ADVANCED LABYRINTH SEALS

A PROPOSAL IS PRESENTED HEREIN TO EXTEND A RECENTLY DEVELOPED LABRYINTH SEAL ANALYSIS TO ENABLE IT TO BE APPLIED TO MORE ADVANCED SEALS WHICH HAVE RECENTLY BEEN PROPOSED FOR USE IN ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE AXIAL TURBOMACHINERY. UNDER PHASE I OF THIS EFFORT, THE NECESSARY INITIAL COORDINATE SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENABLE THE CURVED SEAL LIPS CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE ADVANCED DESIGNS TO BE DESCRIBED AND SAMPLE CALCULATIONS WOULD BE PERFORMED. THE PREDICTIONS WILL BE COMPARED, WHERE POSSIBLE, TO DATA. FURTHER PHASE II EFFORTS COULD EXTEND THE GEOMETRIC RANGE OF SEALS WHICH COULD BE CONSIDERED, IMPROVE THE COMPUTER CODE EFFICIENCY AND USABILITY AND EXAMINE THE POSSIBLE USE OF CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATIONTOGETHER WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO CONSTRUCT A ROUTINE OPTIMIZED SEAL DESIGN PROCEDURE.