Experimental and Theoretical Rotordynamic Coefficients of Smooth and Round-Hole Pattern Water-Fed Annular Seals

This work presents the comparison between experimental and theoretical results obtained for three straight annular seals. One of the annular seals has smooth rotor and stator while the others have a textured stator; the textures are equally spaced shallow round holes, with two different depths. The experimental results were obtained on a test rig dedicated to the identification of the dynamic coefficients of high Reynolds bearings and annular seals. The test rig uses hot water (<50 °C) as a working fluid. Dynamic excitations imposed by piezoelectric shakers to the rotor enable the identification of dynamic coefficients via complex impedances. Theoretical results compared with experimental findings were obtained by numerically solving the “bulk flow” equations (film thickness averaged equations dominated by inertia effects). The numerical model was extensively validated for smooth annular seals but is less confident for textured surfaces. The present comparisons between experimental and numerical results enable to estimate the accuracy of the numerical model employed for the textured seals.