• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.77-83
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• 2015

Many welding processes are performed to construct cryogenic system. Leak-tight for the cryogenic system is required at low temperature environment. Helium leak detection techniques are commonly used to find leak for the cryogenic system. The helium leak detection techniques for spraying, sniffing and pressurizing techniques are introduced. High vacuum is also necessary to use helium leak detector. So, types of fluid flow, effective temperature, conductance and pumping speed are introduced for vacuum pumping. Leak test procedure is shown for pipe welding, cryomodule and low temperature test. Cryogenic seals which include copper gasket, helicoflex gasket and indium are investigated.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.73-81
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• 2009

Casing leak tests using three kinds of static seals are performed by simulating test section for a 75 ton thrust class turbopump under ambient and cryogenic temperature environment. As results of application of Conical, PTFE, and C static seals to leak tests, even though they all work in normal temperature condition, only the PTFE and C static seals show good sealing performance in cryogenic condition. However, the Conical static seal fails because of the different thermal expansion rates due to the use of different materials in a LOX pump. It is found that unlike the PTFE and C static seals with sealing surfaces in axial direction, the sealing surface of the Conical static seal is in radial direction that may cause leak when the casings thermally shrink in radial direction. Especially, the C static seal reveals excellent sealing performance even for a used seal.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.12a
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• pp.341-347
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• 2005

To perform a cryogenic development test for Tribo-elements in a turbopump, a cryogenic bearing and seal test facility (BSTF) is designed and currently under construction in KARI. The working fluid is liquid nitrogen operating at a temperature $-197^{\circ}C$. The maximum operating pressure and volume flow rate of BSTF are 100 bar and 10 liters per second, respectively. The development tests of floating ring seals, inter-propellant seals (IPS) and cryogenic ball bearings in a turbopump will be performed using the BSTF. This paper briefly described design requirements and procedures of BSTF.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.53-59
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• 2022

Static seals are used to seal high temperature gas and cryogenic fluid under high pressure, at interfaces between liquid rocket engine components such as combustion chamber, turbopump, gas generator, valves, etc. As thermal expansion and contraction at assembly interfaces cause undesirable leakage under cryogenic and high temperature environments, static seals applied for sealing of joint interfaces without relative motion should be designed properly. The additional function of rotation at the sealing face is also required for static seals, when the spherical flange is used for improvement of assembly at misalignment interfaces. In this study, structural analysis and leak tightness test of simulating test rig for several important interfaces are performed, to verify structural integrity of static seals.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.347-351
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• 2004

The cryogenic test facility is developed for test of deep groove ball bearings, floating ring seals, materials (steel & copper) for High Pressure Turbopump of liquid rocket engine (LRE). The cryogenic bearing test is performed to evaluate the flow rate of cooling water and the load-carrying capacity of bearings. The cryogenic seal test is performed to evaluate the determination of magnitude of leakages through the seal, a time variation of this magnitude. The test of the materials Pair is performed to evaluate its fitness for operation in the liquid oxygen medium.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.307-312
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• 2018

Unlike a typical static seals, spring-energized static seals exhibit improvement in leak-tightness by reinforcing the spring inside the aluminum lining. Thus, spring-energized static seals are widely used in various industrial fields, such as aerospace, semiconductors, and petrochemical industries. The primary objective of this study is to develop design guidelines for spring-energized static seals in a wide range of temperatures, including that of cryogenic environments, by analyzing the required performance and influence of design variables through simulations. There are various parameters that can be controlled to design a leak-tight seal. In this study, the finite element analysis (FEA) is performed by controlling the parameters related to the spring and the thickness of the aluminum lining, and the result of the leakage between the seal and the casing is confirmed. Considering the influence of each parameters, all of them are found to be important. However, it is observed that the spring-related variables are more important than the aluminum lining or other variables when complexity is considered. We can identify the threshold value of spring stiffness that changes leak-tight performance of the seal by performing FEA. Simulation results, under the conditions that are considered in this study, show that spring stiffness should be at least 3.6 N/m to maintain leak-tightness caused by the sufficient contact force between the aluminum lining and the upper and lower casings.