• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
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• v.9 no.3 s.36
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• pp.14-21
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• 2006

Leakage reduction through annular type seals of turbomachinery is necessary for enhancing their efficiency and the precise prediction method of seal leakage is needed. The analysis based on Bulk-flow concept has been mainly used in predicting seal leakage. However, full Navier-Stokes Equations with turbulent model derived in the seal flow passage have to be solved for improving the prediction of seal leakage. FLUENT 6 which is commercial CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics) code based on FVM(Finite Volume Method) and SIMPLE algorism has been used to analyze leakage of various non-contact-type seals in this presentation. Comparing with the results of Bulk-flow model analysis and experiment, the result of CFD analysis shows good agreement with that of existing theoretical analysis for the incompressible grooved seal and compressive plain and staggered seal. The CFD analysis also shows improvement on the leakage prediction of the incompressible plain seal and compressive see-through-type labyrinth seal.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.06a
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• pp.141-146
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• 1999

An experimental investigation on the leakage characteristics of a labyrinth seal, high-low seal, is studied. Pressure distribution and leakage flow rate are measured along with the shaft speed and the pressure difference between the entrance and the exit. Pressure distribution vanes almost linearly along the seal and the leakage flow rate increases as the increase of the pressure difference. Furthermore, it is found that both the shaft speed and the shaft vibration have no influence on the leakage of the labyrinth seal.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.150-156
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• 2009

Precise leakage prediction for annular type seals of turbomachinery is necessary for enhancing their efficiency and various prediction methods have been developed. As the seal passage is designed intricately, the analysis based on Bulk-flow concept which has been mainly used in predicting seal leakage is limited. In order to improve the seal leakage prediction, full Navier-Stokes Equations with turbulent model derived in the seal flow passage have to be solved. In this study, 3D CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis has been performed for predicting leakage of various non-contact type anular seals using FLUENT. Compared to the results by Bulk-flow model analysis, experiment, and 2D CFD analysis, the result of 3D CFD analysis shows improvement in predicting seal leakage, especially for the parallel grooved pump seal.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 2010

Leakage characteristics of two labyrinth seals with different configurations (straight vs stepped) were investigated. Leakage flows were predicted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the two configurations and compared with test data. A semi-analytical leakage prediction tool was also tried to predict the leakage. It was confirmed that the CFD gives quite good agreements with test data. The analytical tool also yielded similar leakage behaviors with test results, but the overall agreement with test data was not as good as that of the CFD. The effect of flow direction in the stepped seal on leakage flow was examined. The dependence of leakage performance, in terms of flow function, on the seal clearance size was investigated. Flow function decreased with decreasing clearance in the straight seal, while the trend was reversed in the stepped seal.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2021

This study describes the effects of a thrust labyrinth seal applied to the backside of a centrifugal impeller on the axial thrust force for high speed turbomachinery. The bulk flow model using Neumann's equation calculates the seal cavity pressures and leakage flow rate of the thrust labyrinth seal based on three configurations: teeth-on-rotor (TOR), teeth-on-stator (TOS), and interlocking labyrinth seal (ILS). Prediction results show that the ILS is superior to the TOR and TOS in terms of leakage flow rate. A mathematical model of a centrifugal impeller with a thrust labyrinth seal on its backside calculates the force components corresponding to the impeller inlet, shroud, impeller backside outer, backside seal, and backside inner pressures. A summation of the force components renders the total axial thrust force acting on the centrifugal impeller. The Newton-Raphson numerical scheme iteratively calculates the pressures and leakage flow rate through the impeller wall gap. The prediction results reveal that the leakage flow rate and total axial thrust force increase with rotor speed, and the ILS significantly decreases the leakage flow rate, whereas it slightly increases the axial thrust force when compared to TOR and TOS. Increasing the seal clearance causes an increase in the leakage flow rate and a slight decrease in the axial thrust force with the ILS.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.61-71
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• 2023

