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Influence of combined radial location and growth on the leakage performance of a rotating labyrinth gas turbine seal

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Abstract

Leakage characteristics, influenced by centrifugal and thermal radial growth are determined computationally for a generic rotating labyrinth seal used in the gas turbine secondary air system. Three seal locations, namely, R25, R50 and R75 are represented by means of varying the rotor radius mimicking different radial positions of the seal from the shaft axis. The combined influence of seal location and its radial (Centrifugal and thermal) growth on the leakage performance is investigated for a wide-ranging speeds from 1000 to 3000 rad/s, temperatures ranging from 200 to 450 °C and pressure ratios varying from 1.1 to 2.5, for a chosen initial clearance of 500 micron. A comparison of the effect of rotation and temperature gradient among different rotors shows that the radial growth and leakage flow rates significantly vary with the increasing radius.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Machine Design Section, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Sivakumar Subramanian & A. S. Sekhar

  2. Thermal Turbomachines Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    B. V. S. S. S. Prasad

Authors
  1. Sivakumar Subramanian
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  2. A. S. Sekhar
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  3. B. V. S. S. S. Prasad
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. S. Sekhar.

Additional information

Recommended by Associate Editor Tong Seop Kim

A. S. Sekhar is currently a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Head of Machine Design Section at IIT Madras. He has been awarded the Career Award for Young Teacher by the All India Council of Technical Education in1998. He did research at TU Darmstad, Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in 2002. He has published over 150 papers in internationaljournals and conferences. He is the co-author of the book-Dynamic Analysis of Rotating Systems and Applications (Multi Science Publishing Ltd., UK). He is an editorial member of the Journal of Advances in Mechanical Engineering (Hindawi Publishing Corporation). His areas of research include rotor dynamics, condition monitoring and vibrations.

B. V. S. S. S. Prasad is currently a Professor and Head of Mechanical Engi- neering at IIT Madras, Chennai. He is also the principal coordinator of the CFD Centre at IIT Madras. He published more than 150 research papers in various international journals and conference proceedings. He edited 7 conference proceedings and organized several conferences and workshops. His research areas include thermo fluid dynamics related to turbomachines, energy conversion technologies and CFD. He is a life member of K-14 (Heat Transfer) group of IGTI (ASME), Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power Society, Indian society for Heat and mass Transfer, Instrument Society of India and Fluid Power Society of India.

Sivakumar Subramanian obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Madurai Kamaraj University, India and Master’s degree from IIT Madras. Presently, he is pursuing his Doctoral studies at IIT Madras. His current research focuses on design and analysis of gas turbine seals with emphasis on leakage and rotor dynamic characteristics. His broad areas of interest include Gas turbine secondary air system, Rotor dynamics, Applied FEM/CFD, Condition monitoring and machinery diagnosis. He is a life member of Indian Society for Technical Education.

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Subramanian, S., Sekhar, A.S. & Prasad, B.V.S.S.S. Influence of combined radial location and growth on the leakage performance of a rotating labyrinth gas turbine seal. J Mech Sci Technol 29, 2535–2545 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0545-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-0545-8

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