A numerical investigation of grease friction losses in labyrinth seals

Abstract A numerical study of the grease friction losses in three different configurations of axial and radial labyrinth seals under different rotational speeds was conducted. The results showed the grease rheology has a significant effect on the viscous torque. On the other hand, the number of labyrinth grooves does not affect substantially the torque for axial configuration but influences significantly the torque for radially oriented seals. Axially oriented seals have shown a better lubrication efficiency than radial labyrinths, especially when a non-Newtonian grease with small yield stress and index of consistency was used. The numerical model was also compared with a proposed analytical solution in which the differences were within an error band of 15%.