Rotordynamic characteristics of a rotor with labyrinth gas seals. Part 3: coupled fluid-solid vibration

Abstract

This paper focuses on the fluid-solid interaction between a vibrating rotor and the unsteady flowfield around it in labyrinth gas seals. The object under consideration is a zero damping Jeffcott rotor subjected to an unsteady fluid field in labyrinth gas seals. An unsteady time-accurate three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver is used to simulate the flowfield in the labyrinth gas seals, and the unsteady aerodynamic force vector acting on the vibrating rotor is obtained. A fourth-order explicit Adams scheme is used to simulate the dynamic response of the rotor. The coupled fluid-solid vibration of the rotor is studied under various inlet tangential velocities. The research shows that the current method is more accurate in predicting the stability of such shafts than the conventional method.