High Pressure Fluid Swivel Seal Plate Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-pressure fluid swivels face issues with seal extrusion failure due to increased separation between facing surfaces, leading to leakages, and existing solutions either add excessive weight, size, and cost or fail to effectively control extrusion gaps under high pressures.
Innovation Solution
A rotatable high-pressure sealed joint design with an outer housing and inner housing assembly, where dynamic seals are placed in concentrically arranged recesses, and the annular passage is sized to minimize radial pressure force, allowing the outer housing ring portions to deflect and compensate for the inner housing's elastic deflections, maintaining consistent clearances and reducing weight and size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If high pressure fluid flows through the annular passage, then fluid transfer capability is improved, but separation between inner and outer housings increases causing seal extrusion failure
Solution Approach 1:
A seal plate is introduced as an intermediary component between the inner and outer housings. The seal plate receives the separating force from the high-pressure fluid and transfers it to the inner housing through controlled contact, preventing direct separation between the housings and protecting the dynamic seals from extrusion failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the structural parameters of the housing assembly by adding the seal plate and designing specific contact surfaces. This changes the force distribution parameters, allowing the system to withstand high fluid pressure without excessive separation that would cause seal failure.
2Reliability
If traditional sealing arrangements are used, then seal coverage is adequate, but extrusion gaps enlarge under high pressure leading to leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The seal plate acts as a mediator that maintains precise spacing between the inner and outer housings. It provides a stable reference surface for the dynamic seals, ensuring that extrusion gaps remain within acceptable tolerances even under high-pressure conditions, thereby preventing leakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal plate is designed with appropriate thickness and material properties to cushion the high-pressure fluid forces before they can cause excessive separation. This pre-cushioning effect maintains consistent seal gaps and prevents the kind of separation that would lead to extrusion failure and leakage.
3Reliability
If housing stiffness is increased to reduce deflection, then seal clearance stability is improved, but device weight and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The housing assembly is segmented into separate components (inner housing, outer housing, and seal plate) that can independently manage different functions. The seal plate specifically handles the pressure stabilization function, allowing the main housings to be optimized for weight and size without compromising clearance stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than increasing the overall housing stiffness and weight, the patent changes the structural parameters by introducing the seal plate with specific dimensional characteristics. This localized parameter change provides the necessary stability for seal clearances without requiring a proportional increase in the size and weight of the entire swivel assembly.
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 design ensures leak-free operation at high pressures by minimizing radial pressure force and elastic deflections, reducing the swivel's outside diameter, height, and weight, while maintaining effective seal performance and longevity.
Implementation Method 1
the upper and lower ring portions elastically deflect upward and downward, respectively, with increasing pressure to compensate for the axially outward elastic deflection of the tightly assembled together inner housing and seal plate
Implementation Method 2
Two or more dynamic seals are disposed above the upper ring portion and two or more dynamic seals are disposed below the lower ring portion of the outer housing. Dynamic seals are contained by seal grooves or recesses in the outer housing and are in compressed contact with the opposing flat annular surfaces on the seal plate and inner housing.
Data Source
AI summary
A fluid swivel including a stationary inner housing assembly and a rotatable outer housing operatively connected to the inner housing assembly. The outer housing includes an annular passage with upper and lower surfaces. Upper and lower seals are positioned between the inner housing assembly and the outer housing in seal recesses. A passage in the inner housing assembly provides fluid of pressure to the annular passage. The fluid exerts a first force axially inward on outer housing outer surfaces, and a larger second force axially outward on the annular passage's upper and lower surfaces. The second force is greater than the first force so upper and lower ring portions deflect outward such that the elastic axial deflections of the inner housing assembly match the axial deflections of the outer housing, thereby causing the axial clearances between the components at the upper and lower seals to remain almost the same.