Desenvolvimento de novas vedações para um motor rotativo tipo Twin Rotor Piston

Abstract

This work presents the development of new gas seals for a Twin Rotor Piston Engine (TRPE). The goal of the work was to design new gas seals in order to reduce the gaps in the sealing grid installed on an TRPE prototype named TRP-VCR. Theorical analyses of dynamic behavior of different rotors and piston seals’ geometries were made. Those that generated smaller areas for leakage through sealing lines were selected. Rectangular seals with overlapped ends were chosen for the pistons. For the rotors, two solutions were proposed: one with bushings and another with axial rings. These two configurations were compared experimentally in a simplified test chamber. The ring configuration was more efficient, then it was chosen. The pressure drop due to radial leakage through the rings is up to 87 % smaller than that through the bushings. It was observed that the circumferential leakage is dominant in the rotor’s sealing lines. A special seal was designed to reduce this leakage. For the appropriate operation of this seal, the radial contact between the inter-rotors ring and its groove must be corrected by adding ovality to the ring’s free shape or by installing a radial spring. Future work should focus on the development of a computational model of seals dynamics.