Seals for a gas turbine engine

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9932844-B2
Application number	US-201615227333-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2016
Priority date	Mar 15, 2013
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A sealing assembly may include a support, an engine component, and a seal. The engine component may be mounted relative to the support to define a gap between the engine component and the support. The seal may be arranged between the support and the engine component to block gasses from passing through the gap. The seal may be adapted to compress and expand to fill the gap during expansion and contraction of the adjacent components that occurs during operation of a gas turbine engine including the sealing assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sealing assembly comprising:
a support having a support-seal surface,
an engine component having a component-seal surface, the engine component mounted so that the component-seal surface is arranged in spaced-apart confronting relation with the support-seal surface to define a gap between the support and the engine component that grows and shrinks based on the temperature of the support and the engine component, and
a seal adapted to block gasses from passing through the gap between the support and the engine component, the seal including a mount ring coupled to the support and spaced apart from the engine component the mount ring formed to include a plurality of spaced apart pusher arms and a ceramic tadpole gasket having a compressible head and a flat body extending from the compressible head, wherein the compressible head is engaged by the plurality of spaced apart pusher arms and the flat body is formed to include receiver slots that receive the pusher arms therethrough so that the tadpole gasket is coupled to the mount ring, wherein the seal includes a retainer ring that cooperates with the mount ring to trap at least a portion of the flat body between the mount ring and the retainer ring.

2. The sealing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the mount ring includes a spring portion configured to push the compressible head of the ceramic tadpole gasket into contact with the engine component.

3. The sealing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the mount ring includes a coupler portion extending from the spring portion of the mount ring, the coupler portion of the mount ring is coupled to the support by fasteners that extend through the coupler portion of the mount ring and into the support.

4. The sealing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the retainer ring includes a keeper portion that cooperates with the pusher arms of the mount ring to define a gasket channel sized to receive a portion of the compressible head and arranged to open toward the component-seal surface of the engine component.

5. The sealing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the retainer ring includes a spring portion arranged to nest inside the spring portion of the mount ring so that the flat body of the tadpole gasket is trapped between the spring portion of the retainer ring and the spring portion of the mount ring.

6. The sealing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the support-seal surface and the component-seal surface are continuous.

7. The sealing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the support is made from a metallic material and the engine component is made from a composite material.

8. A seal adapted for use in a gas turbine engine, the seal comprising
a ceramic tadpole gasket having a compressible head and a flat body extending from the compressible head,
a mount ring formed to include a plurality of spaced apart pusher arms that engage the compressible head and the flat body is formed to include receiver slots that receive the pusher arms therethrough so that the tadpole gasket is coupled to the mount ring, and
a retainer ring that engages the compressible head of the tadpole gasket, wherein the retainer ring cooperates with the mount ring to trap at least a portion of the flat body between the mount ring and the retainer ring.

9. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the mount ring includes a spring portion having a generally U-shaped cross-section.

10. The seal of claim 9 , wherein the mount ring includes a coupler portion extending from the spring portion of the mount ring, the coupler portion of the mount ring is adapted to couple to a support by fasteners that extend through the coupler portion of the mount ring.

11. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the mount ring includes a curved pusher portion coupled to the spring portion of the mount ring, the curved pusher portion extends around a portion of the compressible head included in the tadpole gasket, and the curved pusher portion is arranged to engage the compressible head.

12. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the mount ring and retainer ring are annular and the curved pusher portion of the mount ring and a keeper portion of the retainer ring cooperate to define an annular gasket channel arranged to open radially outward and sized to receive a portion of the compressible head.

13. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the mount ring and the retainer ring are annular and the retainer ring includes a spring portion having a generally U-shaped cross-section arranged to nest inside a spring portion of the mount ring.

14. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the ceramic tadpole gasket further includes a retention tail coupled to the flat body opposite the compressible head.

15. The seal of claim 8 , wherein the pusher fingers are circumferentially spaced apart from one another.

16. A method of assembling a seal for a gas turbine engine comprising:
inserting circumferentially spaced apart pusher fingers included in a metallic mount ring into receiver slots formed in a flat body that extends from a compressible head included in a ceramic tadpole gasket to couple the metallic mount ring to the ceramic tadpole gasket, and
trapping at least a portion of the flat body between the metallic mount ring and a metallic retainer ring to further couple the flat body and compressible head of the ceramic tadpole gasket to the metallic mount ring.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc
• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc

Inventors

• Sutterfield David L
• Zeaton Gregory W

Classifications

• F05D2220/32

  in gas turbines · CPC title

• F02K1/805

  Sealing devices therefor, e.g. for movable parts of jet pipes or nozzle flaps · CPC title

• F16J15/0812

  with a braided or knitted body · CPC title

• F05D2230/60

  Assembly methods · CPC title

• F16J15/104

  characterised by structure · CPC title