A comparative study on rotordynamics characteristics of hole-pattern damping seals with different cavity shapes
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 29 July 2024
Issue publication date: 28 October 2024
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the seal performance by proper design of the cavity shape of the damping holes, especially the rotordynamics characteristics of the hole-pattern damped seal (HPDS).
Design/methodology/approach
A new damping seal structure that comprises a circle-shaped cavity and two directional leaf-shaped cavities with a dovetail-shaped diversion groove is proposed. The comparative study on the sealing characteristics of dovetail-shape, leaf-shape and classical circular HPDSs was carried out using ANSYS CFX.
Findings
The dovetail-shaped HPDS significantly outperformed two other damping seal designs in leakage and rotordynamic performance. At a rotating speed of 7,500 rpm, it showed a 25% reduction in leakage, a 23% increase in average effective damping and a 119% increase in average effective stiffness. The cross-coupled stiffness Kxy shifted from positive to negative, reducing circumferential flow. The dovetail's inclined leaf-shaped grooves create a double vortex that slows jet velocity in the seal clearance and alters spiral flow direction, resulting in a uniform pressure distribution and enhanced rotor stability at low frequencies.
Originality/value
This study proposes a novel HPDS with dovetail-shaped diversion grooves. The seal can realize the simultaneous improvement of rotordynamics and leakage characteristics compared to the current seal structure.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2024-0127/
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was financially supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LD21E050002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (52075491, 52076195, 51975527), and the Scientific Research Foundation of Zhejiang A and F University (2034020013).
Citation
Zhang, X., Jiang, J.-B., Peng, X., Ni, Z. and Pan, J. (2024), "A comparative study on rotordynamics characteristics of hole-pattern damping seals with different cavity shapes", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 76 No. 7/8, pp. 915-924. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-04-2024-0127
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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