Experimentation and Modelling of Novel Adaptive Shaft Seals for use in Turbomachinery

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Experimental and modelling project developing novel shaft seals for gas turbines with The Turbomachinery Research Group (TRG) at the University of Bath. Seals between high- and low-pressure turbine sections to reduce leakage are critical components in turbomachinery and electric motors.Start-up and shut-down transients often experienced in large rotating equipment lead to varying seal clearances. This poses a challenge in designing seals to prevent rubs, reduce leakage and improve rotor stability, critical for reaching net-zero propulsion.Comparable seal designs include:- Labyrinth seals, widely used due to low cost and high speed, pressure and temperature capabilities, but suffer from rubs and diminishing performance.- Brush seals and leaf seals, using flexible bristles or leaves respectively, improve leakage performance over labyrinth seals by an order of magnitude, whilst still suffering from diminishing performance from rubsAdaptive seals are an in-development design case aimed at accommodating larger rotor eccentricities during start-up and shut-down by dynamically accommodating for a changing clearance, whilst maintaining or improving the leakage and stability performance compared to comparable seal designs.This project aims to advance the understanding of adaptive seal designs for future applications by using the already existing experimental facility to inform and validate theoretical models that can then be used to influence design. The facility is capable of replicating and controlling the conditions in seal use-cases.The co-funding sponsor of this project is Cross Manufacturing Ltd., a leading supplier of brush seal components to the aerospace and power generation industries. The project will closely work with Cross to perform experiments and ensure that meaningful results are implemented at the company.It is an additional expectation of the project that research is disseminated through publications and presented at the annual ASME Turbo Expo conference.