Research on the influence of high speed labyrinth rubbing on the initiation and propagation of crack in sealing ring

Abstract

The rubbing of the labyrinth sealing structure is a common problem during the operation of aeroengine air system. Due to the difficulty in observing the process of crack initiation and propagation on the sealing ring during actual rubbing，using finite element method for numerical simulation can provide a deeper understanding of the process and mechanism of crack initiation and propagation. The sealing ring model with wear grooves after rubbing is proposed. The surface convective heat transfer coefficient，rubbing force and rubbing temperature of the sealing ring are considered. The extended finite element method（XFEM）is used to numerically study the temperature field， stress field，and crack initiation and propagation of the sealing ring. The crack numerical simulation result is com pared with the result of rubbing experiment. The results show that the crack initiation and propagation direction obtained from numerical simulation are basically consistent with those obtained from rubbing experiment. The mechanism of crack initiation is revealed，and it is proven that this method can effectively simulate the process of crack initiation and propagation caused by rubbing.

Keywords

• labyrinth sealing
• rubbing
• extended finite element
• crack initiation
• crack propagation