Patent Grant
12157805
The present patent document relates to improved fire seals and methods of making improved fire seals. In particular, the present patent document relates to improved fire seals for use in aviation and more particularly aircraft.
Rubber fire seals serve multiple purposes: To contain a mixture of fuel, air, oil, or other chemicals. Provide a flexible surface to seal gaps, bridge joints, create flexible bellows and pipe fittings or as metal to metal, composite to composite or composite to metal interface materials. They are also safety critical devices, which must isolate fire, prevent it spreading, providing time for fire suppression and the safe shutdown and feathering of the powerplant.
Flexible, elastomeric fireproof seals providing resistance to flame penetration between an aircraft structure and the engine fire zones are required for most aircraft. A fireproof seal must prevent the penetration of an 1100° C. flame for 15 minutes, whereas a fire-resistant seal must prevent the penetration of an 1100° C. flame for 5 minutes.
Fire seals are usually made from combinations of various elastomers and fabrics. These include silicone, fluorosilicone and other elastomers, reinforced with ceramic (extremely expensive), polyamide, or glass fabrics. The production process is skilled and labor intensive and therefore, particularly costly.
Object of the present patent document is to provide an improved fire seal that exhibits equal or better performance than a conventional fire seal. This invention seeks to partially or fully eliminate the use of expensive ceramic-based fabrics and at the same time reduce the skilled labor required to manufacture fire seals.
In one aspect of the present patent document, an improved fire seal is provided. In preferred embodiments, the fire seal is cured from a fire seal mixture that comprises a base rubber compound comprising a silicone or fluorosilicone polymer that is between 50% and 95% of a total mass of the fire seal mixture. In addition to the base rubber compound, the fire seal mixture comprises an additive that is a vitreous material between 2.5% and 50% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture or an intumescent material that is between 5% and 50% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture. The fire seal mixture also includes short fiber strands that are between 1% and 25% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture.
In preferred embodiments, the short fiber strands are selected from the group consisting of short-cut carbon fibers, para-aramid, meta-aramid and basalt. In some embodiments, the short fiber strands have a tensile strength of between 2000 and 5300 MPa. In some embodiments, the short fiber strands have a tensile modulus of between 300 and 350 GPa. Preferably, the short fiber strands have a length between 0.5 mm and 10.0 mm.
In some embodiments, the vitreous material is enamel and in other embodiments the vitreous material may be glass or pure glass. Preferably, the vitreous material is added to the fire seal mixture as a powder.
In another aspect of the present patent document, a method of making a fire seal from a fire seal mixture is provided. In preferred embodiments, the method comprises: adding a base rubber compound consisting of silicone or fluorosilicone polymer to the fire seal mixture such that the base rubber compound is between 50% and 95% of a total mass of the fire seal mixture; adding an additive to the fire seal mixture wherein the additive is a vitreous material that is between 2.5% and 50% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture or an intumescent material that is between 5% and 50% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture; adding short fiber strands to the fire seal mixture that are between 1% and 25% of the total mass of the fire seal mixture; and to create a second compound; and curing the fire seal mixture into the fire seal.
Improved fire seals and methods of making improved fire seals are disclosed herein. The fire seals are improved through various different techniques which may be deployed independently or in conjunction with each other. One aspect of the improvement is the use of novel intumescent or fireproof materials. Another aspect of the invention is the mixing of short fiber reinforcement into the rubber. The use of short fiber reinforcement reduces the number of fabric plies required and works synergistically with fireproof materials to improve fire test performance. Short fiber reinforcement may also reduce part cost and provide a lower risk of failure due to delamination, wrinkles or tearing of the fabric.
In some embodiments, the addition of vitreous materials to provide a fire proof barrier is also used. In some embodiments, the vitreous material is an enamel. In other embodiments, the vitreous material is glass or pure glass. In some embodiments, the additive materials may be processed by making use of either liquid silicone rubber (LSR) or high consistency rubber (HCR).
The novel materials incorporated into the fire seals to improve their performance may be: 1.) Vitreous enamel or other glass in powdered form, 2.) High strength fibers and preferably short-cut carbon fibers; and/or 3) Intumescent expanded graphite. It should be appreciated that these materials may be used alone or in any combination and quantity depending on the embodiment. In some embodiments, only a subset of these materials may be used. For example, in preferred embodiments, powdered vitreous enamel or glass is used in combination with short-cut carbon fibers. In other embodiments, intumescent expanded graphite is used in combination with short-cut carbon fibers. In other embodiments, other combinations may be used.
By “incorporated” it is meant that the novel materials are added into the rubber and cured along with the rubber. For clarity, the novel materials are not cured only the rubber is cured but the added materials are present during the curing of the rubber. These novel materials may be added in various quantities and those will be discussed in depth below.
The powdered vitreous material or other glass powder is mixed with the liquid or high consistency rubber and then formed into the shape of a seal and allowed to cure. Once heated in a fire situation, the powdered vitreous material or other glass powder melts under moderate heat and then fuses together at a higher temperature to form a fire-proof barrier.
