains in use on seal faces, bronze, were not able to “hold a lap” well. This means
although it is more frequently applied in other areas of the that shortly after being lapped, thermal and mechanical
seal where relative motion between parts exists. Two stresses could cause the face to go “out of flat” and
examples of other uses for CoCr coatings are on the become wavy. To fully realize the benefits of lapping, a
surface opposing a close-clearance bushing or on a surface much stiffer material was required, and ceramics proved to
where an elastomer is intended to slide during operation. be capable of filling that role.

In 1978 an overlay harder than cobalt-chromium was Ceramics as seal face materials could categorically be
introduced for mechanical seal faces. Chromium oxide described as one of the most significant leaps forward in
coating has an outstanding hardness of 54 HRC. Both mechanical seal capabilities. Specific ceramics were
cobalt-chromium and chromium oxide coating selected for high hardness, high thermal conductivity, and
technologies can be applied in several ways with the most high chemical resistances. Ceramics such as aluminum
common being Plasma Transferred Arc Welding (PTAW). oxide were first introduced in the late 1950s and 1960s.
A typical coating thickness is 0.2 to 0.3 mm (0.008 to Aluminum oxide has outstanding hardness and chemical
0.012 inches). resistance compared to metallic-based seal faces.
However, its thermal conductivity is similar to metallic-
Although these hard overlays greatly advanced seal face based seal faces and its tribological properties are poor.
capabilities at the time, several weaknesses led to their Figure 4 compares the thermal conductivity of aluminum
eventual replacement. oxide to other seal face materials.
Weaknesses of PTAW coatings include:

 Heat checking / thermal cracking

 Delamination / film failure
 Limited corrosion resistance
 Flatness retention

Early in the 1970’s cast cobalt-chromium was offered to

eliminate some of the coating-related issues with CoCr;
however it was not widely adopted. By this time, several
ceramic options were available that offered improved
hardness and stiffness. Another new technology Figure 4. Thermal conductivity of seal face materials
introduced at the same time was a ceramic layer on a
carbon substrate. This new ceramic coating, Silicon Unfortunately, a low thermal conductivity exacerbates the
Carbide (SiC), would signal the birth of a new family of problems of a high friction material, such as aluminum
seal face materials, which today is the basis of over 70% oxide. This results in seal generated heat effectively being
of hard seal face materials. insulated at the seal face running surface. In demanding
applications, this can cause a localized “hot spot” where
product fluid lubricity drops and seal generated heat rises.
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
Furthermore, aluminum oxide will fracture if exposed to a
rapid change in temperature, which is known as a thermal
shock. This occurs most frequently when cool fluid is
introduced to a seal face that has been running
exceptionally hot due to low lubricity fluid or dry running.
While aluminum oxide remains cost effective to form into
a seal face, it continues to be used in low pressure
applications, low surface speeds, and mild temperatures.

Tungsten Carbides

Tungsten carbide (WC) was introduced to mechanical

seals in the late 1950s. The technology was brought to
seals from the machine tools industry where it had been Figure 5. Modulus of Elasticity of seal face materials
used as a cutting tool since the 1930s. Initially, WC was
cemented with either cobalt or nickel. Cobalt-bound WC Good thermal conductivity aids in dissipating seal
is slightly harder and stiffer than nickel-bound versions; generated heat, which can improve lubrication conditions
however, it is susceptible to chemical attack when exposed at the running surface and prevent fluid flashing. Among
to some strong acids and bases, particularly hydrogen ceramics in general and specifically carbides, tungsten
sulfide (H2S). Cobalt-bound WC is more common in carbide’s superior fracture toughness is much appreciated
general industry applications. Due to the prevalence of by users. For comparison, WC’s fracture toughness is 3 to
H2S in sour crudes, the oil & gas industry prefers the 5 times higher than silicon carbide and aluminum oxide.
nickel-bound version of WC. With otherwise similar While still not as fracture resistant as metals, light impacts
material properties and a lower cost, nickel-bound WC will generally not fracture WC. An additional benefit of
became the standard tungsten carbide offering for seal face high fracture toughness is resistance to thermal shock.
applications by the 1970s. Figure 6 compares instantaneous temperature changes that
can cause fractures in common ceramic seal face
Tungsten carbide can be applied as a solid seal face or as a materials.
coating on a stainless substrate. In fact, both application
techniques have been in use since the 1960s. As a coating
over a stainless substrate material, the high hardness of
WC provides abrasion resistance; however, the other
material properties provide little benefit. A strong reason
to use WC as a seal face coating is to achieve a lower
production cost. Conversely, as a solid face, tungsten
carbide’s many additional benefits can be taken advantage
of. For example, the modulus of elasticity is unmatched
by any other seal face material. When WC is applied as a
solid piece, the high modulus of elasticity makes it
extremely resistant to pressure deflections and other
environmental influences that can cause the seal face to
lose its flatness. Figure 5 compares the modulus of
elasticity of Nickel bound WC to other seal face materials.
Figure 6. Susceptibility to thermal shock fracture of
common ceramic seal faces

