Floating Seal Assembly With Side Ring for Reduced Radial Height
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floating non-contact seal designs for gas turbine engines suffer from increased radial height due to a full ring located radially outward of the beams and shoes, which compromises packaging and beam thickness optimization, leading to performance and life degradation.
Innovation Solution
The seal assembly incorporates a side ring that replaces the full ring, allowing for separate cartridges to be pinned in place, reducing radial height and enabling smaller design envelopes within the turbine engine, while maintaining the functionality of the floating non-contact seal by adjusting the gap between the shoe and rotating component in response to pressure changes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a full ring is located outboard of and made integrally with the beams and shoes, then the seal assembly maintains structural integrity and holds all shoes together, but the radial height increases considerably negatively impacting packaging
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly is divided into separate modular cartridges, each containing a shoe and beam assembly. These cartridges are held together by a retaining ring rather than a full integral ring structure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while reducing the overall radial height requirement compared to a monolithic design.
Solution Approach 2:
The full ring is repositioned from an outboard location to an inboard location, changing its spatial dimension and relationship to other components. This dimensional reconfiguration allows the ring to serve its structural function while minimizing the radial height footprint of the seal assembly.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a full ring is located outboard of the beams and shoes, then the seal assembly maintains structural integrity, but beam thickness optimization is jeopardized degrading performance and life
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the seal into separate cartridges held by a retaining ring, each beam can be optimized for its specific functional requirements without being constrained by the need to accommodate an outboard full ring structure. This allows for optimal beam thickness and cross-section design to maximize strength and performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The full ring is inverted from its conventional outboard position to an inboard position. This inversion fundamentally changes the structural arrangement, allowing beams to extend further outward with optimized thickness profiles while the ring provides support from the opposite direction, thereby improving both structural integrity and beam performance.
3Length of moving object
If separate cartridges are pinned in place using a side ring, then radial height is reduced and packaging is improved, but the structural configuration must be redesigned
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly is segmented into discrete cartridges that can be independently manufactured, assembled, and maintained. Each cartridge contains a shoe and beam assembly pinned together, held in place by a simple retaining ring. This segmentation reduces radial height while the modular nature simplifies the overall structural configuration compared to a complex integral design.
Solution Approach 2:
A retaining ring serves as an intermediary component that holds the separate cartridges in place without requiring a complex full ring structure. This simple intermediary element achieves the structural integration function while minimizing radial height and simplifying the overall configuration.
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
This configuration reduces the radial height of the seal assembly, improving packaging and allowing for easier maintenance and manufacturing, while maintaining effective sealing performance and extending the life of the seal system.
Implementation Method 1
A shoe component of the floating non-contact seal is drawn radially inward and outward (toward and away) from the rotating component in response to the pressure across the sealing element
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A seal assembly (10) includes a side ring (18) and a cartridge (20). The side ring (18) comprises an annular piece of solid material. The cartridge (20) is affixed to the side ring (18) and comprises a shoulder (54), a beam (24) connected to and extending from the shoulder (54), a shoe (22) attached to an end of the beam (24), and a rotary seal (38) disposed on a bottom portion of the shoe (22).