U.S. patent application number 14/689133 was filed with the patent office on 2016-02-04 for fluid barriers with flexible backing material and methods of repairing and manufacturing the same.
The applicant listed for this patent is UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to William Bogue, Christopher J. Hertel, Brian Kenneth Holland, Ted H. Lancaster.
Application Number | 20160033040 14/689133 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41115935 |
Filed Date | 2016-02-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160033040 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lancaster; Ted H. ; et
al. |
February 4, 2016 |
FLUID BARRIERS WITH FLEXIBLE BACKING MATERIAL AND METHODS OF
REPAIRING AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Abstract
A component to be repaired includes a relatively rigid plate. On
a surface that may have been subject to fracture, a resin material
is first laid down, then a relatively flexible material is
positioned outwardly of the resin material to repair the barrier. A
part may also be formed initially with the flexible material. In
another feature of this application, a method of forming a barrier
includes providing a composite material, and applying a relatively
flexible material on a surface of the composite material, and
concurrently molding the relatively flexible material with the
composite material using a composite mold.
Inventors: |
Lancaster; Ted H.;
(Suffield, CT) ; Bogue; William; (Hebron, CT)
; Holland; Brian Kenneth; (Lansing, MI) ; Hertel;
Christopher J.; (Wethersfield, CT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION |
Hartford |
CT |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
41115935 |
Appl. No.: |
14/689133 |
Filed: |
April 17, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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12054462 |
Mar 25, 2008 |
9061469 |
|
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14689133 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
428/413 ;
264/266; 428/426; 428/473.5; 428/474.4 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16J 3/02 20130101; B29K
2027/12 20130101; B32B 2262/101 20130101; Y10T 29/49719 20150115;
B29L 2031/265 20130101; F05B 2230/80 20130101; B29C 73/10 20130101;
B32B 2262/106 20130101; F05C 2225/00 20130101; B29C 73/02 20130101;
F05C 2253/04 20130101; B29C 70/78 20130101; B32B 2581/00 20130101;
Y10T 29/49297 20150115; B29C 73/04 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F16J 3/02 20060101
F16J003/02; B29C 70/78 20060101 B29C070/78 |
Claims
1. A fluid barrier comprising: a relatively rigid plate; and a
relatively flexible material applied on a side of said plate.
2. The barrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein the relatively
flexible material is an elastomeric material.
3. The barrier as set forth in claim 2, wherein the elastomeric
material is a fluoroelastomer.
4. The barrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein a relatively rigid
material forming the plate is one of a fiberglass, aromatic
polyamide, or carbon fiber reinforced material.
5. The barrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate is part
of a fluid seal.
6. The barrier as set forth in claim 5, wherein said fluid seal is
an air-oil seal.
7. The barrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein the relatively
flexible material is molded directly to the rigid plate.
8. The barrier as set forth in claim 1, wherein a resin material is
applied to said plate and between said plate and said relatively
flexible material.
9. The barrier as set forth in claim 8, wherein the fluid barrier
is initially cleaned to remove oil prior to the application of the
resin.
10. A method of manufacturing a fluid barrier comprising the steps
of: (a) providing a composite material; and (b) applying a
relatively flexible material on a surface of said composite
material; and (c) concurrently molding the relatively flexible
material and the composite material using a composite mold.
11. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein applying the
relatively flexible material includes compressing the relatively
flexible material.
12. The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the relatively
flexible material is an elastomeric material.
13. The method as set forth in claim 12, wherein the elastomeric
material is a fluoroelastomer.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of prior U.S. application
Ser. No. 12/054,462, filed Mar. 25, 2008, the entirety of which is
herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This application relates to relatively rigid fluid barriers
and methods of repairing and manufacturing the barriers by applying
flexible backing material.
[0003] Gas turbine engines are known and include a plurality of
distinct components. Various fluids move within a gas turbine
engine, and it is desirable to provide barriers to prevent the
fluids from reaching certain areas. One type of barrier is an
air-oil seal, which separates an air holding chamber from an area
that might hold oil. One known air-oil seal includes a relatively
rigid plate fabricated from fiberglass, and perhaps other materials
such as epoxy.
[0004] The rigid plate may become saturated with oil during
operation. Moreover, the plate may crack and develop a plurality of
small fractures, which may allow air or oil to pass through walls
of the barrier. In the past, there has been no good known method to
repair the barrier. As a result, entire replacement of the air-oil
seal was performed to replace the defective barrier. Because the
air-oil seals are relatively expensive, cheaper methods of
repairing the barriers for further use would be desirable. It is
also desirable to manufacture the air-oil seals that extend service
life without repair.
[0005] Various methods for cleaning and performing maintenance
steps on air-oil seals are disclosed in patent applications such as
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/862,584, filed on Sep. 27, 2007, and
titled "Pressurized Cleaning of a Turbine Engine Component," or,
alternatively, patent application Ser. No. 11/396,479, filed on
Apr. 3, 2006, titled "Metallic Doubler Repair of Composite Arcuate
Flanges," which is U.S. Published Application 2007/0240819A1. Also,
the last mentioned application has a related continuation-in-part
application Ser. No. 11/897,887, filed Aug. 31, 2007, which is U.S.
