Slotted Seal Runner Structure to Prevent Warping and Leakage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art contact seals in high-speed rotating applications, such as aircraft engines, are prone to deformation, leading to premature failure and leakage due to operating conditions.
Innovation Solution
A seal runner assembly with an annular body featuring axially-extending slots and circumferential slots, which distributes load and reduces stiffness to prevent warping, ensuring a secure and leak-proof seal around rotating shafts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If prior art contact seals are used in high-speed rotating applications, then they can provide a fluid seal around the rotating shaft, but they become deformed leading to premature failure and leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The seal runner is divided into multiple segments by introducing axially-extending slots that circumferentially space apart annular segments. This segmentation allows each segment to independently manage thermal expansion and deformation, preventing overall warping of the seal runner while maintaining the sealing function at the contact interface with the wear seal
Solution Approach 2:
The axially-extending slots are positioned at specific locations distributed around the circumference of the seal runner, creating local variations in structural properties. This allows regions with slots to accommodate deformation while maintaining sealing integrity at the front face contact area, applying different structural characteristics to different parts of the seal runner based on their functional requirements
2Stability of the object's composition
If the seal runner is made stiffer to prevent deformation, then warping is reduced, but the seal runner cannot accommodate thermal expansion and stress under high-speed operation
Solution Approach 1:
The seal runner transitions from a static, rigid structure to a dynamic structure that can adapt to operating conditions. The axially-extending slots enable the seal runner to flex and accommodate thermal expansion and stress variations during high-speed rotation, allowing the structure to dynamically respond to changing conditions while maintaining sealing effectiveness
Data Source
AI summary
A seal runner assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a non-rotational annular wear seal, and an annular seal runner having an annular body defining an annular front face contacting the wear seal, the annular body defining an aperture extending axially through the seal runner, the aperture configured for receiving therein a part of a shaft of the gas turbine engine, the seal runner having a plurality of axially-extending slots at locations that are distributed around a wall of the seal runner that extends circumferentially about at least a portion of the annular front face and extends from the front face in a direction away from the wear seal. A method for sealing a gap between a part of a machine and a rotatable shaft of the machine is also provided.