FT WAYNE, IN– Trelleborg Sealing Solutions announces advances in vane seal design and manufacturing that have helped make viable the possibility of using rotary vane actuators across a wide range of engineering applications. These include contemporary engineering designs such as the control of aircraft wing flaps, anti-roll suspension systems on high-performance premium cars and machine tools, such as multi-directional tube bending equipment.
The breakthrough by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in the effective and economic development of vane seals came about through a pioneering development of an innovative method for stamping sintered Turcon® plates. This process replaces high-cost milling, previously required to achieve the rectangular seals with razor-sharp edges, essential to achieving sealing integrity within rotary actuator applications. These latest manufacturing advances are providing distinct cost and performance benefits to customers and extending the potential applications for rotary vane actuators in many areas of industry.
Following attempts to achieve this by one of Europe's leading stamping companies, Trelleborg Sealing Solutions turned to their own production facility in Denmark, where vane seals with razor sharp edges were successfully produced using the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions proprietary Turcon® PTFE-based material. By utilizing this high performance material, sealing integrity was ensured at both room temperature and extremes, ranging from -40°F/ -40°C to well above +212°F/ +100°C and at pressure exceeding 2,176psi / 150 bar.
The majority of actuators are designed with one or two vanes but versions are available with three or more vanes. In a two vane rotary actuator, a rotor replaces the piston, which operates within linear hydraulic cylinders, with two vanes attached. When fluid pressure is applied to two of the four working chambers, the actuator turns, necessitating perfect sealing to prevent leakage across the chambers. This type of seal is called a vane seal.
::Design World::
Filed Under: Seals • gaskets • O rings, Materials • advanced