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Journal Dry Gas Seal
Journal Dry Gas Seal
Vol.*,aNo. *,a****
DOI:10.3901/CJME.****.**.***,availableonlineatwww.springerlink.comwww.cjmenet.comwww.cjmenet.com.cn
FlowDynamicsofaSpiralgrooveDrygasSeal
WANGBing1,2,ZHANGHuiqiang1,2,*,and CAOHongjun1,2
1SchoolofAerospace,TsinghuaUniversity,Beijing100084, China
2Beijing3EEnergyKeyLaboratory, TsinghuaUniversity,Beijing100084, China
Received February23,2011revised September6,2011 accepted August,2012
1 Introduction*
Asaformofnoncontactingmechanicalsealtechnology,
the drygas seal has found extensive applications in
different industrial departments. A drygas seal performs
well interms ofless frictionand wear, longer service life,
as well asreliability[15]. However, knowledge on theflow
dynamicspropertiesofasealinggasfilmislimited.Asthe
spin speed of a rotator shaft increases, turbulence arises
fromtheflowsystemand affectsthe sealperformance.
Spiral grooves are functional configurations in arotator
face with the purpose of improving performance[67]. The
performances of drygas seals are mostly calculated using
the narrow spiralgroove theory proposed by
MUIJDERMAN[1]. The pressure distributions of the ring
face are also approximated using this method. The
performance parameters, such as open force and leakage
quantity, are estimated based on an integration of the
surface pressure[814]. Analyses of gasfilm properties are
usually simplified by solutions of the twodimensional
Reynoldslubricationequation[79].Thephysicalvariablesin
* Correspondingauthor.Email:zhanghq@tsinghua.edu.cn
This project is supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for
ReturnedScholars,MinistryofEducationofChina
ChineseMechanicalEngineeringSociety andSpringerVerlagBerlinHeidelberg 2012
YWANGBing,etal:AnalysisofSpiralgrooveDrygasSealbyDirectNumericalSimulation
t xz = t zx = m (u z + wx),
t yy = l (u x + v y + wz ) + 2 m vy,
t yz = t zy = m ( vz + wy),
t zz = l (u x + v y + wz ) + 2m wz
wherel = -2 / 3m. Thepresentstudyadoptstheisothermal
gas model, wherein the fluid agrees with the relationship
below:
p
=RgTref.
(2)
h = h ( x, y, z),
z = z ( x, y, z ).
(3)
(4)
2.3 Turbulencemodel
A twoequationkturbulencemodelisusedtoclose
the RANSequations.This modelassumesthattheturbulent
dynamicviscosityislinkedtotheturbulencekineticenergy
andturbulentviscosityviatheratio:
(1)
m T =
rk
.
w
(5)
whereW =( r , r u , r v, r w) aretheconservativevariables,
is the fluid density, and u, v, as well as w are the
The turbulent kinetic energy k and turbulent frequency
velocities. The inviscid fluxesare asfollows:
equations, respectively,are
T
F(E) = r u , r u 2 + p, r uv, r uw ,
T
G(E) = r v, r uv, r v 2 + p , r vw ,
T
H(E) = r w, r uw, r vw, r w 2 + p .
The inviscidfluxesreadas:
T
( r k ) ( rV jk)
+
=
t
x j
x j
m + m T k + P - b r kw , (6)
k
s k x j
CHINESEJOURNALOFMECHANICALENGINEERING
( rw ) ( rVjw )
+
=
t
x j
x j
m + m T w + a w P - brw 2,
k
s w x j
k
(7)
where Pk istheproductionrateofturbulence,
V V V
Pk = m T i + k i .
xk
xk
xi
(8)
Themodelconstantsaregivenby s k = 2, s w = 2, a =
5/9, b =0.075,and b = 0.09.
2.4 Discrete methodsandcomputationgrids
The governing equations are discretized by the finite
volume method. The convective terms (inviscid flux) are
discretizedbyasecondorderupwindscheme.Theviscous
terms are approximated by a secondorder central scheme.
Fig. 2 shows the computational domain and the grid
system.
Table 1. Calculationparameters
Geometryparameter
Parameter
Innerradius ro/ mm
Outerradius r2/ mm
Groove root radius r1/ mm
Spiralangel a/ ()
Ratioofgroovetoland
Groovenumber n
Groovedepth h/ m
Value
58.42
77.78
69.0
15
1
12
5.0
Operationparameter
Parameter
Value
2.05
3.05
5.03
4.585 2
0.101 3
10 380
Filmdepth / m
Sealedmedium pressure po/ MPa
Environmentalmedium pressure pi/ MPa
Spinspeed nr/ (r min1)
Mediumproperty
Parameter
Value
Air
300
Medium
Temperature T/ K
Dynamicsviscosity / (kg m s1)
1.8 105
m 2RT0
ph
(9)
V( r , q , z) z=0 = 0(atthestatorface),
V( r , q , z ) z = h or z =d + h = 0(attherotatorface).
