Effects of Geometry on Brush Seal Pressure and Flow Fields—Part I: Front Plate Configurations

2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahya Dogu ◽  
Mahmut F. Aksit

Pressure and flow fields lay at the basis of such common phenomena affecting brush seal performance as bristle flutter, blow-down, hang-up, hysteresis, pressure stiffening, wear, and leakage. Over the past two decades of brush seal evolution, manufacturers and researchers have applied many geometric configurations to the front and backing plates of a standard brush seal in order to control the flow field and consequent seal performance. The number of studies evaluating the effect of geometric configurations on the brush seal flow field remains limited in spite of the high number of filed patent disclosures. This study presents a numerical analysis of brush seal pressure and flow fields with regard to common conceptual front plate configurations. A CFD model has been employed to calculate pressure and flow fields in the seal domain. The model incorporates a bulk porous medium approach for the bristle pack. The effectiveness of various conceptual geometries has been outlined in terms of flow field formation. Results disclose unique effects of geometry on pressure and flow fields such that a longer front plate drives outward radial flow while playing a protective role against upstream cavity disturbances. Findings also indicate that variations in front plate geometry do not directly affect leakage performance. A long front plate or damper shim considerably changes the flow field while at the same time having limited effect on the pressure field. Moreover, a strong suction towards the clearance enhances inward radial flow in clearance operation.

2005 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahya Dogu ◽  
Mahmut F. Aksit

Brush seal dynamic behavior is strongly related to pressure and flow fields. Developments in brush seal design have led to geometric modifications to control flow field and consequent brush seal issues including blow-down, hang-up, and pressure stiffening. Some of the geometric enhancements have been found to have common use as backing plate modifications. Over the two decades of brush seal evolution, many backing plate configurations have been suggested in numerous patent disclosures. Even so, literature on the effects of geometric modifications on pressure and flow fields remains limited. This study numerically investigates brush seal pressure and flow fields for such common conceptual backing plate configurations as single and multiple grooves, with and without by-pass passages. The CFD analysis presented employs a bulk porous medium approach for the bristle pack. The effectiveness of various backing plate configurations outlining important flow features is discussed. Results indicate that backing plate configurations have a decisive role in shaping seal pressure fields. In general, it has been found that all cases having bypass configuration leak more. Moreover, the major portion of the seal leakage through fence height is fed from the backing plate cavity. The single backing plate groove forms a constant pressure behind the bristle pack. In contrast, multiple grooves form multiple constant pressure regions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Wörgötter ◽  
A. Cozzi ◽  
V. Gerdes

A parallel algorithm operating on the units (“neurons”) of an artificial retina is proposed to recover depth information in a visual scene from radial flow fields induced by ego motion along a given axis. The system consists of up to 600 radii with fewer than 65 radially arranged neurons on each radius. Neurons are connected only to their nearest neighbors, and they are excited as soon as a sufficiently strong gray-level change occurs. The time difference of two subsequently activated neurons is then used by the last-excited neuron to compute the depth information. All algorithmic calculations remain strictly local, and information is exchanged only between adjacent active neurons (except for the final read-out). This, in principle, permits parallel implementation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the calculation of the object coordinates requires only a single multiplication with a constant, which is dependent on only the retinal position of the active neuron. The initial restriction to local operations makes the algorithm very noise sensitive. In order to solve this problem, a prediction mechanism is introduced. After an object coordinate has been determined, the active neuron computes the time when the next neuronal excitation should take place. This estimated time is transferred to the respective next neuron, which will wait for this excitation only within a certain time window. If the excitation fails to arrive within this window, the previously computed object coordinate is regarded as noisy and discarded. We will show that this predictive mechanism relies also on only a (second) single multiplication with another neuron-dependent constant. Thus, computational complexity remains low, and noisy depth coordinates are efficiently eliminated. Thus, the algorithm is very fast and operates in real time on 128×128 images even in a serial implementation on a relatively slow computer. The algorithm is tested on scenes of growing complexity, and a detailed error analysis is provided showing that the depth error remains very low in most cases. A comparison to standard flow-field analysis shows that our algorithm outperforms the older method by far. The analysis of the algorithm also shows that it is generally applicable despite its restrictions, because it is fast and accurate enough such that a complete depth percept can be composed from radial flow field segments. Finally, we suggest how to generalize the algorithm, waiving the restriction of radial flow.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7768
Author(s):  
Yuxin Liu ◽  
Benzhuang Yue ◽  
Xiaozhi Kong ◽  
Hua Chen ◽  
Huawei Lu

Advanced brush seal technology has a significant impact on the performance and efficiency of gas turbine engines. However, in highly inlet swirling environments, the bristles of a brush seal tend to circumferentially slip, which may lead to aerodynamic instability and seal failure. In this paper, seven different front plate geometries were proposed to reduce the impact of high inlet swirl on the bristle pack, and a three-dimensional porous medium model was carried out to simulate the brush seal flow characteristics. Comparisons of a plane front plate with a relief cavity, plane front plate with axial drilled holes, anti-“L”-type plate and their relative improved configurations on the pressure and flow fields as well as the leakage behavior were conducted. The results show that the holed front plate can effectively regulate and control the upstream flow pattern of the bristle pack, inducing the swirl flow to move radially inward, which results in decreased circumferential velocity component. The anti-“L” plate with both axial holes and one radial hole was observed to have the best effect on reducing the swirl of those investigated. The swirl velocity upstream the bristle pack can decline 50% compared to the baseline model with plane front plate, and the circumferential aerodynamic forces on the bristles, which scale with the swirl dynamic head, are reduced by a factor of 4. This could increase the bristle stability dramatically. Moreover, the front plate geometry does not influence the leakage performance significantly, and the application of the axial hole on the front plate will increase the leakage slightly by around 3.5%.


