Third Generation RLV Structural Seal Development Programs at NASA GRC

Abstract

NASA is currently developing technologies for the 3rd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) that is being designed to enter service around the year 2025. In particular, NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) is working on advanced high temperature structural seal designs including propulsion system and control surface seals. Propulsion system seals are required along the edges of movable panels in advanced engines, while control surface seals seal the edges and hinge lines of movables flaps and elevons on the vehicle. The overall goal is to develop reusable, resilient seals capable of operating at temperatures up to 2000 F. High temperature seal preloading devices (e.g., springs) are also being evaluated as a means of improving seal resiliency. In order to evaluate existing and potential new seal designs, GRC has designed and is installing several new test rigs capable of simulating the types of conditions that the seals would endure during service including temperatures, pressures, and scrubbing. Two new rigs, the hot compression test rig and the hot scrub test rig, will be used to perform seal compression and scrub tests for many cycles at temperatures up to 3000 F. Another new test rig allows simultaneous flow and scrub tests to be performed on the seals at room temperature to evaluate how the flow blocking performance of the seals varies as they accumulate damage during scrubbing. This presentation will give an overview of these advanced seal development efforts.