A self piloting seal assembly for use on a rotatable shaft pump unit, the seal assembly including a seal head assembly in constant contact with a seal seat assembly. The seal head assembly includes an elastomer boot, a spring seat, a ferrule and a spring all disposed around a seal washer. The seal seat assembly includes a ceramic radial seal seat disposed within an elastomer boot member. The seal washer is in constant contact with the seal seat assembly to prevent leakage of any fluid between and around the shaft member.
According to the method of this invention, a ski to be tested is supported at its mid-point and near its tip and tail respectively. It is clamped at the mid-point and just aft of the tip of the ski. The afterbody and the forebody of the ski are deflected through predetermined distances, whereupon the force necessary to produce the deflection is measured by a strain gauge. Similarly, the forces produced in the ski when the forebody of the ski is twisted by the application of a couple thereto to produce a predetermined torsional deflection are measured and recorded. The disclosure includes a suitable tip station, center station, and tail station mounted on an elongated base, which may comprise a pair of hollow metal cylinders that act as reservoirs for storage of compressed air for actuation of pneumatic means for application of forces to the ski.
A rotary mechanical face seal utilizes a pair of cup-shaped inserts to closely support the contoured diaphragm of an elastomeric boot whereby the diaphragm does not actively undergo deflection to assist in sealing moving interfaces, even under fluctuations in pressure differentials acting on the diaphragm. A tubular insert is molded into the boot to assure that a fluid tight sealed securement is achieved with a bore to be sealed and accurately position components of the assembly so as to maintain the rotary sliding faces in full contact and compensate for axial tolerances of the components. A washer-shaped insert having raised lands raised from one of its axial faces can be embedded in a seal washer to ensure dimensional stability of a load bearing member and extend service life, the other axial face possibly being used as a portion of the sliding sealing faces.