This study proposes a procedure for designing a labyrinth seal that meets both leakage flow rate and rotordynamic performance criteria (effective damping, amplification factor, separation margin, logarithmic decrement, and vibration amplitude). The seal is modeled using a one control volume (1CV) bulk flow approach to predict the leakage flow rate and rotordynamic coefficients. The rotating shaft is modeled with the finite element (FE) method and is assumed to be supported by two linearized bearings. Geometry, material and operating conditions of the rotating shaft, and the supporting characteristics of the bearings were fixed. A single labyrinth seal is placed at the center of the rotor, and the linearized dynamic coefficients predicted by the seal numerical model are inserted as linear springs and dampers at the seal position. Seal designs that satisfy both leakage and rotordynamic performance are searched by modifying five seal design parameters using the multi-grid method. The five design parameters include pre-swirl ratio, number of teeth, tooth pitch, tooth height and tooth tip width. In total, 12500 seal models are examined and the optimal seal design is selected. Finally, normalization was performed to select the optimal labyrinth seal designs that satisfy the system performance requirements.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.66-72
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• 2006

Leakage reduction through annular type labyrinth seals of steam turbine is necessary for enhancing their efficiency and the precise prediction method of seal leakage is needed. In this study, numerical analysis for leakage prediction of the combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal has been carried out using FLUENT 6 which is commercial CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code based on FVM (Finite Volume Method) and SIMPLE algorism. The present CFD results are verified with the theoretical analysis based on Bulk-flow concept which has been mainly used in predicting seal leakage. Comparing with the result of Bulk-flow model analysis, the leakage result of CFD analysis shows good agreement within 7.1% error.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.43-48
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• 2007

Leakage reduction through annular type labyrinth seals of steam turbine is necessary for enhancing their efficiency. In this study, modified geometry of the original combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal has been suggested and numerical analysis for leakage prediction has been carried out for the modified-combination-type-staggered-labyrinth seal both based on bulk-flow model and using the CFD code FLUENT. The theoretical analysis based on bulk-flow model yields leakage reduction of the modified combination type staggered labyrinth seal by about 11%. Comparing with the result of Bulk-flow model analysis, the leakage result of CFD analysis shows reasonable agreement within 9.8% error.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.56-63
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• 1997

Sealing of lubricant-air mixture in the high performance machining center is one of most the important characteristics to carry out enhanced lubrication. High speed spindle requires non-contact type of sealing mechanism. Evaluating an optimum seal design to minimize leakage is concerned in the aspect of flow control. Effect of geometry and leakage path are evaluated according to variation of sealing geometry. Velocity, pressure, turbulence intensity of profile is calculated to find more efficient geometry and variables. This offers a methodological way of enhancement seal design for high speed spindle. The working fluid is regarded as two phases that are mixed flow of oil phase and air phase. It is more reasonable to simulate an oil jet or oil mist type high speed spindle lubrication. Turbulence and compressible flow model are used to evaluate a flow characteristic. This paper considers a design effect of sealing capability of non- contact type seals for high speed spindle and analyzes leakage characteristics to minimize a leakage 7 on the same sealing area.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1996.11a
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• pp.610-614
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• 1996

Sealing of lubricat-air mixture in the high performance machining conte is one of most the important characteristics to carry out enhanced lubrication. High speed spindle requires non-contact type of sealing mechanism. Evaluating an optimum seal design to minimize leakage is concerned in the aspect of flow control. Effect of geometry and leakage path are evaluated according to variation of sealing geometry, Velocity, pressure, turbulence intensity of profile is calculated to fina more efficient geometry and variables. This offers a methodological way of enhancement seal design for high speed spindle. The working fluid is regarded as two phases that are mixed flow of oil phase and air phase. It is more reasonable to simulate an oil jet or oil mist type high speed spindle lubrication. Turbulence and compressible flow model are used to evaluate a flow characteristic, This paper arranges a geometry of mostly used non-contact type seal and analyzes leakage characteristics to minimize a leakage on the same sealing area.