Experimental results for labyrinth gas seals with honeycomb stators: comparisons to smooth-stator seals and theoretical predictions.
Academic Article
Overview
Overview
abstract
Experimental measurements are presented for the rotordynamic stiffness and damping coefficients velocity, inlet pressure, rotor speed, and seal clearance are primary variables. Results are compared to: data for teeth on rotor labyrinth seals with smooth stators,; analytical prediction from a two control volume compressible flow model. The experimental results show that the honeycomb stator configuration is more stable than the smooth stator configuration at low rotor speeds. At high rotor speeds, the stator surface does not affect stability. The theoretical model predicts the cross coupled stiffness of the honeycomb stator seal correctly within 25% of measured values. The model provides accurate predictions of direct damping for large clearance seals; however, the model predictions and test results diverge with increasing running speed. Overall, the model does not perform as well for low clearance seals as for high clearance seals.