(10)
(b) Computationgrids(scaled1000:1intheaxialdirection)
Orthogonalgridsareusedinthesimulation.Therearea
total of 1800000 grid cells.
(11)
Inthecircumferentialdirection,thecomputationdomain
is periodic, and the periodic boundary conditions are
specifiedas:
V ( r , q , z ) q =q =V( r , q , z ) q =q
0
0+ 2 /n
2.5 Boundaryconditions
k ( r , q , z ) q =q = k ( r , q , z) q =q + 2 / n ,
0
0
ThecalculationparametersareshowninTable1.The
w ( r , q , z ) q =q = w ( r , q , z ) q =q + 2 /n .
5
1
viscosity is 1.810 kg m s . The inner pressure is
0.101MPa(1atm), andtheouteris4.5852MPa.Theshaft TheboundaryconditionsarealsoshowninFig. 2.
spinspeedis10 380 r/min.Thegroovespiralangle is15.
(12a)
(12b)
YWANGBing,etal:AnalysisofSpiralgrooveDrygasSealbyDirectNumericalSimulation
accuratetoinvestigatetheflowdynamicsinadrygasseal.
rph p 1 ph p
( ph)
+
= 6w r
.
(13)
TheaboveReynoldslubricationequationis numerically
solvedby thefinite differencemethod[12].
3 ResultsandDiscussions
3.1 Flowdynamics analysis
Fig. 3 shows the pressure distribution in the gas film.
Thegasfilmis3.05 mmindepth.Theresultsarecompared
with those obtained by solving the Reynolds lubrication
equation.Ahigher pressureis obtainedattherootregions
of the grooves, which is about 34% higher than the outer
environmental pressure po.
(a) Inthegasfilm
(b) Inthegrooves
Fig.5showsthestaticpressurecontoursinthegrooves.
The static pressurereaches thehighestlevel at theroot of
thegrooves.
CHINESEJOURNALOFMECHANICALENGINEERING
The flow Reynolds number in the drygas seal flow is
definedas
Re =
rVdd rw ( r2 + ro) / 2d
=
,
m
m
(15)
whereVd isthelinevelocityofthesealface.Ifthegasfilm
is3.05 mm,theReynoldsnumberis940.
Fig.6showsthestaticpressureandvelocitycontoursin
the gas film from the RANS simulation. Considering the
turbulence effects, the maximum pressure of the gas film
decreases, which implies that the fluid hydrodynamics
effectgeneratedbythegroovesisdecreased.
Fig.8. Eddyviscosity distribution inthegas filmsimulated
by theRANSmethod(mPa s)
(a) Pressurefield(MPa)
Expermentaldata
DNS
RANS
Reynoldsequation
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
Pressurep/MPa
(b)Velocity field(m/s)
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
58
60
62
64
66
68
70
72
74
76
78
80
Radiusr/mm
YWANGBing,etal:AnalysisofSpiralgrooveDrygasSealbyDirectNumericalSimulation
Fo =
2
0
r2
ro
prdrdq .
(16)
designandperformanceanalysisofdrygasseal.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
Experime
ntaldata
2.05
3.05
5.03
40 711.8
33 168.7
29 569.2
Openforce Fo/N
Resultswith Resultviathe
Results via
turbulence
Reynolds
DNS
model
equation
35 172.2
34 222.3
29 230.1
31 503.9
30 525.8
30 941.3
29 366.0
27 198.1
31 688.7
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
4 Conclusions
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
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Biographicalnotes
WANGBing,bornin1977,iscurrentlyanassociateprofessorat
SchoolofAerospace,TsinghuaUniversity,China.Hereceivedhis
PhD degree from the same university in 2005. His research
interests include fluid dynamics, power and propulsion
technologies, aswellas CFD.
Tel:+861062772112Email: wbing@tsinghua.edu.cn
ZHANG Huiqiang, born in 1966, is currently an associate
CHINESEJOURNALOFMECHANICALENGINEERING
professor at Tsinghua University, China. He received his PhD
degree from the same university in 1997. His research interests
includepowerandpropulsiontechnologies, aswellascombustion
andnumericalheattransfers.
Tel:+861062772112Email: zhanghq@tsinghua.edu.cn