Numerical Investigation on Flow and Heat Transfer of a Rotor–Stator Cavity with Labyrinth Seal

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of a simplified rotor–stator cavity with labyrinth seal were numerically investigated. Four geometric parameters, including the tip clearance, circumferential distance, inclination angle and tooth number of the labyrinth seal were systematically varied to explore their effects. The results showed that under the premise of keeping the same rotating speed and pressure difference between the inlet and outlet, the effects of the tip clearance, tooth number and circumferential distance on the flow and fluid interchange characteristics of the disk cavity are linear; when the angle of labyrinth seal changes from negative to positive, the radial distribution of the swirling flow ratio resembles the shape of a concave function, and a peak appears in the radial distribution of the rotor’s torque coefficient. Finally, an empirical relation between the mass flow rate and the four geometric parameters was obtained by numerical fitting.