Annular labyrinth seals often have a destabilizing effect on pump rotordynamics due to the large cross-coupled forces generated when the fluid is squeezed by an oscillating rotor. In this study, several novel groove geometries are investigated for their effect on the rotordynamic coefficients of the labyrinth seal. The groove cavity geometry of a baseline 267 mm balance drum labyrinth seal with a clearance of 0.305 mm and 20 equally spaced groove cavities was optimized for minimum leakage. From the pool of possible groove designs analyzed, nine test cases were selected for maximum or minimum leakage and for a variety of groove cavity shapes. The rotordynamic coefficients were calculated for these cases using a hybrid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) bulk-flow method. The rotordynamic coefficients obtained by this method were then used with a rotordynamic model of the entire pump to determine the overall stability. Results show that labyrinth seal’s groove shape can be optimized to generate lower leakage rates, while the effects on dynamic properties are only minimally changed. If the seal dynamic response needs to be modified in addition to targeting a lower leakage rate, for instance, to exhibit increased damping values, then the leakage rate and the damping coefficient need to be set as objective functions in the optimization loop.
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April 2017
Research-Article
Dynamic Response Analysis of Balance Drum Labyrinth Seal Groove Geometries Optimized for Minimum Leakage1
Alexandrina Untaroiu,
Alexandrina Untaroiu
Laboratory for Turbomachinery
and Components,
Department of Biomedical Engineering
and Mechanics,
Virginia Tech,
495 Old Turner Street,
Blacksburg, VA 24061
e-mail: alexu@vt.edu
and Components,
Department of Biomedical Engineering
and Mechanics,
Virginia Tech,
495 Old Turner Street,
Blacksburg, VA 24061
e-mail: alexu@vt.edu
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Neal Morgan,
Neal Morgan
Rotating Machinery and Controls (ROMAC)
Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering,
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering,
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
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Vahe Hayrapetian,
Vahe Hayrapetian
Flowserve Corporation,
Vernon, CA 90058
Vernon, CA 90058
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Bruno Schiavello
Bruno Schiavello
Flowserve Corporation,
Bethlehem, PA 18017
Bethlehem, PA 18017
Search for other works by this author on:
Alexandrina Untaroiu
Laboratory for Turbomachinery
and Components,
Department of Biomedical Engineering
and Mechanics,
Virginia Tech,
495 Old Turner Street,
Blacksburg, VA 24061
e-mail: alexu@vt.edu
and Components,
Department of Biomedical Engineering
and Mechanics,
Virginia Tech,
495 Old Turner Street,
Blacksburg, VA 24061
e-mail: alexu@vt.edu
Neal Morgan
Rotating Machinery and Controls (ROMAC)
Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering,
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering,
University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Vahe Hayrapetian
Flowserve Corporation,
Vernon, CA 90058
Vernon, CA 90058
Bruno Schiavello
Flowserve Corporation,
Bethlehem, PA 18017
Bethlehem, PA 18017
2Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF VIBRATION AND ACOUSTICS. Manuscript received April 28, 2016; final manuscript received November 27, 2016; published online February 22, 2017. Assoc. Editor: John Yu.
J. Vib. Acoust. Apr 2017, 139(2): 021014 (9 pages)
Published Online: February 22, 2017
Article history
Received:
April 28, 2016
Revised:
November 27, 2016
Citation
Untaroiu, A., Morgan, N., Hayrapetian, V., and Schiavello, B. (February 22, 2017). "Dynamic Response Analysis of Balance Drum Labyrinth Seal Groove Geometries Optimized for Minimum Leakage." ASME. J. Vib. Acoust. April 2017; 139(2): 021014. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4035380
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