Thermohydrodynamic analysis of eccentric annular seals using cubic spline interpolations
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abstract
A comprehensive thermohydrodynamic (THD) analysis is utilized to study turbulent, cryogenic annular seals with eccentric motion. The thermo-physical properties of the working fluid are assumed to be functions of the local temperature and absolute pressure. Fluid flow is assumed to be in the single-phase flow regime. A finite difference algorithm is adapted to obtain the numerical solution for the nonlinear governing equations. A perturbation method is utilized to arrive at the first-order solution which yields the rotordynamic coefficients. Circumferential derivatives are obtained through a cubic spline interpolation method which yields excellent convergence even at large eccentricities. This interpolation permits the partial differential equations to be treated as ordinary differential equations in the axial coordinate. The numerical solution obtained by the current analysis compares well with those of earlier researchers. In addition, a comparison of performance characteristics between different models, namely the constant properties, compressible (isothermal-barotropic) and adiabatic (variable fluid properties), is presented for the case of a space shuttle main engine oxygen turbopump (SSME-ATD-HPOTP) preburner seal. 1997 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
