Patent ID: 8600707

Claim:
A process for designing a labyrinth seal for flutter comprising the steps of: produce a computer generated model of a labyrinth seal; determine geometric parameters of the labyrinth seal; determine seal flow parameters of the labyrinth seal; analyze the computer generated model of the labyrinth seal using a finite element analysis program for modal analysis for a range of nodal diameters to determine frequencies and mode shapes of the labyrinth seal; determine an aerodynamic damping of the labyrinth seal for the different nodal diameters; determine a level of mechanical damping of the labyrinth seal; if the sum of the aerodynamic damping and the mechanical damping of the labyrinth seal is negative, then change one or more of the labyrinth seal parameters and redo the analysis; and, if the sum of aerodynamic damping and the mechanical damping of the labyrinth seal is positive, then stop the analysis of the labyrinth seal.