Annular Metallic Seal with Ring Teeth for Flange Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing arrangements, such as corrugated ring seals, suffer from irreversible deformation under pressure, poor blow-out protection, and high installation thickness, leading to leakage and damage, especially under high loads and temperature fluctuations, which compromises their effectiveness in maintaining sustainable tightness.
Innovation Solution
An annular metallic base body with radially circumferential ring teeth and soft material coatings, where the ring teeth are designed for metallic contact and can be plastically deformed during installation, allowing for elastic stress absorption and reversible deformation, ensuring a high level of tightness and reduced thickness for easier installation without material damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If corrugated ring seals are pressed on during installation, then metallic contact is achieved, but the corrugated base body undergoes irreversible radial expansion and flattening
Solution Approach 1:
The base body is designed with a dynamic corrugated structure that allows controlled deformation during installation. The corrugations enable the seal to adapt to flange surface irregularities and achieve metallic contact, while the material properties and geometric design ensure that the deformation remains within elastic limits, allowing the structure to return to its original configuration after installation, thus preventing irreversible flattening
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes specific parameters of the corrugated structure including the amplitude and wavelength of corrugations, material thickness, and material selection (e.g., spring steel) to control the elastic deformation behavior. By carefully selecting these parameters, the seal achieves sufficient compliance for installation while maintaining structural integrity and preventing permanent deformation under operating conditions
2Reliability
If high contact pressure is applied during installation, then metallic contact is ensured, but the soft material layers are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The soft material layers (graphite and PTFE) are pre-applied to the base body with sufficient thickness and adhesion to act as a protective cushion during installation. These layers distribute the installation loads and protect the underlying base body structure, while still allowing the corrugations to deform sufficiently to achieve metallic contact at the outer and inner diameters
Solution Approach 2:
The seal design incorporates different local properties: the soft material layers provide compliance and protection in areas subject to high installation stresses, while the corrugated base body provides structural support and elastic recovery capability. The metallic base body itself has varying thickness or stiffness in different regions to control where deformation occurs, ensuring that critical areas are protected while still achieving the necessary contact
3Length of moving object
If the base body thickness is reduced for easier installation, then installation thickness is decreased, but the rigidity and stress absorption capacity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The base body incorporates a corrugated (curved/wavy) cross-sectional profile instead of a flat structure. This curvature provides geometric stiffness that compensates for reduced material thickness. The corrugations act like I-beams in structural engineering, providing high bending resistance with minimal material, thereby maintaining rigidity and stress absorption capacity while keeping the overall thickness low for easier installation
Solution Approach 2:
The seal employs a composite structure combining the metallic base body (providing structural strength and elasticity) with soft material layers (graphite and PTFE providing compliance and protection). This composite design allows the thin metallic structure to achieve the necessary rigidity through the synergistic combination of materials, where each layer contributes its specific properties to the overall performance
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances the sealing arrangement's rigidity and tightness by generating a pressure peak at the tooth tip, improving long-term sealing performance under pressure and temperature loads while maintaining a thin profile, thus overcoming the limitations of traditional sealing technologies.
Implementation Method 1
the base body has at least one angled ring tooth in the area covered by the soft material layer which is at least partially plastically deformed during installation
Implementation Method 2
the metallic base body and its ring teeth are thus not irreversibly deformed. These special features mean that the stresses caused by pressure and temperature fluctuations are absorbed elastically
Implementation Method 3
When tightening the flange screws, the soft material layers are compressed almost to the maximum
Data Source
Figure 1~3
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Figure 7~10
AI summary
A sealing arrangement, which is particularly suitable for flat flange connections, has an annular, metallic base body (1). Connected to the metallic base body (1) at both sides are soft material supports (2). The base body (1) has ring teeth (3,4) which run around radially at the inside and/or at the outside. The ring teeth (3,4), in the installed state, permit punctiform metallic contact and also have a spring characteristic. The spring characteristic of the ring teeth (3,4) is selected such that, in a first embodiment, after the removal of the seal from the flanges, the tooth height corresponds substantially to the height before the installation. The region of the base body (1) which is covered by the soft material supports (2) also has angular ring teeth (5). Said ring teeth (5) have a spring characteristic, wherein after the removal of the seal, the ring teeth (5) spring back to at least 75% of the original state. In a further embodiment, the ring teeth (5) which are covered by the soft material support (2) are partially plastically deformable.