Labyrinth seal Gas turbine

CFD Performance evaluation of gas turbine labyrinth seals using computational fluid dynamicss Problem area Increasing performance requirements on gas turbines have led to ever increasing gas temperatures and pressure ratios. Together with the resulting increase in cooling flows, this requires internal gas leakages to be minimized and controlled even further. The application of new seal designs and improved understanding of leakage flow characteristics are of particular importance in order to meet future performance goals. Labyrinth seals, despite their unavoidable leakage, remain the most common seal types in modern gas turbines. The combination of high rotational speeds, high gas temperatures and high pressure differences often precludes the use of other seal types, and the labyrinth seal remains the only choice to meet reliability and durability standards of modern engines. Understanding the flow in labyrinth seals at engine compliant conditions is fundamentally important in developing improved seal concepts to enhance and predict component performance in gas turbines engines. Obtaining such an understanding is part of a mission to bring new gas turbine labyrinth seal concepts to a higher level of technology readiness for advanced propulsion and power systems. Simulation methods based o