Leakage performance of floating ring seal in cold/hot state for aero-engine

Rotating experimental investigations were carried out to study the oil sealing capability of two different floating ring seals in cold/hot state for aero-engine. High-speed Floating Ring Seal (HFRS) is a seal with the inner diameter of 83.72 mm and maximum speed of 38000 r/min, and Low-speed Floating Ring Seal (LFRS) is another seal with the inner diameter of 40.01 mm and maximum speed of 18000 r/min. In hot state, sealing air with the temperature of 371 K and oil with the temperature of 343 K was employed to model the working conditions of an aero-engine. Comparisons between floating ring seal and labyrinth seal were done to inspect the leakage performance. More attention was paid to the critical pressure ratio where the oil leakage began. Results show that the critical pressure ratio in cold state is obviously larger than that in hot state for both seals. An underlying sealing mechanism for floating ring seal is clarified by the fluid film, which closely associates with the dimensionless parameter of clearance over rotating diameter (2c/Dr). Another fantastic phenomenon is that the leakage coefficient in hot state, not the leakage magnitude, is unexpectedly larger than that in cold state. Overall, the leakage performance of the floating ring seal is better than the labyrinth seal.