Airframe seals and aero engine seals

Specialised Polymer Engineering Ltd on +44 (0)2380 839111

Seals are needed throughout aero engines to control the escape of oil, and to maintain the air pressures in the various cavities. There are a number of different types, all of which typify the ingenuity of aerospace engineering.

The most common are labyrinth seals, in which the rotating member carries a series of thin sharp-edged rings which almost rub against a light honeycomb structure or a soft abradable (rubbable) material or a surrounding rotating annulus of oil. A little air or oil may seep past the first ring, but the pressure in each successive cavity is less, and nothing comes out on the other side.

Various ring seals actually permit metal/metal contact, because when this occurs the surrounding ring moves away a microscopic distance. Thread seals `screw' the air or oil in the direction opposite to the pressure difference. Hydraulic seals are used round major shaft bearings. Centrifugal force keeps the surrounding film of oil in place, differences in air pressure merely causing slight differnences in film thickness each side of the immersed ring. Carbon seals are actually pressed against the shaft by springs, the friction heat being taken away by the oil flow. Brush seals press lightly against a hard ceramic coating on the shaft.

Specialised Polymer Engineering produces aircraft seals out of EPDM, fluorocarbon, fluorosilicone, polychloroprene, polyurethane. Even natural rubber seals are used in the industry. Tools and processes designed from scratch is termed polymer design and typically customers in aerospace are looking for everything from aircraft door seals through aircraft window seals to more specialist airframe seals like bulkhead seals.

Contact Details:

Specialised Polymer Engineering Ltd

Unit 19

Mount Pleasant Industrial Estate

Northam

Southampton

SO14 0SP

United Kingdom

t: +44 (0)2380 839111

f: +44 (0)2380 332398

e: sales@specpol.co.uk

Aircraft seal manufacturers, polymer specialists, polymer product designers, fluorosilicone seals, rubber aircraft seal manufacturer, polymer manufacturer in UK