Mechanical seals are sealing components used in rotating shafts. They are basically a set of two rings (the rotor and the stator), separated by a lubricant film that must be impervious. The optimum operation is obtained by minimizing both leakage and wear. This corresponds to a film thickness of approximately one micrometer and to a mixed lubrication regime. The literature review justified the choice of a multiscale approach to model a mixed lubrication process. A part of this literature allowed identifying the thermal models to use. A model of a mixed lubrication in mechanical seals based on a multiscale approach is presented. This uses numerical surface roughness and consists in dividing the studied area into sub-domains. The Reynolds equation, which takes into account the fluid cavitation is solved by mean of finite volumes method, at fine scale of the sub-domains, as the Hertzian contact asperities. The macroscale is introduced to connect the boundaries conditions of the sub-domains. Then, the macroscale pressure distribution is obtained insuring the mass conservation law. The model also takes into account, at the macroscale step, the Thermo-Elasto-Hydro-Dynamic (TEHD) behaviour in mechanical seals. The discretization of heat and elasticity equations is performed using the finite element method for axisymetric geometry. The multiscale model is first validated by comparing in to a deterministic model, and then to the TEHD model previously developed at the Pprime laboratory. The influence of the parameters characterizing the mechanical seal behaviour is analyzed through the parametric study. In this study, the different lubrication regimes are identified. The lubricant film thickness is controlled by the roughness or by the thermoelastic deformation of the faces.
