Spring-Loaded Brush Seal Structure for Axial Movement and Pressure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current brush seal designs for gas turbine engines face difficulties in applications with axial movement and high pressure differentials, leading to bristle blow-over and potential leakage.
Innovation Solution
A brush seal design featuring a spring-loaded support plate with a support bar and extending arms, which applies a biasing load to maintain contact with the sealing surfaces, reducing bristle overhang and distortion across high pressure differentials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional brush seal is used in applications with axial movement and high pressure differentials, then the seal structure is simple, but the bristles experience blow-over and leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate is designed to be movable relative to the backing plate, allowing it to dynamically adjust its position in response to axial movement and pressure differentials. This dynamic capability enables the support plate to maintain proper bristle alignment and contact with the sealing surface under varying operating conditions, resolving the contradiction between reliability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal structure is divided into distinct functional components: a stationary backing plate and a movable support plate. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, with the support plate handling the dynamic response to pressure and axial movement while the backing plate provides structural support, thereby improving seal performance without excessive complexity.
2Reliability
If the support plate is made spring-loaded to maintain contact with sealing surfaces, then bristle overhang and leakage are reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring-loaded support plate is designed to automatically adjust and maintain contact with the sealing surface through the elastic force of the spring. This self-adjusting mechanism eliminates the need for external control systems or complex actuation mechanisms, allowing the support plate to self-regulate its position in response to pressure differentials and axial movement, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
3Reliability
If the brush seal is designed to handle high pressure differentials, then sealing effectiveness improves, but the bristles are more susceptible to blow-over
Solution Approach 1:
The movable support plate acts as an intermediary between the high-pressure differential environment and the bristles. By positioning the support plate to contact the sealing surface and provide a physical barrier, it shields the bristles from the full force of pressure-induced blow-over while still allowing the seal to effectively handle high pressure differentials, thus resolving the contradiction between sealing effectiveness and bristle protection.
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 spring-loaded support plate effectively compresses and decompresses to maintain contact with sealing surfaces, reducing bristle overhang and leakage, enhancing the seal's performance in active seal cavities with high pressure differentials.
Implementation Method 1
The plurality of arms may be configured to apply a biasing load to the support bar
Data Source
AI summary
A brush seal for a gas turbine engine may comprise a spring-loaded support plate and a plurality of bristles located over the spring-loaded support plate. The spring-loaded support plate may comprise a support bar and a plurality of arms extending from the support bar. The support arms may be configured to apply a biasing load to the support bar.