Session: Student Poster Competition

Submission Number: 187046

Performance Comparison of Cryogenic Floating Ring Seals and Annular Seals 

Floating ring seals are widely used to effectively control the leakage of cryogenic working fluids in liquid rocket engine turbopumps due to their simple geometry and compact structures. These seals produce negligible friction losses and wear, enabling reliable operation under demanding high-speed and high-pressure conditions. While a floating ring seal allows a controlled amount of fluid to leak through the small clearance between the rotating shaft and the seal ring, the ring itself is designed to float freely in the radial direction. This unique structure allows the ring to adjust its position dynamically in response to internal pressure variations, maintaining an equilibrium position relative to the shaft position. The fluid-induced forces generated within the seal clearance directly influence rotor vibrations. Therefore, the static and dynamic forced performance of floating ring seals plays a critical role in the stable operation of turbopumps. In cryogenic environments, the significant changes in fluid properties alter the internal flow characteristics and the resulting dynamic coefficients of the seal. Due to complexities in experimental setup and reliable operation, experimental studies investigating floating ring seals under cryogenic conditions, especially those directly measuring the operating behavior of the seal ring, remain limited in the open literature. The current work provides comprehensive experimental results on the static and dynamic load characteristics, as well as the leakage performance, of a floating ring seal designed for compact, high-speed turbopump applications. Furthermore, experimental data from an annular seal with an identical diameter and axial length are presented to provide a direct, one-to-one performance comparison between the two seal configurations. This study supports the improved design and modeling of high-performance cryogenic seals for next-generation space propulsion systems.

Presenting Author: Sangeon Park Hanyang University

Presenting Author Biography: Graduate Research Assistant

Authors:

Sangeon Park Hanyang University
Kyuman Kim Hanyang University
Homin Lim Hanyang University
Hyunsung Jung Hanyang University
Keun Ryu Hanyang University