Numerical Research on Flow Characteristics at High Radii of Rim Seals with Different Geometric Structures

Qichao Xue, Xueying Li and Jing Ren ()
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Qichao Xue: Depratment of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 10084, China
Xueying Li: Depratment of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 10084, China
Jing Ren: Depratment of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 10084, China

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: In the high-temperature mainstream of gas turbines, there is a rim clearance between the rotor and the stator. A rim seal is to prevent the intrusion of high-temperature gas by spraying cool fluid from the inside of the rim clearance to the outside. In the past research on rim seals, the focus was on the overall performance of the sealing structure, and the flow in the disc cavity was studied more, but the high-radius flow was simplified. In recent years, additional research in the field has focused on more complex sealing structures and high-radius flows, such as the interface between the disk cavity and the mainstream. There is more work to be conducted in this area of research. In this paper, the unsteady numerical simulation of the flow in four different rim sealing geometries is carried out by the URANS method. The flow phenomena and the influence of geometry on the flow are studied. The numerical simulation results are validated with the experimental results. It is found that the fluid in the rim sealing obviously presents two distinct forms and confrontations according to the tangential velocity. The flow in the sealing structure presents obvious circumferential non-uniformity. Compared with the single-axial structure, in the single-radial structure, the mixing area is induced by the radial geometry, and more vortex structures are generated, the mixing process is more intense, and the sealing effect is better. In the double-sealing structure, the inner structure plays the role of a barrier, and the cavity geometry between the two layers has a major influence on the sealing performance.

Keywords: rim seal; CFD; cavity flow; clearance flow; seal structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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