Static Force Characteristic of Annular Gaps – Experimental and Simulation Results

We discuss the static characteristics, i.e., the induced force on the rotor, the attitude angle and the pressure difference, of off-centered annular gaps with an axial flow component without cavitation. The paper focuses on turbulent flow inside the annulus. Instead of modeling the inertia effects using the bulk-flow approach, the presented model uses an integro-differential approach in combination with power-law ansatz functions for the velocity profiles and a Hirs’ model to calculate the resulting pressure field. For an experimental validation of the model and comparison to the bulk-flow approach, an annular gap test rig is presented using magnetic bearings to inherently measure the position as well as the force on the rotor induced by the flow field inside the gap. The experimental investigations are performed using three different annuli with three different lengths. The impact of a variation of a modified Reynolds number, the flow number and the preswirl ratio on the resulting force on the rotor, the attitude angle and the pressure difference across the annulus is investigated and compared to the presented model and the bulk-flow approach.