Although there are many beneficial properties of WC,

there are also weaknesses. A high difference in thermal
expansion rates, over 2 to 1, between the nickel or cobalt

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binder and tungsten carbide makes it very susceptible to visual difference between RBSiC and DSSiC is apparent
surface thermal cracking, known as heat checking. In under 100x magnification as shown in Figure 7.
cases where lubricity is questionable or dry running is
possible, combinations of WC with higher friction
Si Carbon
materials such as aluminum oxide, SiC, or WC itself
should be avoided. Heat checking is far less of a concern
when pairing WC with low friction opposing surfaces of
carbon or diamond. Finally, both cobalt and nickel bound
SiC SiC
tungsten carbide grades are limited by the chemical
compatibility of the cobalt and nickel binders. For strong RBSiC DSSiC
acids and bases, another carbide material offers a broader Figure 7. Comparison of SiC grades at
range of application compatibility with one version 100x magnification
offering near universal chemical compatibility.
Both SiC grades offered outstanding hardness, and even
Silicon Carbides today they are the hardest solid composition seal face
materials available. The extreme hardness makes SiC
The first creation of synthetic silicon carbide (SiC) grades resistant to both wear and three-body abrasion
occurred well over 100 years ago during the industrial damage. Often times, for the harshest slurries, SiC seal
revolution of the 1890s. It took over 80 more years for faces are chosen for both seal faces to resist abrasive wear.
SiC to be ready for the challenging duty required by Figure 8 compares the hardness of silicon carbide grades
mechanical seals. The first mechanical seal use of SiC and several other seal face materials.
was the application of the carbide as a layer on a carbon
substrate. This first step took place in the early 1970s. By
the mid-1970s a solid form of SiC became available
through the reaction bonding process. The reaction
bonding process is detailed in the referenced paper,
“Material Selection for Mechanical Seals.” While the
process is very repeatable, it relies on a reaction between
molten silicon metal and carbon where 8 to 12 percent of
the final composition is free silicon. This free silicon
provides both a benefit and a limitation to reaction bonded
silicon carbide (RBSiC). In one respect, the free silicon
lowers the coefficient of friction versus pure SiC by
roughly 10 percent when running against many common
opposing seal face materials. This translates into lower Figure 8. Hardness of seal face materials
seal generated heat and wear. In another respect, the free *Due to the low modulus of elasticity, carbon grades are
silicon provides a chemical compatibility weakness where tested using a scratch test rather than an indention test.
the silicon may react with strong acids and bases. This The carbon results are therefore not directly comparable.
creates a similar binder failure as metallic cemented
tungsten carbide. In the 1980s it was thought that SiC offered almost every
important material property seal vendors were looking for
To improve the chemical resistance of SiC, a new process except low friction. By the late 1980s and early 1990s
of direct sintering silicon carbide (DSSiC) was patented in several grades of graphite impregnated SiC were
1979. Initial use of DSSiC in seal faces began in the early developed to solve this challenge. Graphite impregnated
1980s. The direct sintering process results in a 100 SiC is a heterogeneous mixture of free graphite and either
percent SiC material with no free silicon. The direct or RBSiC or DSSiC. Early testing showed weakness in
self-sintering process is also described in the referenced cohesive bonding of the carbon and RBSiC mixture and
paper, “Material Section for Mechanical Seals.” The subsequently inter-material failure. Graphite impregnated
DSSiC has a more tightly bonded microstructure, which
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
lead to its dominance between the SiC/graphite applied to the running surface of a DSSiC face. By using
composites. Graphite impregnated SiC achieves the diamond in this way, the benefits of diamond can be
promise of high harness with low friction. Due to its realized at the running surface, while the benefits of
lower modulus of elasticity compared to RBSiC or DSSiC, DSSiC including: inertness, stiffness, availability, cost,
concerns over inter-material bond strength, and its random and thermal conductivity can be realized in the bulk
distribution of graphite particles, graphite impregnated material.
SiC has not been able to reach the usage levels of the other
SiC grades. MECHANICAL SEAL ENHANCEMENTS:
1980 - PRESENT
Within the hard seal face materials, refineries and
petrochemical plants have largely standardized on RBSiC The current era of mechanical seals from 1980 to the
as their standard hard face material. DSSiC is applied present represents a rapid expansion in seal face
sparingly for strong acids and bases and WC is generally technology, development tools, and materials. This era
reserved for heavy oils and applications requiring fracture- coincides with advancements in computer aided design
resistance. In more chemically demanding industries, (CAD), Finite Element Analysis (FEA), and Computer
DSSiC has been established as the standard hard face Numerical Control (CNC) machining. These capabilities
material grade. To date, graphite impregnated SiC has not aided seal manufacturers in developing new seal
found its place in the chemical, petrochemical, and technology with greater capabilities than ever before.
refinery markets, although it is widely applied in general Notably, the 1st Texas A&M Pump Symposia in 1984
industry applications. included a lecture on mechanical seal face design using
mathematical modeling.

