In mechanical engineering, an end-face mechanical seal (often shortened to mechanical seal) is a type of seal used in rotating equipment, such as pumps, mixers, blowers, and compressors. When a pump operates, the liquid could leak out of the pump between the rotating shaft and the stationary pump casing. Since the shaft rotates, preventing this leakage can be difficult. Earlier pump models used mechanical packing (otherwise known as gland packing) to seal the shaft. Since World War II, mechanical seals have replaced packing in many applications.
An end-face mechanical seal uses both rigid and flexible elements that maintain contact at a sealing interface and slide on each other, allowing a rotating element to pass through a sealed case. The elements are both hydraulically and mechanically loaded with a spring or other device to maintain contact. For similar designs using flexible elements, see radial shaft seal (or "lip seal") and O-ring.