Conical Threaded Sleeve Tension Nut for Dual Fuel Engine Pipe Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-pressure fluid line systems in dual fuel engines experience leaks due to temperature fluctuations and vibrations, which cause the cone clamping system to loosen, especially during fuel changes, leading to unintended loosening and damage.
Innovation Solution
A pipe connection arrangement with a screw nut element featuring a conically configured threaded sleeve region, which provides increased elasticity and maintains preload even with differential thermal expansion, using a tension nut design that ensures consistent pressure on the sealing seat and mitigates load shocks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional screw nut element with cylindrical threaded sleeve region is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the preload is lost during temperature fluctuations and vibrations causing leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The threaded sleeve region is changed from a cylindrical shape to a conical shape, fundamentally altering the geometric parameter. This conical configuration allows the screw nut element to maintain preload during temperature fluctuations and vibrations, as the conical geometry provides elastic compensation that prevents preload loss, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical threaded sleeve region introduces dynamic adaptability to the screw nut element. The conical geometry enables the structure to dynamically adjust and maintain contact pressure under varying thermal and vibrational conditions, transforming a static connection into one that actively compensates for operational disturbances, thus improving reliability without significantly increasing complexity.
2Reliability
If the threaded sleeve region is made more elastic to maintain preload, then temperature fluctuations are compensated, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The geometric parameter of the threaded sleeve is changed from cylindrical to conical. This parameter change inherently provides elastic properties that compensate for thermal expansion, while the conical shape can be manufactured using standard machining processes, thus achieving thermal compensation without excessive manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conical configuration is applied specifically to the threaded sleeve region rather than the entire screw nut element. This localized application of the conical geometry provides the necessary elastic compensation for thermal expansion in the critical sealing area, while minimizing the overall structural changes and associated manufacturing complexity.
3Force
If a locknut system is added to increase preload, then the preload is enhanced, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding a locknut system, the invention changes the geometric parameter of the threaded sleeve to a conical shape. This single parameter change enables the screw nut element itself to maintain and enhance preload force through elastic compensation, avoiding the need for additional components and the complexity associated with locknut systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the preload maintenance function from a separate locknut system and integrates it directly into the screw nut element through the conical threaded sleeve geometry. This extraction eliminates the need for additional locking components while maintaining the enhanced preload force, thereby reducing device complexity.
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 significantly reduces the risk of accidental loosening and leakage by maintaining preloading force across temperature changes and load variations, enhancing the system's resistance to thermal fluctuations and vibrations, while simplifying production and installation.
Implementation Method 1
the threaded sleeve region of the screw nut element is of conical configuration, with the result that the screwed joint has a high preload that is always sufficient
Implementation Method 2
maintains preload even with differential thermal expansion
Implementation Method 3
the inner clamping cone of the screw nut element is pulled against the conical shoulder of the first pipe element in such a way that the outer sealing cone and the inner sealing cone are clamped to one another in a sealing manner
Data Source
AI summary
A pipe connection arrangement in a high-pressure fluid line system of a dual fuel engine, having first pipe element with outer sealing cone and conical shoulder adjoining the cone, having further pipe element with inner sealing cone and external thread, having a screw nut element with clamping sleeve region having inner clamping cone and threaded sleeve region having internal thread. The outer sealing cone of the first pipe element is arranged in the inner sealing cone of the further pipe element and the internal thread of the screw nut element is screwed on the external thread of the further pipe element. The inner clamping cone of the screw nut element is pulled against the conical shoulder of the first pipe element such that the outer and inner sealing cones are clamped with one another in a sealing manner, wherein the threaded sleeve region of the screw nut element is conical.