Contacting Face Seal Application: Aircraft Engine
The main shaft in a commercial aircraft engine had an existing carbon face seal experiencing high leakage and seal failures.
Operating Conditions
- High speed (51,000 rpm)
- Gearbox oil (MIL-R-23699)
- 20 psid
Determining Cause and Failure Modes
- Technetics Qualiseal® Technology FEA model indicated significant face tapering and waviness in the two-piece seal nose design
- The existing design also enabled anti-rotation wear, causing the part to hang up and further contribute to the significant leakage
Technetics Qualiseal® Technology Solution
- Designed a new carbon face seal with a mono-block seal nose design
- Integral anti-rotation heat treated to high hardness for wear resistance
- Final design solution required NO COST INCREASE over the original product
