Overview
High performance sealing systems are required to minimize leakage air between rotating and stationary parts for high efficient turbomachinery. A conventional sealing system such as a labyrinth seal requires a certain gap between the seal and the rotating counter-part to prevent rubbing and structural damage. The gap can therefore not be chosen to be arbitrarily small, which limits the reduction in leakage. As a remedy for the limitation of conventional sealing systems, a new sealing technology, namely the brush seal, provides a great potential to reduce the leakage air. Brush seals basically consist of a flexible bristle package placed between a backing plate and front plate. Their most valuable advantage over other sealing concepts is the very small gap between the bristle package and the rotor and thus a reduced leakage mass flow. This small gap can be achieved due to the great radial flexibility of the bristles without running the risk of severe detrimental deterioration in case of rubbing. Besides the reduced leakage air, brush seals offer additional advantages like less weight, less axial space required, and improved rotor dynamic characteristics.
Aims of brush seal research:
Gas turbines can encounter rubbing between brush seals and rotor due to several reasons such as mechanical rotor growth, thermal expansion, and sudden operating condition changes. Thanks to the flexible structure of the brush seal the contact forces during a rubbing event are reduced; however, the frictional heat input can still be considerable.This heat impact can lead to detrimental additional thermal stress into already highly loaded rotor systems. Thus, understanding of the heat impact and heat transfer to a rotor and brush seal is required for reliable use of brush seals.
Therefore, the research objectives are:
- to quantify the heat impact from brush seal rubbing and to assess the sealing performance via experiments and FE analyses;
- to develop a new model to predict the heat impact;
- das to understand its physical mechanisms.
Quellen
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2021. Energies, 14 (7), Art.-Nr.: 1888. doi:10.3390/en14071888
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2021. Proceedings of the ASME Turbo Expo 2020: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition - 2020 : presented at the ASME Turbo Expo 2020: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, September 21-25, 2020, online. Volume 7C: Heat Transfer, GT2020–14158, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). doi:10.1115/GT2020-14158
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2019. International journal of turbomachinery, propulsion and power, 40 (4). doi:10.3390/ijtpp4040040
Hildebrandt, M.
2019. Abschluss- und Zwischenberichte der Forschungsstellen Turbomaschinen : Frühjahrstagung 2019 : Tagungsband : 2019 - Würzburg, Frankfurt a.M
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2019. Journal of engineering for gas turbines and power, 141 (4), 042504. doi:10.1115/1.4038767
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwarz, H.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.; Friedrichs, J.
2018. Aerospace, 5 (2), 58. doi:10.3390/aerospace5020058
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2017. Proceedings of ASME Turbo Expo 2017: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, June 26-30, 2017. Volume 5B, 39–50, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). doi:10.1115/GT2017-63423
Hildebrandt, M.; Schwitzke, C.; Bauer, H.-J.
2017. Forschungsvereinigung Verbrennungskraftmaschinen e.V. (FVV)
Pfefferle, D.
2017. Logos Verlag Berlin
Pfefferle, D.; Dullenkopf, K.; Bauer, H.-J.
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Pfefferle, D.; Bauer, H.-J.; Dullenkopf, K.
2008. Informationstagung Turbomaschinen - Herbsttagung 2008. Abschluss- und Zwischenberichte der Forschungsstellen, Bremen, Deutschland, 18. September 2008, Forschungsvereinigung Verbrennungskraftmaschinen e.V. (FVV)