Investigation and Improvement of the Staggered Labyrinth Seal

• Published in: Chinese journal of mechanical engineering Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 402 - 408
• Main Authors: Lin, Zhirong, Wang, Xudong, Yuan, Xin, Shibukawa, Naoki, Noguchi, Taro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society 01.03.2015; Springer Nature B.V; Key Laboratory for Thermal Science and Power Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China%Toshiba Corporation Power Systems Company, Kawasaki, 212-8585, Japan
• Edition: English ed.
• Subjects: Computer simulation; Dissipation; Electrical Machines and Networks; Electronics and Microelectronics; Engineering; Engineering Thermodynamics; Flow velocity; Fluid flow; Heat and Mass Transfer; Instrumentation; Labyrinth seals; Leakage; Machines; Manufacturing; Mathematical models; Mechanical Engineering; Orifices; Position (location); Power Electronics; Pressure ratio; Processes; Product design; Seals; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; 交错; 密封性能; 密封机构; 密封结构; 数值模拟; 泄漏流量; 粘性耗散; 迷宫密封; viscous dissipation; labyrinth seal; numerical simulation; sealing mechanism
• ISSN: 1000-9345; 2192-8258
• DOI: 10.3901/CJME.2015.0106.005

Recent studies on staggered labyrinth seals have focused on the effects of different parameters,such as the pressure ratio and rotational speed on the leakage flow rate.However,few investigations pay sufficient attention to flow details and the sealing mechanism,which would be of practical importance in designing seals having higher performance.This paper establishes a theoretical model to study the seal mechanism,thus revealing that leakage is determined by the pressure ratio and geometric structure.Numerical simulation is implemented to illustrate details of the flow field within the seal structure.Viscous dissipation is used to quantitatively investigate the contribution that each location makes to the seal performance,revealing that orifices and stagnation points are the most important positions in the seal structure,generating the most dissipation.The orifice is carefully studied by using the theoretical model.Experiments for different pressure ratios are conducted and the results match well with those of the theoretical model and numerical simulation,verifying the theoretical model and analysis of the seal mechanism.Three new designs,based on a good understanding of the seal mechanism,are presented,with one reducing leakage by 24.5%.