Additive-Manufactured Seal Rotor for Flatness and Cooling Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rotors in high temperature/high speed environments face significant challenges in maintaining rotor face flatness due to clamping-induced distortions, inertial forces, pressure differences, and thermal loads, which are difficult to address without introducing internal stress or adding mass.
Innovation Solution
An additive manufactured dynamic seal rotor with internal features such as circumferential grooves and annular cavities, designed to reduce mass and enhance cooling efficiency, allowing for tuning of rotor face coning and distortion management through optimized geometry and fluid channels for active cooling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If conventional manufacturing methods are used to produce rotors, then structural strength is maintained, but mass reduction is limited and internal stress cannot be effectively managed
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor is divided into multiple segments including an outer ring, inner ring, and radial web, allowing each component to be optimized independently for both strength and weight reduction while maintaining overall structural integrity
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the rotor are designed with different properties - the outer ring and inner ring have optimized thicknesses and the radial web has specific geometry to provide local strength where needed while minimizing mass in non-critical areas
2Force
If clamping force is increased to resist high torque loads, then torque resistance is improved, but rotor face distortion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented rotor design with outer ring, inner ring, and radial web allows the mounting surfaces to be optimized for uniform clamping distribution, reducing localized stress concentrations that cause coning while maintaining torque resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor design accounts for dynamic loads including inertial forces and pressure differences, with geometry optimized to maintain rotor face flatness under varying operational conditions rather than just static clamping forces
3Manufacturing precision
If rotor face flatness is maintained through conventional design, then sealing performance is preserved, but thermal distortion from sealing ring heating cannot be effectively managed
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented structure with radial web creates natural thermal pathways that distribute heat from the sealing ring interface more evenly across the rotor face, reducing thermal gradients that cause distortion
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor design incorporates features that manage heat in the radial dimension through the web structure, allowing thermal control without compromising the axial face flatness required for sealing
4Use of energy by moving object
If internal features are added to reduce mass and enhance cooling, then cooling efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotor is segmented into outer ring, inner ring, and radial web components that collectively provide both structural function and integrated cooling pathways, eliminating the need for separate cooling system components
Solution Approach 2:
The radial web and annular cavity structure serves multiple functions simultaneously - providing structural support, enabling mass reduction, and creating effective cooling pathways through the rotor, thereby reducing overall device complexity despite added internal features
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 mechanical and thermal distortions, achieving 50-70% mass reduction and improved cooling efficiency, thereby maintaining rotor face flatness and operational reliability in high-stress environments.
Implementation Method 1
the radial web defining a fluid channel for providing fluid communication between the first annular cavity of the outer ring and the second annular cavity of the inner ring
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates generally an additive manufactured rotor (10) for a seal assembly. The rotor surrounds a central axis (28) and extends along the central axis from a first axial end (12) to an opposite second axial end (14). The rotor is rotatable about an axis of rotation that is co-axial with the central axis. The rotor can include an outer ring (20) and an inner ring (22) that is connected to the outer ring by a radial web (24). The outer ring has a rotor face (26) for providing a sealing surface at the first axial end. The outer ring can define a first annular cavity (40) and the inner ring can define a second annular cavity (42) that is radially separated from the first annular cavity. The radial web can define a fluid channel (52) for providing fluid communication between the first annular cavity of the outer ring and the second annular cavity of the inner ring. The first and second annular cavities can be concentric with the axis of rotation.