A New Approach for Stabilizing Labyrinth Seal Leakage

Rhode, D. L.; Guidry, M. J.

doi:10.1080/10402009308983152

“…Labyrinth seals are a common sealing solution in turbomachinery that can withstand very large pressure drops of over 300 bar [6]. The leakage flow is restricted through a series of cascading cavities, which maximizes internal frictional forces and turbulence, thereby dissipating the kinetic energy of the working fluid [7].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Characterization of an Adaptive Film-Riding Seal

Bird,

Keogh,

Sangan

et al. 2023

Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

1

0

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Shaft seals control the leakage of fluid between areas of high pressure and low pressure around rotating components inside turbomachinery. Static seals are often subject to damaging rubs with the shaft, caused by assembly misalignments and rotordynamic vibrations during operation. Adaptive seals aim to reduce leakage flows whilst minimizing wear. The Film Riding Pressure Actuated Leaf Seal (FRPALS) is one such design which utilizes a large installation clearance and is blown down towards the shaft under pressure. This paper presents a numerical model which can be used in the design and development of adaptive shaft seals, validated by experimental data from the literature. The model uses a modified version of the Reynolds equation to predict the dynamic, frequency-dependent stiffness and damping coefficients of the fluid film. The dynamic coefficients have been solved for different operational clearances and pressure differences to generate coefficient maps. These maps have been incorporated into a blow down model with compliant mechanical leaves to predict the transient translational and angular displacement paths of the FRPALS when subject to an increasing pressure drop. The blow down model has been compared against experimental measurements collected from a specially designed test facility for the characterization of shaft seal performance. Eddy current probes were used to measure the displacement paths of the FRPALS with the experimental values showing that the model can accurately predict the dynamic movement of the seal when subject to a pressure difference.

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Computational and Experimental Investigations of Straight-Through Labyrinth Seals

Prasad

¹

,

V.S.Manavalan

²

,

Rao

³

1997

Volume 3: Heat Transfer; Electric Power; Industrial and Cogeneration

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Computational and experimental investigations are carried out to estimate leakage flow rate in a static straight-through labyrinth seal. Tests were conducted over a range of pressure ratios, varying from 1.003 to 1.897, for three clearance values of 0.2, 0.36 and 0.6 mm respectively. The measured values of leakage flow parameter are corroborated with the results obtained from the simulations using FLUENT computer package. The agreement was within 8.6%. The flow details, e.g., the stream line pattern, velocity vectors, static pressure and turbulent kinetic energy in a typical seal passage, are presented.

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Dynamic Characterization of an Adaptive Film-Riding Seal

Bird,

Keogh,

Sangan

et al. 2023

Volume 11A: Structures and Dynamics — Aerodynamics Excitation and Damping; Bearing and Seal Dynamics

0

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Shaft seals control the leakage of fluid between areas of high pressure and low pressure around rotating components inside turbomachinery. Static seals are often subject to damaging rubs with the shaft, caused by assembly misalignments and rotordynamic vibrations during operation. Adaptive seals aim to reduce leakage flows whilst minimizing wear. The Film Riding Pressure Actuated Leaf Seal (FRPALS) is one such design which utilizes a large installation clearance and is blown down towards the shaft under pressure. This paper presents a numerical model which can be used in the design and development of adaptive shaft seals, validated by experimental data from the literature. The model uses a modified version of the Reynolds equation to predict the dynamic, frequency-dependent stiffness and damping coefficients of the fluid film. The dynamic coefficients have been solved for different operational clearances and pressure differences to generate coefficient maps. These maps have been incorporated into a blow down model with compliant mechanical leaves to predict the transient translational and angular displacement paths of the FRPALS when subject to an increasing pressure drop. The blow down model has been compared against experimental measurements collected from a specially designed test facility for the characterization of shaft seal performance. Eddy current probes were used to measure the displacement paths of the FRPALS with the experimental values showing that the model can accurately predict the dynamic movement of the seal when subject to a pressure difference.

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A New Approach for Stabilizing Labyrinth Seal Leakage

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Dynamic Characterization of an Adaptive Film-Riding Seal

Dynamic Characterization of an Adaptive Film-Riding Seal

Computational and Experimental Investigations of Straight-Through Labyrinth Seals

Dynamic Characterization of an Adaptive Film-Riding Seal

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