Abstract
Research and development of gas seals conducted in the Stirling engine program by AIST of MITI are reviewed. Gas leakage to a pressurized space can be regarded as a viscous flow. The friction and wear of the seal materials are variously affected by the mating surface roughness and the mating materials. As an example of internal seals, the piston ring system composed of 3-stage seal rings is presented; the performance of the system is excellent. The efficacy of the "lubrication ring" in increasing the life of the piston ring is shown. As an external seal, the rod seal system lubricated by oil exhibits good performance. The characteristics of the mechanical seal with spiral groove are presented.
