• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.138-144
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• 1997

The analysis of lateral hydrodynamic forces from the compressor labyrinth seals is presented. The basic equations are derived using a two-control-volume model for compressible flow. Blasius' wall friction-factor formula and jet flow theory are used for the calculation of the wall shear stresses and the recirculation velocity in the cavity. Linearized zeroth-order and first-order perturbation equations are developed for small motion about a centered position by an expansion in the eccentricity ratio. Integration of the resultant first-order pressure distribution along and around the seal defines the rotordynamic coefficients of the labyrinth seal. The rotordynamic analysis for the balance drum labyrinth seal of an ethylene refrigeration compressor is carried out. The results of rotordynamic characteristic of the labyrinth seal and comparisons with other types of seal, honeycomb seal and smooth seal, are presented.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.61-71
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• 2023

This study proposes a procedure for designing a labyrinth seal that meets both leakage flow rate and rotordynamic performance criteria (effective damping, amplification factor, separation margin, logarithmic decrement, and vibration amplitude). The seal is modeled using a one control volume (1CV) bulk flow approach to predict the leakage flow rate and rotordynamic coefficients. The rotating shaft is modeled with the finite element (FE) method and is assumed to be supported by two linearized bearings. Geometry, material and operating conditions of the rotating shaft, and the supporting characteristics of the bearings were fixed. A single labyrinth seal is placed at the center of the rotor, and the linearized dynamic coefficients predicted by the seal numerical model are inserted as linear springs and dampers at the seal position. Seal designs that satisfy both leakage and rotordynamic performance are searched by modifying five seal design parameters using the multi-grid method. The five design parameters include pre-swirl ratio, number of teeth, tooth pitch, tooth height and tooth tip width. In total, 12500 seal models are examined and the optimal seal design is selected. Finally, normalization was performed to select the optimal labyrinth seal designs that satisfy the system performance requirements.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2007

Leakage reduction through annular type labyrinth seals of steam turbine is necessary for enhancing their efficiency. In this study, modified geometry of the original combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal has been suggested and numerical analysis for leakage prediction has been carried out for the modified-combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal both based on bulk-flow model and using the CFD code FLUENT. The theoretical analysis based on bulk-flow model yields leakage reduction of the modified combination type staggered labyrinth seal by about 11%. Comparing with the result of Bulk-flow model analysis, the leakage result of CFD analysis shows reasonable agreement within 9.8% error.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.298-304
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• 2009

An angled labyrinth seal is used for the diaphragm-packing-ring seal design of steam turbine due to its leakage reduction characteristic. CFD analysis using FLUENT has been performed to predict leakage and determine an optimum slanted angle which yields the best leakage reduction. Results show that the optimum value of slanted angle is $-30^{\circ}$ independent of number of labyrinth teeth, inlet pressure, and tooth height to pitch ratio. 3D CFD analysis has been performed for predicting leakage of the angled labyrinth seal. Comparing with the result of 2D CFD analysis, 3D CFD analysis shows 1.4% smaller.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.35-42
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• 1996

The labyrinth seal is one of the widely used non-contact type mechanical seal. Current work was emphasized on the investigation of the air jet effect on the labyrinth seal. To improve the sealing capability of conventional labyrinth seal, air jet was injected against through the leakage flow. In this study, both of the numerical analysis by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and the experimental measurement were carried out. Both of the turbulence aad the compressible flow model were introduced in CFD analysis. The sealing effect of the leakage clearance and the air jet magnitude were studied in the experiment. The reason of the enhanced sealing was explained as a reduction of effective clearance by jetting air. As a result, the air jet could reduce the effective clearance with a wide range of leakage clearance.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.849-855
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• 1998

An analysis of lateral hydrodynamic forces of compressor labyrinth seals is presented. Basic equations are derived using a two-control-volume model for compressible flow. Blasius' wall friction-factor formula and jet flow theory are used for the calculaton of wall shear stresses and recirculation velocity in the cavity. Linearized zeroth-order and first-order perturbation equations are developed for a small motion about the centered position by expansion in the eccentricity ratio. Integraton of the resultant first-order pressure distribution over the seal defines the rotordynamic coefficients. As an application a rotordynamic analysis of the balance drum labyrinth seal found in an ethylene regrigeration copmressor is carried out. The rotordynamic characteristic results of the labyrinth seal are presented and compared with other types of seals, honeycomb seal and smooth seal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.744-749
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• 2001

As related to rotordynamics, dynamic characteristics of the wear ring seal in high pressure multi-stage pump is calculated in the cases of labyrinth, damper and helically grooved types. The. results show that the labyrinth seal type has superior performance in the view point of leakage. However, in terms of rotordynamics view point, the damper seal type gains acceptable separate margin in critical speed range, while it has slightly inferior leakage performance compared to labyrinth seal type.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2000.12a
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• pp.158-162
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• 2000

Secondary flows in gas turbines, especially those associated tip clearance and labyrinth seals, have become a focus of interest for engine manufacturers. In the past, many analytical and experimental studies, which focused solely on the flows in either tip clearances or seals, have been conducted. This paper presents an analytical model that describes the flow response in a single stage turbine induced by a finite sealing gap at the turbine rotor. The flow is assumed to be axisymmetric and the analysis is done in the meridional plane. Upon going through the stage, the radially uniform upstream flow is assumed to split into two streams one associated with the seal and the other which has gone through the blades. The former is referred to as the leakage flow, and the latter is referred the as the passage flow. The passage flow is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible while the flow in the seal can be modeled as either inviscid or viscous. Thus, the model is capable of predicting the kinematic effects of labyrinth seals on the turbine flow field.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2000.06a
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• pp.1084-1089
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• 2000

The basic equations are derived for the analysis of a stepped labyrinth gas seal which are generally used in high performance compressors, gas turbines, and steam turbines. The Bulk-flow is assumed for a single cavity control volume and the flow is assumed to be completely turbulent in circumferential direction. Moody's wall-friction-factor formula is used for the calculation of wall shear stresses in the single cavity control volume. For the reaction force developed by the seal, linearized zeroth-order and first-order perturbation equations are developed for small motion about a centered position. Integration of the resultant first-order pressure distribution along and around the seal defines the rotordynamic coefficients of the stepped labyrinth gas seal. The leakage and rotordynamic characteristic results of the stepped labyrinth gas seal are presented and compared with Scharrer's theoretical analysis using Blasius' wall-friction-factor formula.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.66-72
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• 2006

Leakage reduction through annular type labyrinth seals of steam turbine is necessary for enhancing their efficiency and the precise prediction method of seal leakage is needed. In this study, numerical analysis for leakage prediction of the combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal has been carried out using FLUENT 6 which is commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code based on FVM (Finite Volume Method) and SIMPLE algorism. The present CFD results are verified with the theoretical analysis based on Bulk-flow concept which has been mainly used in predicting seal leakage. Comparing with the result of Bulk-flow model analysis, the leakage result of CFD analysis shows good agreement within 7.1% error.