Education

  • Sc.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1967
  • M.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963
  • B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963

Background

Began at Tech in Fall 1987 as a Professor. Prior was Manager of the Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer Department at Borg-Warner Research Center and was an Assistant and an Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Research

Since Dr. Salant joined Georgia Tech in 1987, he has continued his work on mechanical seals, and has expanded his research to include lip seals. These are synthetic rubber seals, used extensively in automobiles to seal the crankshaft, transmission, wheel hubs, and other components. They are also used in appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers, as well as in many other devices. Hydraulic and pneomatic seals are also lip seals. Since the world is filled with these mass-produced seals, their effective operation is important to the environmental health of the planet.

  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers
    • Mayo D. Hersey Award for distinguished and continued contributions to the advancement of lubrication science and engineering, 2009
    • Machine Design Award, 2003
    • Henry R. Worthington Medal, 1996
    • Journal of Tribology  Associate Editor, 1993-1999
    • Fellow, 1990
  • Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers
    • Tribology Transactions, Associate Editor, 2010-present
    • Frank P. Bussick Award, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008
    • Seals Technical Committee Liaison Chairman, 2000-present
    • Edmund E. Bisson Award, 2000
    • Sealing Technology Paper Award (with B. Ruan and I. Green), 1998
    • Fellow, 1997
  • Registered Professional Engineer in Georgia

Patents

  • Condition Monitoring System and Method for an Interface, U.S. Patent Number 6,360,610, with Jacek Jarzynski and Willam B. Anderson, March 26, 2002
  • Mechanical Seal with Compliant Face, U. S. Patent 5,499,824, March 19, 1996
  • Secondary Gas/Liquid Mechanical Seal Assembly, U. S. Patent 5,487,550, with I. Green, L. Hufford, and O. Giles, January 30, 1996
  • Mechanical Seal with Automatic Gap Convergence Control, U. S. Patent 4,643,437, with R. F. Key and P. L. Kay, February 17, 1987
  • Grooved Mechanical Face Seal, U.S. Patent 4,491,331, with C. Boyd, January 1, 1985
  • Gas-Liquid Separator, U. S. Patent 4,330,306, May 18, 1982

Representative Publications

  • Salant, R. F., Yang, B. and Thatte, A. 2010. Simulation of Hydraulic Seals. Journal of Engineering Tribology, 224, 865-876.
  • Salant, R. F. 2010. Soft Elastohydrodynamic Analysis of Rotary Lip Seals, Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 224, 2637-2647.
  • Thatte, A. and Salant, R. F. 2010. Visco-Elastohydrodynamic Model of a Hydraulic Rod Seal during Transient Operation, Journal of Tribology, 132, 041501-1–041501-13.
  • Yang, B. and Salant, R. F. 2011. EHL Simulation of O-ring and U-cup Hydraulic Seals, Journal of Engineering Tribology, 225, 603-610.
  • Jia, X., Jung, S., Haas, W. and Salant, R. F. 2011. Numerical Simulation and Experimental Study of Shaft Pumping by Laser Structured Shafts with Rotary Lip Seals, Tribology International, 44, 651-659.