Shihab T. Increase of durability of mechanical seals of oil and gas centrifugal pumps

The thesis is dedicated to the solution of the actual scientific and technical problem – increasing the durability of the mechanical seals of oil and gas centrifugal pumps by using metal-ceramic composites for the production of sealing rings with high thermal cracking resistance and high level of antifriction properties. Metal-ceramic rings were made by pressureless infiltration of chromium carbide (Cr3C2) porous performs with copper-nickel-manganese melt (Cu60Ni20Mn20). An assessment of the effectiveness of the application of the developed material for the manufacture of rings of mechanical seals was carried out by means of an experimental determination of its mechanical and tribotechnical properties. To determine the thermophysical properties of the metal-ceramic material, a spatial modeling of its structure was carried out. The conducted experimental and theoretical studies have shown that for SiC by Cr3C2-Cu60Ni20Mn20 pair the temperature gradient in the contact zone is practically 3 times lower than in the traditional SiC by SiC pair. This implies significantly higher resistance to thermal cracking. Industrial testing of rings has shown that the proposed combination of materials of rings can increase the durability of mechanical seals by 2 times compared with serial data from the planned inspection.