Labyrinth seals are primarily constructed using what design feature?

Labyrinth seals are engineered with grooved surfaces, which play a significant role in their functionality. The grooved design creates a series of paths and barriers that impede the flow of gases or fluids, effectively preventing leakage. These grooves help to manage pressure differentials, allowing the seal to maintain integrity even under varying operational conditions.

The presence of the grooves helps in trapping a small amount of the working fluid, creating a pressure drop, which aids in reducing the leakage rate. This design is especially crucial in turbo machinery applications where maintaining efficiency and performance is paramount. While other design features like flat surfaces, circular rings, or spiral designs may have their own applications in sealing technologies, they do not provide the same advantages in minimizing leakage as the grooved surfaces of labyrinth seals do. This makes the grooved surface design a critical element in their effectiveness and reliability in turbine applications.