Author(s):  
Eric J. Ruggiero

Aramid fiber brush seals are ultra-low leakage, compliant sealing elements for turbomachinery applications. Such seals are applicable in the Aviation, Energy, and Oil and Gas markets as either air-air seals or air-oil seals. In the present study, the influence of friction present between the front plate and upstream side of the bristle pack of an aramid fiber brush seal is experimentally investigated. With the bristle pack fully exposed on the upstream side of the seal, the bristles are shown to blow down and create a better seal compared to the same brush seal with a front plate installed.


1968 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50
Author(s):  
R. G. Fenton

The upper bound of the average ram pressure, based on an assumed radial flow velocity field, is derived for plane strain extrusion. Ram pressures are calculated for a complete range of reduction ratios and die angles, considering a wide range of frictional conditions. Results are compared with upper-bound ram pressures obtained by considering velocity fields other than the radial flow field, and it is shown that for a considerable range of reduction ratios and die angles, the radial flow field yields better upper bounds for the average ram pressure.


Author(s):  
Yi Han ◽  
Feng Liu ◽  
Xin Ran

In the production process of large-diameter seamless steel pipes, the blank heating quality before roll piercing has an important effect on whether subsequently conforming piping is produced. Obtaining accurate pipe blank heating temperature fields is the basis for establishing and optimizing a seamless pipe heating schedule. In this paper, the thermal process in a regenerative heating furnace was studied using fluent software, and the distribution laws of the flow field in the furnace and of the temperature field around the pipe blanks were obtained and verified experimentally. The heating furnace for pipe blanks was analyzed from multiple perspectives, including overall flow field, flow fields at different cross sections, and overall temperature field. It was found that the changeover process of the regenerative heating furnace caused the temperature in the upper part of the furnace to fluctuate. Under the pipe blanks, the gas flow was relatively thin, and the flow velocity was relatively low, facilitating the formation of a viscous turbulent layer and thereby inhibiting heat exchange around the pipe blanks. The mutual interference between the gas flow from burners and the return gas from the furnace tail flue led to different flow velocity directions at different positions, and such interference was relatively evident in the middle part of the furnace. A temperature “layering” phenomenon occurred between the upper and lower parts of the pipe blanks. The study in this paper has some significant usefulness for in-depth exploration of the characteristics of regenerative heating furnaces for steel pipes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 1981-1984
Author(s):  
Zhang Xia Guo ◽  
Yu Tian Pan ◽  
Yong Cun Wang ◽  
Hai Yan Zhang

Gunpowder was released in an instant when the pill fly out of the shell during the firing, and then formed a complicated flow fields about the muzzle when the gas expanded sharply. Using the 2 d axisymmetric Navier-Stokes equation combined with single equation turbulent model to conduct the numerical simulation of the process of gunpowder gass evacuating out of the shell without muzzle regardless of the pill’s movement. The numerical simulation result was identical with the experimental. Then simulated the evacuating process of gunpowder gass of an artillery with muzzle brake. The result showed complicated wave structure of the flow fields with the muzzle brake and analysed the influence of muzzle brake to the gass flow field distribution.


1979 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Adler ◽  
Y. Levy

A laser-Doppler technique is successfully applied to measure the flow field inside a closed, backswept impeller, through a rotating window. Results show that, in contrast to the flow in many radial-exit impellers, the flow in the backswept impeller is stable and attached. Further, comparison with an open impeller demonstrates the fundamental difference in the flow fields near the shroud.


2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo-Bin Jung ◽  
Ay Su ◽  
Cheng-Hsin Tu ◽  
Fang-Bor Weng ◽  
Shih-Hung Chan

The flow-field design of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is an important subject about DMFC performance. Flow fields play an important role in the ability to transport fuel and drive out the products (H2O,CO2). In general, most fuel cells utilize the same structure of flow field for both anode and cathode. The popular flow fields used for DMFCs are parallel and grid designs. Nevertheless, the characteristics of reactants and products are entirely different in anode and cathode of DMFCs. Therefore, the influences of flow fields design on cell performance were investigated based on the same logic with respect to the catalyst used for cathode and anode nonsymmetrically. To get a better and more stable performance of DMFCs, three flow fields (parallel, grid, and serpentine) utilized with different combinations were studied in this research. As a consequence, by using parallel flow field in the anode side and serpentine flow-field in the cathode, the highest power output was obtained.


Author(s):  
M. J. Braun ◽  
R. C. Hendricks ◽  
V. Canacci

A method to visualize and characterize the complex flow fields in simulated brush seals is presented. The brush seal configuration was tested in a water and then in an oil tunnel. The visualization procedure revealed typical regions that are rivering, jetting, vortical or lateral flows and exist upstream, downstream or within the seal. Such flows are engendered by variations in fiber void that are spatial and temporal and affect changes in seal leakage and stability. While the effects of interface motion for linear or cylindrical configurations have not been considered herein, it is believed that the observed flow fields characterize flow phenomenology in both circular and linear brush seals. The axial pressure profiles upstream, across and downstream of the brush in the oil tunnel have been measured under a variety of inlet pressure conditions and the ensuing pressure maps are presented and discussed.


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