Experimental investigation of effect of tooth geometrical parameters to flow characteristics in slant labyrinth seals

Abstract

SummaryAn experiment investigation was made to study the influence of the geometry parameters of slant straight‐through labyrinth seals on sealing characteristics. 22 models with different geometry parameters were designed, and the geometry parameters studied include seal clearance, fin height, fin pitch, fin tip thickness, and fin number. The results showed that, when p0/pn ranged from 1.2 to 1.8, the discharge coefficient increased with the drop pressure ratio, seal clearance, and fin tip thickness and decreased with fin height, fin pitch, and fin number. The rank of sensitivity of each parameter's variation in the unit size on sealing characteristics is seal clearance, fin tip thickness, fin pitch, back angle, fin height, and front angle. The correlation of different parameters were summarized for the designing of advanced labyrinth seals.