Leakage and rotordynamic characteristics of labyrinth seal and hole-pattern damping seal with special-shaped 3D cavity

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to enhance sealing and rotordynamic performance of hole-pattern damping seal (HPDS) and labyrinth seal (LS) by structural innovation and geometrical optimization of special-shaped hole or annular-groove cavity. Design/methodology/approach The unsteady flow was transformed into steady one using moving reference frame method. The full period numerical models of LS and HPDS were established. The influence of special-shaped hole or annular-groove cavity at axial inclined angle on leakage rate and rotordynamic coefficient of these two seals at different whirl angular speed were investigated. Findings The results show that dynamic characteristics of straight-tooth LS are better than that of slanted-tooth LS. Compared to typical straight-hole damping seal, HPDS with windward oblique-hole when axial inclined angle ranges from 50 to 60° has superiority in both leakage and rotordynamic characteristics by considering smaller cross-coupled stiffness coefficient and whirl frequency ratio, larger direct damping coefficient and effective damping coefficient. Originality/value A novel HPDS with special-shaped three-dimensional hole cavity was proposed to enhance leakage and rotordynamic performance. The optimized geometrical structures of HPDS for excellent sealing and rotordynamic characteristics were obtained. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2020-0262/