Spring-Loaded Sealing Strip for Turbine Gap Wear Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sealing strip elements in gas turbines suffer from wear and leakage due to thermal growth and tolerances, leading to reduced lifetime and inefficient sealing, especially when used in gaps between stator vanes and ring segments.
Innovation Solution
A sealing device with a displaceable abutment and spring mechanism that ensures a fixed position within the gap, minimizing wear and leakage by compensating for thermal expansion, featuring a head section with an abutment and spring arrangement that enhances sealing properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sealing strip element is used to seal gaps between stator vanes, then sealing is achieved, but wear and leakage occur due to thermal growth and tolerances, reducing lifetime
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing device incorporates a displaceable abutment that can move dynamically within the gap to maintain constant contact pressure with the sealing surface. This dynamic adjustment compensates for thermal growth and manufacturing tolerances, preventing wear and leakage while extending the sealing device's lifetime.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the positional parameter of the abutment, allowing it to displace along the gap to adapt to thermal expansion. This parameter change ensures continuous sealing contact under varying temperature conditions, maintaining reliability while extending service life.
2Adaptability or versatility
If free space is kept within the gap for thermal growth, then adaptability to thermal changes is achieved, but the sealing strip element cannot cover the entire gap length, leading to potential leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The displaceable abutment dynamically adjusts its position within the available free space to maintain sealing contact. As thermal growth occurs and the gap changes, the abutment moves to compensate, ensuring the sealing surface remains covered without requiring the sealing strip to span the entire gap length.
Solution Approach 2:
The abutment automatically positions itself within the free space to maintain optimal sealing contact. This self-adjusting mechanism ensures continuous sealing coverage adaptability to thermal changes without external intervention, resolving the contradiction between thermal adaptability and sealing coverage.
3Ease of operation
If the sealing strip element is allowed to move along the gap, then some free space is utilized, but wear increases and lifetime is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of allowing random movement of the sealing strip, the invention creates a controlled dynamic system where the abutment moves in a specific direction (towards the sealing surface) to maintain contact pressure. This controlled movement accommodates thermal expansion while preventing wear-inducing lateral movement, thereby extending lifetime.
4Temperature
If cooling air is supplied to the rear area, then turbine parts are cooled, but the amount of cooling air reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and seals the gap between stator vanes, preventing hot gas leakage that would otherwise require additional cooling air to compensate. By sealing the gap, the system reduces the total cooling air demand, improving thermal efficiency while maintaining effective cooling of turbine parts.
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 provides improved sealing performance by reducing wear and minimizing leakage, ensuring a secure fit and adaptability to thermal changes, thereby extending the device's lifespan and enhancing the efficiency of gas turbines.
Implementation Method 1
The spring is arranged between the abutment and the main section. The spring is supported by the main section and exerts a force on the abutment in a direction from the main section to the head end.
Implementation Method 2
due to the thermal growth and tolerances it is necessary to keep a free space within the available length of the gap to mount the sealing strip element
Data Source
AI summary
A flat shaped sealing device for sealing a gap between two parts having a sealing length and a sealing width from one side edge to the opposite side edge of at most 0.2-times the sealing length and having a sealing thickness from a bottom side to a top side of at most 0.2-times the sealing width. The sealing device includes a head section and an adjacent main section. The head section includes an abutment and a spring, wherein the abutment is displaceable towards the main section and the spring is therefore arranged between the abutment and the main section and is able to exert a force on the abutment.