Effect of lateral misalignment on performance of a stationary and rotating labyrinth seals.

Abstract The reliable prediction of the effect of various labyrinth parameters on leakage rate has not been reported enough and a theoretical prediction of the labyrinth performance for different geometries at different eccentricity ratios is required. The laminar, incompressible and three-dimensional flow in labyrinth seals is treated and the performance is obtained for different geometrical configurations of the seal and rotation of the shaft. The results show that both of the aspect ratio and the eccentricity ratio (rotor misalignment) have a significant effect on the performance of the seal. For a straight-through labyrinth seal the rotation of the shaft has a small and negligible effect on the leakage, while it makes considerable improvement of the performance of the up-the step seal. Also, it is found that the rotation of the shaft has an adverse effect on the performance of the down-the step seal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]