Segmented Sliding Seal for Gas Turbine Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional seals in gas turbine engines face premature failure due to significant deflections and elevated temperatures, leading to deformation and reduced effectiveness, with limitations in both temperature and wear resistance.
Innovation Solution
A seal design featuring C-shaped or E-shaped sections made from high-temperature materials with slots and arc segments, allowing for enhanced flexibility and resilience while maintaining contact with turbine components, and using a combination of materials for improved wear resistance and temperature tolerance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a w-seal is used to seal the gas path, then sealing performance is achieved, but the seal deforms and becomes ineffective under significant deflections
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is divided into multiple arc segments that can independently deflect and conform to the mating surface. Each segment is separated by slots allowing relative motion, enabling the seal to accommodate deflections without losing sealing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal uses a flexible structure with slots that allow the arc segments to bend and deform elastically under deflection loads, maintaining contact with the mating surface while accommodating relative motion between components.
2Strength
If a higher strength material is used to improve deflection capability, then deflection resistance is improved, but temperature capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The seal employs composite construction with a resilient base material providing deflection capability and a ceramic coating providing high-temperature resistance. This combination allows the seal to simultaneously achieve both deflection resistance and high-temperature capability that neither material could provide alone.
3Temperature
If a rope seal is used to achieve high temperature capability, then temperature resistance is improved, but flexibility and deflection capability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The seal combines a flexible resilient base material with a ceramic coating, where the base material provides the necessary flexibility and deflection capability while the ceramic coating enables high-temperature operation, achieving both properties simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The segmented structure with slots allows the seal to maintain flexibility and adaptability while the ceramic coating provides temperature resistance, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and temperature capability.
4Strength
If a seal is designed for high strength and temperature resistance, then material performance is improved, but wear resistance decreases under significant relative motion
Solution Approach 1:
The composite structure uses a resilient base material that can accommodate wear through elastic deformation and a ceramic coating that provides wear-resistant surface properties, allowing the seal to maintain both strength and wear resistance under relative motion.
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 seal design effectively maintains sealing performance under relative motion and temperature variations, reducing leakage and enabling the use of simpler geometries, with improved vibration tolerance and wear resistance.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient seal section (214) of the seal (112) radially outwardly deflecting to engage a sealing surface (208)
Implementation Method 2
The resilient seal section (214) may be coated with a ceramic material to provide increased wear resistance
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure relates generally to a sliding seal (212) between two components (202, 204). The sliding seal (212) includes a first seal section (214) and an adjacent second seal section (216), each including a base (218, 222) and two extending legs (219, 220) defining respective first and second ends (227, 229) of the seal (212). At least the first seal section (214) includes a first plurality of slots (230) extending from the first end (227) to the base (218) and a second plurality of slots (230) extending from the second end (229) to the base (218).