These new computing capabilities enabled seals to be

designed for better reliability on poor lubricating fluids at
high temperatures and high pressures. The new tools
introduced the capability of supporting seal faces with
gases in addition to liquids. This revolutionized the
compressor and agitator industries and had applications in
pumps for dry running containment seals and zero
emissions dual seals that could be pressurized by an
external gas such as nitrogen.

Face Materials Create Seal Advancements

Figure 9. Timeline of the introduction and extent of Manufacturing improvements from seal face material
popular use for a number of hard seal face materials. manufacturers over the decades have created highly
consistent materials that produce repeatable performance
While this application philosophy has been in place for in mechanical seals. This repeatability has enabled
several decades, the history of hard seal face materials mechanical seal manufacturers to utilize FEA to analyze
shows a constant evolution. The number of seal face and predict the performance of a mechanical seal in
materials in common use today is easily equaled by the critical applications. This tool, and other specialized seal
number of materials that have been abandoned. Figure 9 analysis software, has become important as today’s
shows periods of popular use for several historic and industrial plants strive to maximize plant uptime while
modern seal face materials. minimizing the cost of maintenance. It is well known that
industrial pumps are most often pulled from service for
Numerous recently developed materials promise higher maintenance when a seal leak is detected; therefore pump
performance than traditional materials. These new, reliability depends on seal reliability. For many
advanced materials create many interesting directions for applications with high pump reliability, it is becoming
the industry to take. One promising material already common for new plants to forego installing spare pumps
taking hold is diamond coating. Diamond coating is and instead rely on one pump to achieve a lower plant
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construction cost. This makes the performance of that CONSIDERATIONS FOR SELECTING TYPICAL
single pump extremely critical, and more specifically that FACE MATERIALS
pump’s mechanical seal. Simply put, the quality and
consistency of modern seal face materials is the The wide range of different materials available for
foundation for establishing dependable seal performance, mechanical seal faces makes choosing the right face
raising pump reliability, and enabling users to eliminate combination seem difficult. It is even more intimidating
unnecessary pump redundancies. knowing that the wrong combination of materials may
lead to premature seal failure, which in turn leads to
Consistent material performance allows mechanical seal significant costs due to replacement of the seal, downtime
manufactures to offer new solutions to existing problems of the pump, and potential damage caused to the
through upgrading existing products or developing new equipment.
ones. The best example of this is the development and
operation of the gas lift-off seal. During operation the Each mechanical seal requires at least two opposing seal
faces need to remain flat to each other in a non-contacting faces. They are typical categorized as either a soft vs.
state. The added topography feature must be consistent to hard or a hard vs. hard combination. The first question to
separate the seal faces reliably. If the material was ask when trying to choose the combination is: Do the
inconsistent, then the topographical feature may not faces need to have self-lubricating properties?
perform as designed. Material inconsistency may also
Soft vs. hard seal face combinations are traditionally used
cause unplanned distortions or material corrosion that
in boundary lubricated and mixed lubrication modes that
could lead to erratic seal performance.
require self-lubricating properties. The face materials will
Consistent materials allow for repeatable performance contact each other and good tribological pairings prevent
between seals of the same type and size, as well as the the seal faces from causing significant damage to each
development of new sealing solutions. This allows other. Hard vs. hard faces are typically applied in full
mechanical seals to be applied in higher duty applications. fluid film applications that do not necessarily need good
Figure 10 shows an example of one method to apply seal tribological properties since the face materials should not
face topography using a laser. Other methods such as come into contact. Examples of the three lubrication
milling and micro-abrasive blasting are also used. regimes are illustrated in Figure 11.

