Fractal Characteristics of End Faces of Carbon-Graphite Seal Rings

Carbon graphite is a kind of main material of mechanical seal rings. The surface topography of end faces of seal rings has significant influence on the sealing behavior and the friction characteristic. In this paper, the modified Weierstrass-Mandelbrot function was introduced, which can characterize the topography of rough surfaces. The radial and circumferential profiles of end faces of M106K seal rings made of carbon-graphite impregnated furan resin were measured by AF-LI type stylus profilometer before and after 90-min wearing, and the fractal characteristics of the profiles were analyzed by the structure function method. The research results show that the surface profiles of M106K seal ring made of carbon-graphite impregnated furan resin are isotropic fractal and have different fractal dimensions before and after wearing.