Performance evaluation facility for seal skirt-fingers of surface effect ships
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
InventorsAlexander B. Stavovy, Richard H. Chiu
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Abstract
A testing system and method for testing and evaluating the performance and ervice life of finger seals and skirts used on surface effects ships (SES). The system simulates actual conditions that SES seals would encounter and tests full scale portions of seals and skirts. The system and method comprises placing a number of seals together in a mounting frame that moves the finger relative to another surface to simulate the chaffing and wear that occurs during actual pitch and roll. Below and in contact with the finger seals/skirts is a surface which has a wave-shaped rigid contoured surface movable as a unit vertically and horizontally. On the surface is a water-retaining pile-like material that retains water flowed thereon.
Claims10
A system for testing seal skirt fingers of surface effect ships comprising:
- a sample skirt finger;
- a first means for moving sample skirt finger to simulate both pitch and roll motion of an actual skirt finger on a surface effect ship underway;
- an adjustable second means producing a flow of water over said finger's surface to simulate the effect of waterflow on said finger when said finger is mounted on a surface effect ship underway;
- a third means for simulating an ocean wave profile and operatively connected to said second means for contacting and flexing said finger to simulate movement of said finger when underway, whereby the wear of said finger under service conditions may be determined.
A Method for testing a sample of a full-scale seal skirt-fingers of a surface effect ships comprising the steps of:
- mounting a test finger sample in a test mechanism and moving the test skirt-finger sample by the mechanism to simulate the movement imparted to the finger by pitch and roll movement of a surface effect ship underway;
- mounting the sample finger between two contacting fingers to simulte the effect of adjacent fingers on the test skirt-finger;
- and
- applying a coating of water to a selected one of said fingers and a surface of said simulating mechanism;
- applying a wave like motion to a contoured surface which contacts the test skirt finger to simulate the effect of wave action on the test skirt-finger whereby the effect of ship motion on the skirt-fingers may be evaluated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.