Ramped Spacer Ring Seal Assembly for Damage-Free Installation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ring seal assemblies in gas turbine engines are prone to damage during installation when the ring seals are eccentric or off-center, leading to reduced service life and effectiveness due to undesired impacts with seal spacers.
Innovation Solution
A ring seal assembly design featuring a radially tapered first pilot to guide the second seal ring into a correct radial position, combined with a biasing member like a wave spring to axially position the seal rings, ensuring proper seating and preventing damage during assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If ring seals are installed without guidance features, then installation process is simpler, but ring seals become damaged due to eccentric or off-center installation
Solution Approach 1:
The first pilot is pre-formed on the first seal spacer before installation, creating a guidance feature that directs the first ring seal into proper alignment during the installation process, preventing eccentric or off-center installation that would cause damage
Solution Approach 2:
The first pilot acts as an intermediary guidance feature between the first seal spacer and the first ring seal, providing a physical reference that ensures proper alignment and prevents direct harmful contact between the ring seal and the edge or face of the seal spacer
2Productivity
If ring seals are installed without alignment features, then assembly process is faster, but service life of ring seals is reduced due to damage
Solution Approach 1:
The pilot features are pre-formed on the seal spacers before assembly, enabling quick alignment of ring seals during installation without requiring complex alignment procedures, thus maintaining fast assembly speed while ensuring proper positioning to extend service life
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical alignment procedures with simple geometric guidance features (pilots), eliminating the need for time-consuming manual alignment while ensuring consistent proper positioning of ring seals
3Ease of operation
If second seal spacer is installed directly without guidance, then installation is more direct, but ring seal suffers impact damage from edge or face contact
Solution Approach 1:
The first pilot is designed to extend beyond the first seal spacer, creating a protective protrusion that prevents the second seal spacer from making direct contact with the first ring seal during installation, thereby preventing impact damage before it can occur
Solution Approach 2:
The extended first pilot serves as an intermediary protective element between the second seal spacer and the first ring seal, absorbing or redirecting installation forces to prevent harmful impact contact
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
A ring seal assembly (60) includes a first seal seat (62), a second seal seat (64) axially abutting the first seal seat (62) and two or more seal rings (66a, 66b) located axially between the first seal seat (62) and the second seal seat (64). One or more pilot features (80, 90) are positioned at one or more of the first seal seat (62) or the second seal seat (64) to radially locate a ring seal of the two or more seal rings (66a, 66b) during assembly of the ring seal assembly (60). A method of installing a ring seal assembly (60) includes securing a first seal seat (62) at a rotating component (72), inserting a first seal ring (66a) onto the first seal seat (62), and installing a second seal ring (66b) and a second seal seat (64) to the rotating component (72). The second seal ring (64) is guided into a selected radial position via one or more pilot features (80, 90) located at the first seal seat (62) and/or the second seal seat (64).