Measured Influence of Clearance and Eccentricity on Brush Seal Leakage Characteristics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manish Thorat ◽  
Brian R Bauer
Author(s):  
Manish R. Thorat ◽  
Brian Bauer

Abstract Brush seals are used in turbomachinery for reduced leakage as compared to conventional seals such as labyrinth seals. Early applications tended to favor having a line-to-line to a slight interference fit of the bristles to the shaft, but more recent applications have favored the use of a slight initial clearance fit for the purpose of reducing bristle wear. In these brush seals with clearance, the phenomenon of bristle blow-down largely negates the leakage degradation due to clearance, with bristles bending to reduce the clearance gap. This paper presents experimental results for a 10.5 inch bore brush seal with 0.0028 inch bristle diameter. Bristle blow-down is characterized with measurements at three different clearances then compared to a calibrated brush seal leakage model. Tolerances in brush installation may lead to a brush seal bore that is eccentric to the rotor. The influence of this seal eccentricity on measured leakage performance is also characterized in the paper. Seal eccentricities up to 55% of brush fence height are tested. Effective clearances for eccentric operation are estimated from the measurements. Brush seals are described as unidirectional seals because the bristles have a lay angle in the direction of rotation. This paper also investigates the influence of rotation direction on measured leakage performance of brush seal. This influence is characterized by non-pressurized reverse rotation operation and measurement of leakage performance prior to and after reverse rotation operation.


Author(s):  
Yuchi Kang ◽  
Meihong Liu ◽  
Sharon Kao-Walter ◽  
Jinbin Liu ◽  
Qihong Ceng

1977 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Fessler ◽  
D A Perry

Standard flanges for five widely differing pressure ratings, having a wide range of different joint surface profiles, were sealed by flat rubber or asbestos gaskets. Different initial bolt tensions were applied and the variation of clamping force with internal pressure was measured up to leakage of the joint. The joint efficiency, defined as: (end thrust due to leakage pressure on bore area of pipe)/(total initial bolting force), is not affected by variations in joint-face surface finish if machining grooves across the joint surface are avoided. Minimum values of joint efficiency are given. The effects of gasket material, width and thickness and number of bolts on joint efficiency are considered.


Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Xiaolei Song ◽  
Meihong Liu ◽  
Xiangping Hu ◽  
Xueliang Wang ◽  
Taohong Liao ◽  
...  

In order to improve efficiency in turbomachinery, brush seal replaces labyrinth seals widely in the secondary air system. A 2-d staggered tube bank model is adopted to simulate the gas states and the pressure character in brush seal, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to solve the model in this paper. According to the simulation results, the corrected formula of the Euler number and dimensionless pressure are given. The results show that gas expands when flow through the bristle pack, and the gas expansion closes to an isotherm process. The dynamic pressure increases with decreasing static pressure. The Euler number can reflect the seal performance of brush seals in leakage characteristics. Compared with increasing the number of rows, the reduction of the gap is a higher-efficiency method to increase the Euler number. The Euler number continually increases as the gap decreases. However, with the differential pressure increasing, Euler number first increases and then decreases as the number of rows increases. Finally, the pressure distribution on the surface of end rows is asymmetric, and it may increase the friction between the bristles and the back plate.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 920-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. Sharatchandra ◽  
D. L. Rhode

This paper analytically investigates the aerodynamic bristle force distributions in brush seals used in aircraft gas turbine engines. These forces are responsible for the onset of bristle tip lift-off from the rotor surface which significantly affects brush seal performance. In order to provide an enhanced understanding of the mechanisms governing the bristle force distributions, a full Navier-Stokes flow simulation is performed in a streamwise periodic module of bristles corresponding to the staggered square configuration. As is the case with a companion paper (Sharatchandra and Rhode, 1996), this study has the novel feature of considering the combined effects of axial (leakage) and tangential (swirl) flows. Specifically, the effects of intra-bristle spacing and bristle inclination angle are explored. The results indicate that the lifting bristle force increases with reduced intra-bristle spacing and increased inclination angle. It was also observed that increases in the axial or tangential flow rates increased the force component in the normal as well as the flow direction.


Author(s):  
M. J. Braun ◽  
R. C. Hendricks ◽  
V. Canacci

A method to visualize and characterize the complex flow fields in simulated brush seals is presented. The brush seal configuration was tested in a water and then in an oil tunnel. The visualization procedure revealed typical regions that are rivering, jetting, vortical or lateral flows and exist upstream, downstream or within the seal. Such flows are engendered by variations in fiber void that are spatial and temporal and affect changes in seal leakage and stability. While the effects of interface motion for linear or cylindrical configurations have not been considered herein, it is believed that the observed flow fields characterize flow phenomenology in both circular and linear brush seals. The axial pressure profiles upstream, across and downstream of the brush in the oil tunnel have been measured under a variety of inlet pressure conditions and the ensuing pressure maps are presented and discussed.


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