Dynamic Behavior Analysis of Finger Seal Based on Equivalent Dynamic Model

Finger seal is a new technology developed for gas path sealing in gas turbine engine.It has been paid attention to its good sealing performance and lower manufacture cost.The vibration behavior of finger seal is not be considered in performance analysis for the contact finger seal with compliant geometric configuration,then this will influence the reliability of the performance analysis and the parametric design of a finger seal.According to the dynamic character of finger seal,the harmonic vibration and free vibration models of a repetitive section of a two-layer finger seal that contains one high and one low finger seal are established separately.The dynamic behavior of finger seal in different working conditions is obtained based on the dynamic response analysis of finger＇s vibrations.The dynamic low hysteresis and low wear terms based on the equivalent dynamic model of finger seal are put forward,which can be used to predict the dynamic behavior of finger seal.As an example,the dynamic behaviors of an 8-layer finger seal and a 10-layer finger seal were predicted,and the validity of the prediction was demonstrated by the leakage test results of these two finger seals.The work presented here not only could make the dynamic analysis of finger seal with complicated structure simple and easy especially for multi-layer finger seal system,but also suggest a useful method for designing the finger seal with good dynamic behavior by means of different seal layers assembly.

Numerical analysis of a double interlocking padded finger seal performance based on thermo-fluid-structure coupling method

Non-contacting finger seals represent an advanced non-contacting and compliant seal in gas turbine sealing technology.This paper proposes a new structure of noncontacting finger seals with double interlocking pads.The numerical analysis model based on the thermo-fluid-structure coupling method for the new type finger seal was established.The influence of working conditions on leakage of the seal was studied and compared with the single padded non-contacting finger seal.The results show that the interface between the bottom of the finger pad and rotor surface is the main leakage path that forms the gas film with obvious variations of pressure and flow velocity.Under high temperature and high pressure operating conditions,the hydrodynamic effect of the gas film is enhanced,and lifting force is significantly improved.The deformation of fingers is composed of elastic deformation and thermal deformation.At room temperature,the deformation of fingers is mainly elastic deformation and points to the center of the rotor,which reduces the gas film clearance.The deformation of fingers at high temperature and high pressure creates a circumferentially convergent gap between the bottom of the pad and the rotor,which is beneficial to improve the loading capacity and to reduce leakage of the seal.Compared with the typical single padded noncontacting finger seal,the double interlocking padded finger seal proposed in this paper reduces the leakage factor by about 37%,which provides an advanced seal concept with the potential to improve sealing performance under high temperature and high pressure working conditions.

Dynamic analysis of C/C composite finger seal

A seal device as an important component of aeroengines has decisive influence on per- formance, reliability, and working life of aeroengines. With the development of aeroengines, demands on the performance characteristics of seal devices are made strictly. Finger seal as a novel kind of sealing device, recently attracts more and more attentions in academic circles and engineer- ing fields at home and abroad. Research on finger seals has been extensively developed, especially on leakage and wear performances under dynamic conditions. However, it is a pity that the work on finger seals has been limited with a single approach that is improving the performance by structural optimization; in addition, the technology of dynamic analysis on finger seals is weak. Aiming at the problems mentioned above, a distributed mass equivalent dynamic model of finger seals considering the coupling effect of overlaid laminates is established in the present paper, the dynamic perfor- mance of 2.5 dimension C/C composite finger seal is analyzed with the model, and then the effects of fiber bundle density and fiber bundle preparation direction on finger seal＇s dynamic performance are discussed, as well as compared with those of Co-based alloy finger seal. The current work is about dynamic analysis of finger seals and application of C/C composite in this paper may have much academic significance and many engineering values for improving research level of finger seal dynamics and exploring feasibility of C/C composite being used for finger seals.

Dynamic performance of a C/C composite finger seal in a tilting mode

The complex operating state of aeroengines has an impact on the performance of finger seals. However, little work has been focused on the issue and the dynamic performance of finger seals is also rarely studied. Therefore, a distributed mass equivalent model considering working conditions is proposed in this paper for solving the existing problems. The effects of the fiber bundle density and the preparation direction of the fiber bundle of a C/C composite on the dynamic performance of a finger seal are investigated in rotor tilt based on the proposed model. The difference between the C/C composite finger seal performances under the rotor precession and nutation tilt cases is also investigated. The results show that the fiber bundle density and the preparation direction of the fiber bundle have an influence on the dynamic performance of the finger seal as rotor tilt is considered, and the dynamic performance of the finger seal is different in the two kinds of tilting modes. In addition, a novel method for design of finger seals is presented based on the contact pressure between finger boots and the rotor. Finger seals with good leakage rates and low wear can be acquired in this method.