A multi-phase micro-abrasive jet machining technique for the surface texturing of mechanical seals

The surface texture such as micro-dimples or micro-grooves on the surface of mechanical seals can help to improve the tribological and sealing properties. A technique of multi-phase micro-abrasive jet machining is proposed to fabricate micro-grooves on the surface of mechanical seals. This technique takes the advantages of the current micro-abrasive jet machining and can recycle the abrasive particles easily to avoid the pollution on the environments by accelerating the mixture of abrasives and water with compressed air. The machining effects on three typical materials for mechanical seals are investigated and compared. The influences of machining times, abrasive flow rate, jet pressure, and jet distance on machining quality are studied and optimized through experiments.