Design/methodology/approach The friction pair consists of a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film microtextured seal ring and a spiral groove seal ring. Friction vibration signal feature extraction method based on harmonic wavelet packet and spectrum analysis was proposed. Signals were collected using acceleration sensor, acquisition card and LabVIEW software. Vibration acceleration signal was decomposed into 32 frequency bands using MATLAB wavelet packet transformation. The 32nd band coefficient was extracted for reconstruction, time-domain and spectral waveforms were obtained and spectra before/after denoising were compared. Findings The end face of the DLC film microtextured seal ring generates a good dynamic pressure effect, and the friction and vibration reduction effects are obvious. The harmonic wavelet packet can decompose the vibration signal conveniently and precisely. In the case of this experiment, the frequency of vibration of the seal ring is 7500 HZ. Originality/value The results show that the method is effective for the processing of friction vibration signal and the identification of vibration excitation source. The findings will provide ideas for the frictional vibration signal processing and basis for further research in the field of tribology of dry gas seal ring. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-03-2024-0084/