Ceramic Seal Seat Insert for Gas Turbine Seal Wear Life
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Solution Overview
Problem
Seals in gas turbine engines wear prematurely, leading to decreased sealing performance and environmental contamination within bearing compartments.
Innovation Solution
A seal assembly featuring a ceramic or ceramic matrix composite seal seat insert retained within a recess on the shaft, combined with a graphite seal body biased against it, providing enhanced sealing pressure and wear resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal is biased against a rotating face at a defined pressure to provide sealing, then sealing performance is improved, but the seal wears prematurely
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly uses a composite material structure where the seal body is made of graphite and the seal seat insert is made of ceramic or ceramic matrix composite materials. This combination allows the graphite seal body to provide sealing through deformation while the ceramic insert resists wear and maintains structural integrity under pressure, resolving the contradiction between achieving effective sealing and preventing premature wear.
2Strength
If a ceramic or ceramic matrix composite seal seat insert is used, then wear resistance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The seal seat is divided into two distinct components: a seal body made of graphite and a separate seal seat insert made of ceramic or ceramic matrix composite. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function - the graphite body for sealing and the ceramic insert for wear resistance - while maintaining manufacturing feasibility and assembly simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The ceramic or ceramic matrix composite seal seat insert acts as an intermediary component between the graphite seal body and the shaft. This intermediate element protects the shaft from direct contact with the sealing surface, providing wear resistance while maintaining the simplicity of the overall assembly through a straightforward interference fit retention method.
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 extends the wear life of the seal assembly, maintains sealing performance, and protects the seal seat insert from damage, ensuring effective isolation of the bearing compartment environment.
Implementation Method 1
The seal body may be generally configured to be biased into contact with the seal seat insert to provide a sealing pressure between the seal body and the seal seat insert
Implementation Method 2
The seal seat insert may be retained within the recess using an interference fit
Data Source
AI summary
A seal assembly for a gas turbine engine may include a seal body coupled to an engine static structure of the gas turbine engine and a seal seat insert coupled to a radially extending portion of a shaft of the gas turbine engine. The seal body may be generally configured to be biased into contact with the seal seat insert to provide a sealing pressure between the seal body and the seal seat insert. In various embodiments, the seal seat insert is made from a ceramic material or a ceramic matrix composite.