Figure 11. Left to right: Boundary lubricated, mixed

boundary lubricated, and full fluid film lubrication
modes

Effects of Fluid Phase

The first area of consideration when choosing seal face

materials is the product phase (liquid or gas) as it enters
and exits the mechanical seal sealing gap. A cross section
of a typical seal face pair is shown in Figure 13 and
highlights how fluid typical enters and exits the sealing
gap.
Figure 10. Method for creating seal face surface
topography. US Patent # 20,030,209,859

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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
 materials, like carbon, are not recommended in higher
viscous fluids due to high viscous shearing forces between
seal faces which can cause a localized binder failure
known as blistering. To avoid this, it is generally practical
to apply a hard vs hard face combination in higher
viscosity fluids. Figure 12 shows general guidance on the
range of each face combination without considering other
application factors or seal face topography features.

Figure 13. Typical fluid flow through the sealing gap

separating two opposing seal faces

The three basic classifications are: Figure 12. Typical Selection Range Considering Only
Viscosity
 The sealed product enters and exits the sealing
gap as a liquid Once the properties of the fluid acting between the faces is
 The sealed product enters and exits the sealing understood, the lubrication profile can be evaluated using
gap as a gas tools such as FEA or by looking at physical evidence from
 The sealed product enters the sealing gap as a a previously run set of seal faces in the exact application
liquid and vaporizes to a gas before it exits or in similar services.

In the two classifications where the product exits as a gas, Once the initial seal combination has been chosen using
the lubrication mode is going to be boundary lubricated or the viscosity, a few other considerations have to be
mixed lubricated. This means the face materials selected evaluated to ensure the face materials will perform as
must have good tribological pairings and are typically a expected.
soft vs. hard face combination.
Abrasive Particles and Crystallization
The majority of mechanical seals are applied in
applications where the product enters and exits the In dirty or contaminated applications, the properties and
mechanical seal faces as a liquid. The properties of the concentrations of suspended solids or crystallization
liquid are important as they have a large impact on particles becomes critical. Particles that are harder than
determining the lubrication mode of operation. In the face material have a high potential to damage the face.
particular, these types of applications depend on the fluid When hard particles are present, face materials with a
viscosity to choose the right materials. higher hardness must be selected for both seal faces.

Fluid Viscosity Fluids that crystallize or salt as they migrate across the
faces or salt on the atmospheric side may also cause
The most common consideration for face selection is the significant damage to a soft face. If soft vs. hard faces are
viscosity of the fluid at the working temperature. In required in these applications, then special considerations
general, low viscosity services are more likely to operate should be employed such as selecting seal designs with the
in boundary or mixed lubrication environments and thus process fluid at the outer diameter (OD) of the seal face
are most appropriately sealed with a soft vs hard face and applying API Plan 62 external quench at the ID to
combination. flush away the particles on the atmospheric side of the
seal. If an external quench is not available, then the
In higher viscosity fluids, the fluid creates a full fluid film application should be evaluated with a hard vs. hard face
lubrication mode and allows either soft vs hard or hard vs combination, potentially using special features on the
hard material combination. However, certain soft faces.
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
Material Chemical Compatibility

Seal faces are exposed to a wide variety of process fluids.

Some of these process fluids are aggressive and will
chemically react with individual components of the
material such as the base material, the binder, or filler
material. Table 1 shows an overview of general chemical
compatibilities of common face materials.

