Examines the fundamentals and practice of both the design and operation of face seals, ranging from washing machines to rocket engine turbopumps. Topics include materials, tribology, heat transfer and solid mechanics. A variety of simple and complex models are proposed and evaluated and specific problems such as heat checking, blistering and instability are considered. Offers 64 tables and 364 references plus useful recommendations regarding the future of seal design.

Alan O. Lebeck is the author of Principles and Design of Mechanical Face Seals, published by Wiley.