Labyrinth Seal Designs Have Benefitted from Development and Service Experience

If the labyrinth seal designer can first determine the nature, cause, and resolution of previous problems, he can then better judge what to do and how to do it for today's engines. The designer of long-life labyrinth seals is primarily interested in those design features and design criteria which have been substantiated by actual service experience. If the design features or criteria are too recent to have had significant service experience, component or factory engine tests may provide valuable substantiation.