Gas turbine engine with carbon/carbon composite piston seal
AssigneeRtx Corporation
InventorsCalvin Jay Winder, Fadi S. Maalouf, Matthew E. Bintz, Peter T. Schutte, Justin Roger DeLarm, Pieter Van Lieu, Hamidreza Mohseni
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas turbine engine includes a rotor that that has a seal surface, a shaft that has an annular seal channel that opens to the seal surface, and a seal disposed in the annular seal channel for sealing against the seal surface. The seal is made of a composite having carbon fibers disposed in a carbon matrix.
Claims15
A gas turbine engine comprising:
- a compressor section including a rotor rotatable about an engine central axis and defining a seal surface;
- a combustor in fluid communication with the compressor section;
- a turbine section in fluid communication with the combustor;
- a shaft interconnecting the turbine section and the rotor, the shaft being rotatable about the engine central axis, wherein rotation of the turbine section drives rotation of the rotor, the shaft defining an annular seal channel that opens to the seal surface;
- and
- a seal disposed in the annular seal channel for sealing against the seal surface, the seal being made of a composite having carbon fibers disposed in a graphite matrix, and the composite including an oxidation inhibitor, wherein the seal has a multi-layer configuration of fiber plies in a stacked arrangement, and the fiber plies are substantially perpendicular to the engine central axis.
A method of assembling a seal into a gas turbine engine that has a rotor that includes a rotor that is rotatable about an engine central axis and that defines a seal surface, a shaft that is rotatable about the engine central axis and that defines an annular seal channel that opens to the seal surface, the method comprising:
- installing the seal into the annular seal channel, the seal is made of a composite that has carbon fibers disposed in a graphite matrix, the composite includes an oxidation inhibitor, wherein the seal has a multi-layer configuration of fiber plies in a stacked arrangement, and the fiber plies are substantially perpendicular to the engine central axis, and the seal is initially oversized for the annular seal channel such that the seal, in a rest state, is unseated with respect to the channel floor;
- and
- diametrically compressing the seal to a compressed state in which the seal seats onto the channel floor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.