Silicon Carbide - Reaction Bonded

Carbon - Antimony Impregnated

Silicon Carbide - Self Sintered

Figure 14. Different Temperature Effects
Carbon - Resign Impregnated

Thermal conductivity of the face material is an indication

Carbon - Dry Running

Carbon - Acid Grade

of how the face will effectively dissipate heat generated

Tungsten Carbide

Aluminum Oxide from the sealing gap to the rest of the face. A lower
conductivity material will have a higher temperature
gradient and distort the seal face in undesirable ways.
Figures 15, 16, and 17 offer comparisons of net pressure
and temperature distortions for three common seal face
Light Hydrocarbons C A A A A A A A material combinations under the same conditions. The
Heavy seals in these figures were run under the same operating
B B A A A A A A
Hydrocarbons/Oil
conditions but only the left hand face material was
Acids B D B A C A B A
changed. These show the resin carbon, with the lowest
Bases B D B A D A B A
thermal conductivity, kept the heat trapped at the faces
Overall Chemical
B C B A B A B A causing a higher temperature than the other two faces.
Resistance
Note 1: Ratings should be interpreted as A = Excellent, B = Good, C The silicon carbide, with the highest conductivity,
= Fair, D = Poor
transferred the heat from the sealing interface, keeping the
Note 2: Ratings indicate properties when run against common seal
face materials wear nose temperature the lowest.

Table 1. Chemical Compatibility of Common Face Even small temperature increases can have a large,
Materials (Huebner, 2005). indirect influence on the face material by changing the
aggressiveness of corrosive fluids, affecting the phase
Thermal Considerations change of the fluid, or decreasing the fluid viscosity.

Mechanical seal face materials react differently to the

various external and internal temperatures acting on the
seal faces. External temperatures from sources such as the
pumped fluid, a heating/cooling jacket, or seal cooling
piping plans, all influence the overall average face
temperature. Internal heat sources such as friction and
turbulence can cause locally higher temperatures acting on
a portion of the seal faces. These sources can lead to
unwanted thermal growth or retraction and potential
destruction of the impregnation or binding material.
Figure 15. Resin Impregnated vs.
Axial thermal gradients across a seal faces can create Reaction Bonded SiC
uneven thermal expansion in the face leading to
detrimental thermal coning as illustrated in Figure 14.
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
 material is sufficient enough to prevent face fractures,
especially if the higher pressure is on the inside of the
face. The high pressure may require face geometry
changes to the face wear nose to reduce the potential for
high contact loads. The inherent self-lubricating
properties of certain materials often come paired with a
lower modulus of elasticity and the potential for
significant pressure deformations. These high
deformations should be minimized to avoid accelerated or
Figure 16. Antimony Impregnated Carbon vs. heavy wear and higher than normal leakage.
Reaction Bonded SiC
Trends in Applying Face Material

In recent history, whenever carbon is compatible with the

product fluid it has been the general practice to select a
hard face material such as silicon carbide or tungsten
carbide versus a compliant soft material usually a grade of
blister-resistant carbon. Low cost, ability to conform to
the opposing face, self-lubrication properties, and low
coefficient of friction are just a few of the reasons for
carbon’s popularity as a seal face material. However,
even with these desirable characteristics, there are limits
Figure 17. Reaction Bonded SiC vs. Reaction Bonded
for this material such as a relatively low modulus of
SiC
elasticity, poor thermal conductivity and low material
hardness of the face. Table 2 compares the application
Rotational Velocity advantages of carbon grades versus hard face options. The
search to advance these limitations without sacrificing the
The rotational velocity of the seal face also impacts the excellent tribological properties has been a major driving
choice of seal face materials. Seal face materials in the force in the evaluation and advancement in carbon
boundary lubricated or mixed lubricated mode may materials.
experience high wear rates if surface velocities are high.
Reducing the wear rate may require changing the seal Face Features
geometry and using material with self-lubricating
properties. Higher rotational velocities also increase Even the best material combinations can still experience
friction-generated heat between the seal faces and create a unwanted performance such as accelerated wear or high
larger thermal gradient that causes uneven wear or higher leakage. In these cases seal vendors have continued to use
leakage (See Thermal Considerations). these combinations, but apply special considerations to
meet the seal’s performance expectations. Special
Low velocities (less than 350 RPM), when combined with considerations are features added to seal faces intended to
lower pressures, may allow self-lubricating seal face change the lubrication mode toward something that
materials to operate in a fully boundary lubricated mode of achieves the desired performance of the seals. Typical
operation for a significant period of time. features applied to mechanical seal faces include
hydropads, lube grooves, hydrodynamic grooves, waves,
Pressure Limits or in some cases creating specialized flat-face seal face
geometry. The use of these features can also allow
High operating pressures can push the limits of the face application of materials that may not traditionally be used
material’s mechanical properties. For this reason, the in some services; like a hard vs. hard combination in a
materials should be evaluated against their interaction with flashing hydrocarbon application.
the location and magnitude of pressure acting on the faces.
This evaluation should examine if the strength of the
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
 carbon versus Reaction Bonded SiC. API 682 has broad
adoption in the refining and petrochemical industries, and

