Forces and Moments Due to Combined Motion of Conical and Cylindrical Whirls for a Long Seal

Abstract

The mutual interaction effects of cylindrical and conical whirl on the dynamic fluid forces and moments, which act on a long annular seal, were studied experimentally. A whirling motion composed of cylindrical and conical whirls is actuated by intentionally giving the phase difference between the seal exit and inlet whirling movements. This whirling motion is believed to generate during actual pump running. The experiment was conducted by changing the phase difference, at various rotor speeds and with a pressure difference between the seal inlet and exit. The result of this study revealed that fluid forces and moments are greatly dependent on the phase difference of the whirl, namely the long seal has a significant coupling between displacements and rotations. Furthermore, dynamic fluid forces and moments were derived theoretically, assuming that total fluid force acting on the rotor could be determined by superposing fluid forces due to conical and cylindrical whirling movements. It was confirmed that the experimental results moderately agree with the theoretical values, if the rotor and seal are set in concentric alignment, the principle of superposition becomes applicable.