Performance Analysis of the C/C Composite Cylindrical Reverse Inter-Shaft Gas Film Seal

Abstract

The reverse inter-shaft gas film seal is a gas path seal used in the intermediate bearing cavity of an aero-engine, which is challenging to implement due to its special installation and usage conditions. This paper proposes a C/C (Carbon/Carbon) composite cylindrical reverse inter-shaft seal structure and carries out a performance simulation analysis based on bidirectional fluid–solid coupling technology. The results show that the cylindrical reverse inter-shaft gas film seal with double-layer C/C composite sealing rings with different material mesoscopic parameters can balance seal leakage and friction power consumption and is beneficial to improving the comprehensive performance of the seal. As the mesoscopic parameters of the inner sealing ring material increase in warp and weft density, the sealing leakage rate decreases, and the gas film force and gas friction power consumption all increase. As the pressure difference increases, the sealing leakage rate and gas film force increase. As the rotation speed of the inner and outer rotors increases, the seal leakage rate increases, and the gas film force decreases. A C/C composite sealing ring cylindrical reverse inter-shaft gas film seal has a lower leakage rate and larger gas film force than a graphite sealing ring cylindrical reverse inter-shaft seal, which confers certain performance advantages. The work in this paper can provide a reference for the design of reverse inter-shaft seals.