Face seal assembly for machine system having metallic sealing ring with stiffness relief groove to compensate for out-of-plane sealing face

A machine system comprising:

• a first machine component;
• a second machine component rotatable relative to the first machine component;
• a face seal assembly including a first metallic sealing ring, and a first non-metallic sealing element forming a first static seal between the first metallic sealing ring and the first machine component, and further including a second metallic sealing ring, and a second non-metallic sealing element forming a second static seal between the second metallic sealing ring and the second machine component;
• each of the first and the second metallic sealing rings including an inner ring surface extending circumferentially around a center axis common to the first and the second metallic sealing rings, an outer ring surface, and a sealing face;
• and
• the sealing faces of the first and the second metallic sealing rings extending circumferentially around the center axis and being in contact with one another so as to form a rotatable face seal, and at least one of the first or the second metallic sealing rings having a stiffness relief groove formed in the corresponding inner ring surface that compensates for varying of paths of the sealing faces from parallelism with a plane that is oriented normal to the center axis.

A metallic sealing ring for a face seal assembly in a machine system comprising:

• a body portion including an inner ring surface and an outer ring surface extending circumferentially around a center axis;
• a flange joined to the body portion and extending radially outward from the body portion;
• the outer ring surface having a first section oriented at a first angle relative to the center axis that opens in a first axial direction away from the flange, and a second section extending between the first section and the flange and oriented at a second angle relative to the center axis that opens in a second axial direction toward the flange;
• a sealing face formed on the flange, the sealing face facing the second axial direction and extending circumferentially around the center axis;
• a tapered wear face adjacent to the sealing face, the tapered wear face extending circumferentially around the center axis;
• and
• a stiffness relief groove extending inwardly from the inner ring surface and circumferentially around the center axis, such that an annular spring zone of reduced material thickness is formed in the body portion to compensate for varying in a path of the sealing face from parallelism with a plane that is oriented normal to the center axis.