Finger Seal Durability Demonstration on Engine

A finger seal is a Honeywell Aerospace patented method for sealing the gap between a rotating cylinder and its adjacent static structure. Similar to the brush seal in having the flexibility of a sealing member against the rotating cylinder, it offers potential benefits with respect to the brush seal in terms of cost and durability. This paper presents the results of the first engine durability tests in a realistic environment. One finger seal was placed in the low pressure turbine and run for 960 simulated engine cycles consisting of 392 test hours. Two finger seals were then also placed in the high pressure turbine and the testing continued for another 43 hrs, mostly near maximum speed. It was found that the seals experienced minor degradation in flow through the testing period.