Abstract

The study investigates the prediction of tangential shear stress and the frictional torque coefficient over a rotating disk in a rotor-stator system under laminar inward flow conditions. The interaction between the rotating and stationary disks is governed by key parameters, such as volumetric flow rate, rotational speed of the disk, and the axial clearance between the two surfaces. These parameters are expressed in terms of dimensionless quantities, including the throughflow Reynolds number, gap ratio, and rotational Reynolds number, to generalize the findings. To analyze the influence of these parameters, an analytical model is developed by simplifying the Navier-Stokes equations. The gap ratio between the rotating and stationary disk is systematically varied from 0.0125 to 0.05 to understand its effect on flow characteristics. The study considers three fixed throughflow Reynolds numbers of 50, 500, and 800 while varying the rotational Reynolds number in the range of 3000 to 10,000. The results indicate that dimensionless parameters have a substantial impact on the tangential shear stress distribution and frictional torque coefficient within the rotor-stator system. The findings provide critical insights into the fluid dynamics of rotating machinery, contributing to a better understanding of frictional losses and performance optimization. The study highlights the significance of axial clearance and rotational speed in determining shear stress and torque characteristics, which is valuable for applications involving enclosed rotor-stator flows, such as turbomachinery and industrial fluid handling systems.

Keywords: Rotor-stator system, gap ratio, rotational Reynolds number, throughflow Reynolds number, inward flow

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Abstract

The study investigates the prediction of tangential shear stress and the frictional torque coefficient over a rotating disk in a rotor-stator system under laminar inward flow conditions. The interaction between the rotating and stationary disks is governed by key parameters, such as volumetric flow rate, rotational speed of the disk, and the axial clearance between the two surfaces. These parameters are expressed in terms of dimensionless quantities, including the throughflow Reynolds number, gap ratio, and rotational Reynolds number, to generalize the findings. To analyze the influence of these parameters, an analytical model is developed by simplifying the Navier-Stokes equations. The gap ratio between the rotating and stationary disk is systematically varied from 0.0125 to 0.05 to understand its effect on flow characteristics. The study considers three fixed throughflow Reynolds numbers of 50, 500, and 800 while varying the rotational Reynolds number in the range of 3000 to 10,000. The results indicate that dimensionless parameters have a substantial impact on the tangential shear stress distribution and frictional torque coefficient within the rotor-stator system. The findings provide critical insights into the fluid dynamics of rotating machinery, contributing to a better understanding of frictional losses and performance optimization. The study highlights the significance of axial clearance and rotational speed in determining shear stress and torque characteristics, which is valuable for applications involving enclosed rotor-stator flows, such as turbomachinery and industrial fluid handling systems.

Keywords: Rotor-stator system, gap ratio, rotational Reynolds number, throughflow Reynolds number, inward flow

🔒 This is a subscription article

Full text is available to subscribers and institutional members. Please choose an option below to access it.