Design and Test of a Magnetic-Fluid, Static Centrifugal Seal

Heshmat, H., Shapiro, W. and Wilcock, D. “Design and Test of a Magnetic-Fluid, Static Centrifugal Seal, ” (1981) Lubrication Engineering, Volume 37 (9), pp. 520-526.

There are many applications where hermetic sealing of a shaft is desirable at zero-speed and at high-speed operation.  Magnetic fluids, combined with appropriate seal configurations, offer a means to accomplish hermetic sealing over a wide speed range (including zero speed) and simultaneously avoiding rubbing contact so that long life can be expected.  The approach described in this paper uses the magnetization properties of the fluid to seal at the low speed range of the spectrum and centrifugal force on the fluid to accomplish the high-speed sealing.  This paper discusses the principles of operation analysis design and testing of a magnetic-fluid seal.