Silicon Carbide - Reaction Bonded

Carbon - Antimony Impregnated
some adoption in the chemical, power, and pipeline

Silicon Carbide - Self Sintered

Carbon - Resign Impregnated
industries. An unintended consequence of defining a
default seal face combination in the widely applied

Carbon - Dry Running

Carbon - Acid Grade

standard was that it effectively disallows most other seal

Tungsten Carbide

Aluminum Oxide
face combinations, including newly developed materials.
This issue was largely addressed in 2014, with API 682
Fourth Edition, which now includes specific language to
allow the use of RBSiC, DSSiC, or performance
General Duty Service A C D D A A B C enhancing coating. Tungsten carbide and graphite
Dry Running - see
B D A C C C D B impregnated SiC are also specifically allowed in API 682
Note 2
Abrasive Services
with customer approval.
D D D D A A A C
Blister Resistant - see SEAL FACE MATERIAL INFLUENCE ON SEAL
C A D C A A C C
Note 2
Impact Resistance DESIGN
B A B B C C A C
Thermal Shock
Resistance
A A A A A A A D The dominant use of carbon has greatly influenced seal
Note 1: Ratings should be interpretted as A = Excellent, B = Good, C design. Carbon’s compliance (low modulus) and self-
= Fair, D = Poor lubricating characteristics are a benefit at the running
Note 2: Ratings indicate properties when run against common seal
face materials surface where carbon can conform to exactly match a hard
mating face. This compliance can mask imperfections in
Table 2. Strengths and Weaknesses of Common Seal the seal face and enable seals to provide low leakage in
Face Materials (Huebner, 2005). many common services. Carbon’s compliance becomes a
major hindrance when designing seal faces for larger sizes
INDUSTRY STANDARDS and higher pressures. Carbon deflections due to pressure
are around 10 times greater than the deflections of silicon
From 1954 to 1994, mechanical seal requirements for carbine in the same shape. This means, when using
refinery services were included in the American Petroleum carbon, seal designers are required to use larger cross-
Institute (API) Standard 610 (Gabriel 2011). As a section seal faces to control flatness (at the seal face
secondary topic in API 610, the application and design running surface) that would not be required with a stiff
guidance for mechanical seals was very basic. One lasting material such as silicon carbide. In other words, to make
contribution from API 610 was a standardized mechanical seals suitable for the continual increase in pump size and
seal code indicating common seal face material pairings pressure, seal designers may need to replace carbon with a
amongst other seal features. It wasn’t until 2014 that stiffer seal face material.
another industry standard mechanical seal code was
developed that included designations for seal face An additional benefit of using only stiff seal face materials
materials. Incidental, the new code contains most of the is the capability to make an axially short and radially
same designations as the 20 year old API 610 code. narrow seal. Most seal and pump users recognize the
benefits of a pump’s low shaft length versus shaft
DIN standard 24960 (now adopted as ISO standard 3069) diameter (L/D). Reducing L/D has been one of the
defined standard installation envelope dimensions for primary focuses of pump vendors for the past two decades.
mechanical seals starting in the 1970s. However, DIN Unfortunately, during this same period the industry has
24960 offers no application or material use guidance. In pushed towards feature-laden dual seals that actually
1994, API released the all new Standard 682 (API 682), increase the required shaft length. Currently for the most
the first industry standard providing broad application and common sizes, API 610 specifies an L/D for the seal
design guidance particularly in the area of mechanical chamber of 1.8 to 4.0. To shorten this further, and still
seals. API 682 is an end-user driven standard designed to provide full-featured dual seals, seal vendors will need to
reflect the best practices of the industry. The 1994 First develop materials for seal faces that offer many of the
Edition specified the default seal face combination as
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
advantages carbon does, but with a much higher resistance materials. At this time, no “superhard” materials are
to pressure distortions. known to have been commercialized as a seal face
material.
FUTURE OF SEAL FACE MATERIALS
In parallel to the development in hard face materials,
The history of seal face materials helps us predict the carbon materials are being pursued that offer increased
future of these materials. It tells us that every few decades temperature and chemical compatibility.
new materials emerge and replace what was previously the
best available technology. Since the early 1990s, seal In order to take advantage of all the benefits of next
vendors have been pursuing a hard face material to offer generation seal face materials, the standard material
increased hardness and lower friction than traditional selection practices, seal design philosophy, and seal
carbides. The latest undertaking has been in diamond support system requirements will likely have to be
coatings. Diamond is an attractive coating material reconsidered.
because diamond has five times the hardness of silicon
In particular, the idea that inherent self-lubricating
carbide with one fifth the coefficient of friction. These
properties of certain materials must come paired with a
properties combine to provide the capability to resist wear
low modulus of elasticity may be eliminated. By solving
from the hardest natural materials, while also generating
this challenge with new materials, we may be able to
the lowest heat of any conventional contacting face
apply hard versus hard seal faces in the boundary and
material combination. With a very large installed base of
mixed phase lubrication regimes, use much smaller but
diamond coated faces already applied in industry, it is
stiffer seal faces, and operate seals directly on poor
arguable that diamond coatings are already in the present
lubricating product fluids without cooling or external
discussion. Currently however, diamond coating are
sources of lubrication. All of these goals may be
generally applied as a niche solution, which is well short
achievable with a small number of advanced materials that
of their potential application range. An example of an un-
greatly simplify the seal face material selection process.
lapped diamond coating is shown in Figure 18.
CONCLUSION