Published Application 2008/0000193.
SUMMARY
[0006] In a method of repair, a relatively rigid component is
restored by application of a thermosetting resin placed over the
component, at least on the areas including fractures, and then a
relatively flexible material is placed outwardly of the
thermosetting resin.
[0007] Also, a barrier can be manufactured as a new component with
a flexible fluoroelastomer backing material.
[0008] In another feature of this application, a method of forming
a barrier includes providing a composite material, and applying a
relatively flexible material on a surface of the composite
material, and concurrently molding the relatively flexible material
with the composite material using a composite mold.
[0009] These and other features of the present invention can be
best understood from the following specification and drawings, the
following of which is a brief description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary air-oil seal.
[0011] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary test stand for testing the
integrity of the air-oil seal.
[0012] FIG. 3A is an exemplary view of a fracture in a first area
of the air-oil seal.
[0013] FIG. 3B shows an exemplary repair method being
performed.
[0014] FIG. 4A shows an exemplary molding process.
[0015] FIG. 4B shows the results of the FIG. 4a process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a fluid seal component such as an air-oil
seal 20 that includes a relatively rigid plate 22. A relatively
rigid component substrate of the air-oil seal 20 is typically
fabricated from binding fibers such as, but not limited to,
fiberglass, aromatic polyamide, or carbon, using a matrix material
stable to the operating environment. The matrix material may be a
thermosetting resin such as, but not limited to, epoxy, bimaleimide
(BMI), cyanate ester or polyimide, or a thermoplastic material such
as, but not limited to, a polyetherimide (PEI), polyamide-imide, or
polyimide.
[0017] Failure of the air-oil seal 20 is first observed by an
inability to act as a barrier between fluids. Although the plate 22
may retain sufficient structure such that it will not burst, an
additional mechanism in the exemplary embodiment may be installed
either at original manufacture or subsequent to manufacture in
order to maintain the barrier performance in service.
[0018] The plate 22 has an internal aperture 23, which surrounds a
shaft in a gas turbine engine when assembled in the engine. During
engine operation, the material of plate 22 may become saturated
with oil. Additionally the matrix material of the plate 22 may
swell, craze or crack such that the plate 22 is no longer able to
effectively function as a barrier between air and oil without
assistance of an additional compliant feature that will bridge the
defects.
[0019] One exemplary method of testing the integrity of the air-oil
seal plate 22 is described with respect to exemplary testing stand
illustrated in FIG. 2. The air-oil seal 20 include plates 24 and 26
that are placed on opposed ends of the plate 22 to define an
interior space 100. An air compressor 28 is placed in flow
communication with the air-oil seal 20 to pressurize the interior
space 100. If the plate 22 includes voids, fractures, and/or a
network of fractures that would allow leakage of fluid, such as
air, through the plate 22 will become apparent during the test.
[0020] The fractures may occur as a number of smaller fractures
spaced across a larger area, such as fractures 60 as shown in FIG.
3A.
[0021] In the exemplary embodiment, and as shown for instance in
FIG. 3B, a resin, such as an epoxy or BMI material 30 is used as a
preliminary repair step to coat sides of the plate 22. The resin
material 30 facilitates filling the fractures, cracks and/or voids
to restore physical continuity of the underlying plate 22. Then a
relatively flexible material, which is tolerant to the operating
environment of the plate 22, is placed in a layer 32 outwardly of
the resin 30. That is, on an opposed side of resin layer 30 from
the nominal surface of plate 22. In one embodiment, this relatively
flexible material layer 32 may be an elastomeric material. One
acceptable material may be fluoroelastomers such as, but not
limited to, fluorosilicones and fluorocarbons. One acceptable
material is available under the trade name Viton.TM.. The use of
the elastomeric material allows the seal to be re-used, as it will
effectively block leakage of fluid across the plate. Some method of
cleaning the air-oil seal may also be utilized prior to the
application of the epoxy material.
[0022] The resin layer is compatible with the component substrate
of the air-oil seal 20 and durable in the operating environment of
the component. Typical resins are either epoxy or BMI materials,
but some component matrix materials may include different resins,
usually similar to the matrix material.
[0023] Although the exemplary embodiment is shown for repairing an
air-oil seal, it should be appreciated that exemplary repair method
may be utilized to repair other fluid seals.
[0024] An analogous flexible material layer 32 may be installed to
the component substrate prior to the seal entering service.
Although the layer may be installed in a manner as described above
for repair, the seal is already clean and does not require a resin
coat.
[0025] A more cost effective manufacturing method for installing
the flexible layer would be to concurrently mold the flexible
material layer with the molding of composite material of the
air-seal as shown in FIG. 4A. Fluoroelastomer materials are
available in a partially cured sheet that is known to be readily
compatible with multiple molding techniques known to one skilled in
the art. One exemplary method is to install an uncured flexible
layer 200 to a surface of a composite 201 using compression and a
composite mold. When the uncured flexible layer 200 is cured, it
will be integral to the composite surface 201 as shown in FIG.
4B.
[0026] Although exemplary embodiments have been disclosed, a worker
of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain
modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For
that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine
the true scope and content of this invention.
* * * * *