New Designs of Centrifugal Magnetic Fluid Seals for Rotating Shafts in Marine Technology

Abstract

The centrifugal magnetic fluid seals have important advantage over the conventional centrifugal seals. They maintain very good sealing capacity at static, medium and high speeds of shaft rotation, with the increased seal lifetime, and minimum torque and static friction. These seals are particularly useful in cases when the angular shaft velocity varies and sometimes decreases to nearly or exactly zero, such as in flywheel applications, ship propeller main shafts, etc. Unique properties of the magnetic fluid give rare opportunities for application in marine design, where perfect sealing together with reliable lubrication are required. The paper presents a typical design and operation principle of a centrifugal magnetic fluid shaft seal, along with new design solutions. Not only in ocean technology and underwater robotics. Some cases of application of centrifugal magnetic fluid seals in modern sealing technology are included.