The progression in seal face technology has ranged from

solid metals, plastics, Babbitt, and overlays to mechanical
carbons, ceramics, advanced coatings, and surface
topography. Advancement has been driven by end users’
desires to reduce leakage, extend runtimes, and improve
reliability. Each step forward in seal face materials has
resulted in an increase in the ability of mechanical seals to
operate over a broader range of applications and operating
conditions. This has also been paralleled by more
advanced analytical techniques to take advantage of the
properties of these new materials. Seal face material
selection in the present time remains a balance between
Figure 18. Diamond coating at 500x magnification the positive and negative material properties for each
(West) application.

When we think of the ideal properties for a seal face

DISCLAIMER
material, the properties of diamond address almost every
requirement. Speculation has been made that synthetic Throughout this paper, data on physical properties and
diamond coating could replace all seal face materials chemical compatibility are given. This data was obtained
within a few decades. It should be noted that man-made from a number of sources listed in the references and
materials classified as “superhard” exceed the hardness of bibliography. In some cases data may not be directly
diamond, and may become a future generation of seal face comparable and may only be representative of a family of
15
Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
materials which have similar, but not identical properties. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The ratings and application recommendations are the
authors’ opinions. Although all of the data in this paper is The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions
believed to be correct, neither the authors, nor any other from Joseph Boylan, Mike Huebner, and Ian Lincoln in
entity associated with this paper, makes any claim to its the production of this paper. A special thanks goes to
use or accuracy. Users of materials of any nature are Flowserve Corporation for their support in this tutorial.
urged to obtain specific information from the OEM about
its applicability in a specific application (Huebner 2005).

REFERENCES

API Standard 610, 1989, “Centrifugal Pumps for General

Refinery Service,” Seventh Edition, American
Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C.

API Standard 682, 2014, “Pumps-Shaft Sealing Systems

for Centrifugal and Rotary Pumps,” Fourth Edition,
American Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C.

Doran, J.H., 1919, “Packing for Steam Turbines,” US

Patent 1,315,822

Gabriel, R. 2011, “The History of Pumps: How Seals

Have Changed the Pump industry,” Pumps & Systems
Magazine, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Huebner, M. 2005, ”Material Selection for Mechanical

Seals,” Proceedings from the Twenty-Second
International Pump Users Symposium,
Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX, pp 127-135

ISO 3069, 2000, “End-suction centrifugal pumps –

Dimensions of cavities for mechanical seals and for
soft packing,” Second Edition, ISO Geneva,
Switzerland

Mayer, E, 1969, “Mechanical Seals,” Iliffe Books,

London, England

Miller, A.H., 1992, “People, Products and Progress: The

Durametallic Story,” The Pricilla Press, Allegan,
Michigan

Paxton, R.R., 1979, “Manufactured Carbon: A Self

Lubricating Material for Mechanical Devices,” CRC
Press, Boca Raton, Florida

West, Charlie, Diamond Coating, Digital image,

Thindiamond.com, Advanced Diamond Technology, n.d.
Web
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Copyright© 2015 by Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station