Structural Seal and Thermal Barrier Research at Glenn Research Center

The Seal Team

Seal Test Fixtures

Our Mission

Objective

• Develop unique seals for extreme temperature engine, hypersonic vehicle, and rocket applications.

Specific Goals

• Develop advanced structural seals capable of extreme (1500 - 3500 °F) temperatures.
• Exploit novel design techniques to meet leakage, durability, and resiliency (spring-back) goals across operating temperature range.
• Evaluate seal performance through compression, flow and extreme thermal tests.
• Develop/validate analytical models to predict leakage and resiliency performance.
• Demonstrate seal performance through prototype engine tests.

Key In House Facilities

• High temperature (1500 °F) rope seal flow and compression test rigs.
• Engine components lab (>2000 °F) & HSR combustor rig (2200 °F) CE9.

Partners

• Thiokol, Albany-Techniweave; GE; PW; Teledyne; Air Force; Boeing; Navy; Rocketdyne; Williams; Other Industrial Partners.

Topics of Interest

Click on title for more information.

Successful firing of MNASA Resusable solid rocket motor.

NASA'S 1996 GOVERNMENT INVENTION OF THE YEAR
High Temperature, Flexible, Fiber Preform Seal

Publications

Structural Seal Reports

• High Temperature Propulsion System Structural Seals for Future Space Launch Vehicles
• Modeling and Evaluation of Canted Coil Springs as High Temperature Seal Preloading Devices
• Evaluation of High Temperature Knitted Spring Tubes for Structural Seal Applications
• Advanced Control Surface Seal Development for Future Space Vehicles
• On the Development of a Unique Arc Jet Test Apparatus for Control Surface Seal Evaluations
• Advanced High Temperature Structural Seals
• Investigations of Control Surface Seals for Re-Entry Vehicles
• Further Investigations of Control Surface Seals for the X-38 Re-Entry Vehicle
• Rudder/Fin Seal Investigations for the X-38 Re-Entry Vehicle - Rev. 1
• Development of Thermal Barriers for Solid Rocket Motor Nozzle Joints
• Feasibilty Assessment of Thermal Barrier Seals for Extreme Transient Temperatures
• Effects of Compression, Staging, and Braid Angle on Braided Rope Seal Performance
• High Temperature Braided Rope Seals for Static Sealing Applications
• High Temperature Performance Evaluation of a Hypersonic Engine Ceramic Wafer Seal (2.1 Mb)

Patents

(Note: These are approximately 500 K PDF bit-map images)

• High Temperature Seal for Large Structural Movements, Patent No. 6,702,300 B1 Issued: March 9, 2004
• Rocket Motor Joint Construction Including Thermal Barrier, Patent No. 6,446,979 Issued: September 10, 2002
• Resilient Braided Rope Seal, Patent No. 6,039,325 Issued: March 21, 2000
• High Temperature, Flexible Fiber-Preform Seal (Award Winner), Patent No. 5,082,293 Issued: January 21, 1992
• High Temperature, Bellows Hybrid Seal, Patent No. 5,332,239 Issued: July 26, 1994
• High Temperature, Flexible Pressure-Actuated Brush Seal, Patent No. 5,076,590 Issued: December 31, 1991
• High Temperature, Flexible Thermal Barrier Seal, Patent No. 5,014,917 Issued: May 14, 1991
• High Temperature, Flexible Seal, Patent No. 4,917,302 Issued: April 17, 1990

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Links

Turbine Seal Web Page
Mechanical Components Branch Web Page :: Branch Publications
Tribology & Surface Science Branch
NASA :: Glenn Research Center

Contact

Official Responsible for Content: Dr. Bruce Steinetz - Mechanical Components Branch
Curator: Central Web Services
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Last Revision Monday, 15-Sep-2008 09:15:04 EDT