In preferred embodiments, high strength fibers may also be added to the rubber compound prior to curing. In preferred embodiments, the high strength fibers may be short-cut carbon fibers. The fibers are added when the compound is in liquid or paste form and then formed into the shape of a seal and allowed to cure. In preferred embodiments, the fibers are made from an organic material but in some embodiments, the fibers may be made from an inorganic material. High strength organic fibers such as short-cut carbon fibers improve the mechanical properties of the rubber and also aid in the fire test performance.
In preferred embodiments, fibers with a tensile strength of between 2000 and 5300 MPa are used. In addition, the fibers preferably have a tensile modulus of between 300 and 350 GPa. Examples of such fibers may include but are not limited to: short-cut carbon fibers, para-aramid, meta-aramid and basalt. These types of fibers provide good dispersion in high consistency rubber with standard two roll milling or by other standard industrial methods for mixing in liquid rubber. In addition, the fibers may be bought as either recycled with original sizing, recycled with sizing removed, pyrolyzed or virgin material.
Short fibers in the range of 0.5 mm to 10.0 mm long may be used in the preferred embodiments. In some embodiments, the fibers are 6 mm+1 mm long when added to the mixture. However, the fibers may break down to shorter lengths when mixed in with the rubber. The quantity of short fibers added to the rubber may be varied according to the balance of properties required in the produced seal but is in the range of 1% to 25% by weight. For example, the addition of 10% often gives a good balance between post-fire consolidation and mechanical properties of the rubber.
In some embodiments, intumescent expanded graphite can also be used. In a similar manner to the other materials, intumescent expanded graphite is added prior to forming and curing the rubber. Intumescent expanded graphite increases fire resistance of the rubber by expanding when heated to form an insulative carbon layer. Between 5 and 50% by weight of intumescent expanded graphite may be used depending upon type used, rubber compound that it is added to and end use of the produced seals.
In addition to the new materials being added, the embodiments herein may be devoid of fabric reinforcement used as a fire barrier that is found in traditional fire seals. In many traditional fire seal constructions, two or even three layers of fabric reinforcement are required for the rubber seals to pass fire testing. In contrast, in the embodiments herein, no fabric is necessary. Instead, the vitreous or glass layer or expanded graphite layer provides a protective barrier from the flame while the carbon fiber reinforcement helps to stabilize the rubber and prevent warping and tearing. Although fabric is not required in the embodiments herein, fabric may still be added to provide stiffness or for any other reason without departing from the scope of the embodiments described herein.
The embodiments herein use additives in the creation of rubber to create a compound that has enhanced heat resistance properties and can be used for the formation of fire seals. As used in this patent document, the term “rubber” means thermoset or thermoplastic, polymeric elastomer substances. In preferred embodiments, rubbers already used for the making of fire resistant seals may be used and the additives taught herein added to these existing rubber compounds prior to forming and curing. Examples of existing rubber compounds that may be used are: Liquid and high consistency silicone and fluorosilicone polymers, reinforced with silica and/or other commonly used reinforcing or extending fillers and cross-linked using peroxide, platinum or tin-based curing systems.
The vitreous material or other glass is preferable in a powdered form, however, in some embodiments, spherical powder may also be used. The preferred particle size is between 200 and 400 mesh (0.074 and 0.037 mm). The table below provides two different possible embodiments and shows characteristics of a fire suppression compound made with an intumescent material and a vitreous or other glass material. The table below is just two possible embodiments and many others are possible without departing from the scope of this patent document.
When creating the high consistency rubber compound, mixing may be conducted on a two-roll mill with contra-rotating rollers. In preferred embodiments, the temperature of the rubber is maintained at room temperature. The rubber may be sheeted off and laid up into a mold directly or transferred onto a calendar for further processing. When creating the liquid silicone rubber compound, it may be mixed by any conventional method; stirring, Z-blade mixer etc.
In one embodiment, the following manufacturing process was used to make an improved fire seal compound:
After curing the products are transferred to a hot air oven and post cured to remove volatiles, this process is key as it prevents property drop off when the rubber goes into service. Typical temperatures and times used for cure and post cure are shown in the (table 1). As one skilled in the art will appreciate, these are just examples and cure and post cure times and temperatures can vary greatly depending on the desired final product.
Table 2 below lists a number of potential layering options for fire seals made with the improved rubbers taught herein:
Table 3 below lists potential ranges of additives for the embodiments of fire-retardant fire seals taught herein. In different embodiments, additives may be used alone or in combination and in various different ranges. Each range shown below includes all the possible ranges within it.
Once the fire seal mixture is sufficiently mixed, the mixture is cured into a fire seal. Curing conditions for production fire seals will depend upon the actual size of the parts and tooling to be used. Curing time depends on temperature, thickness of the rubber and total mass. As an example, cure times can range from between 7 minutes for an HCR test sheet to 24 hours for a room temperature cured LSR. As for temperature, a wide range may be used as well. LSR will cure at room temperature whereas some peroxide cured HCR's require 170° C. or more.
| Number | Date | Country |
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| 101565625 | Jul 2012 | CN |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20230242740 A1 | Aug 2023 | US |
