Analysis of Forces Acting on Compressor Sliding Vanes

This study utilizes Newton’s law to analyze: 1) the force required to act on a vane bottom in order to create zero contact force between the vane and the stator, and 2) the contact forces between the vane and the rotor in a sliding vane compressor. The effects of the number, length, thickness and material of vanes, the locations of the outlet ports, and the rotor rotational speed of the compressor on these forces are analyzed. The results show that the effect of the vane thickness on these forces is not significant. Nevertheless, these forces increase when the number of vanes and the angular starting location of the outlet port increases. When the length and the density of the vane and the rotational speed of the rotor increase, there is a decrease in the force required to act on the vane bottom in order for it to come in to contact with the stator.