Seal member, assembly and method

Abstract

A brush seal assembly and method for a turbine machine having a rotary member and a stationary member circumscribing the rotary member. The seal assembly is comprised of a sealing member disposed at a radially inward region of the stationary member and a portion of the sealing member is in rubbing contact with the contact region. The sealing member is detachable from the stationary member for selective replacement and incorporates at least one integrally formed seal element.

1 . A seal member for a turbo machine comprising: 
 a brush seal carrier;    a brush seal component mounted to said brush seal carrier so that a portion of said brush component projects from said brush seal carrier, and    at least one hard tooth seal element integrally formed with said brush seal carrier so as to extend in generally parallel relation to at least a part of said portion of said brush component that projects from said brush seal carrier.    
   
   
       2 . A seal member as in  claim 1 , wherein said brush seal carrier comprises a front plate and a back plate with said brush seal component being disposed therebetween, and wherein said front plate, back plate and brush seal component are integrated by welding.  
   
   
       3 . A seal member as in  claim 2 , wherein said hard tooth seal element is integrally formed in one piece with said front plate.  
   
   
       4 . A seal member as in  claim 2 , wherein at least one of said front plate and back plate defines a hook portion for engaging a corresponding channel of a support structure to which the seal member is adapted to be mounted.  
   
   
       5 . A seal assembly for a turbo machine having a rotary assembly rotatable about an axis and a stationary assembly encircling the rotary assembly, the rotary assembly defining outer peripheral surfaces and the stationary assembly having a portion radially facing the rotary assembly so as to be in opposed facing relation to an outer peripheral surface thereof, the seal assembly comprising at least a portion of said outer peripheral surface of the rotary assembly and a plurality of seal elements provided on a seal carrier on said radially facing portion of the stationary assembly, said plurality of sealing elements including at least one seal element mounted to said seal carrier and disposed in rubbing contact with said outer peripheral surface and at least one hard tooth seal element that is spaced from said outer peripheral surface, and wherein said hard tooth seal element is defined integrally in one piece with said seal carrier.  
   
   
       6 . A seal assembly as in  claim 5 , wherein said seal element in rubbing contact comprises a brush seal component.  
   
   
       7 . A seal assembly as in  claim 5 , wherein said portion of said outer peripheral surface of the rotary assembly in rubbing contact with said seal element comprises a platform supported radially outward of axially adjacent portions of the rotor.  
   
   
       8 . A seal assembly as in  claim 7 , further comprising at least one air cavity defined below said supported platform.  
   
   
       9 . A seal assembly as in  claim 6 , wherein a single integral hard tooth seal is defined in parallel relation to said brush seal component.  
   
   
       10 . A seal assembly as in  claim 5 , wherein the turbo machine is a steam turbine.  
   
   
       11 . A seal assembly as in  claim 5 , wherein said seal carrier is separately formed from and detachably secured to said stationary assembly.  
   
   
       12 . A method of providing a seal in a turbo machine, between a rotary member rotatable about an axis and a stationary member encircling the rotary member, the rotary member having an outer circumferential surface; comprising: 
 providing a seal assembly including first and second seal components at a radially inward region of the stationary member, the first seal component having a portion thereof in rubbing contact with the outer circumferential surface of the rotor and the second seal component being integrally formed in one piece with a carrier of said first seal component and extending in generally parallel relation to the first seal component but spaced from said outer circumferential surface.    
   
   
       13 . A method as in  claim 12 , wherein said carrier is detachably secured to said stationary member.  
   
   
       14 . A method as in  claim 12 , wherein said carrier comprises a front plate and a back plate with said first seal component being disposed therebetween, and further comprising integrating said front plate, back plate and first seal component by welding.  
   
   
       15 . A method as in  claim 14 , wherein said second seal component comprises a hard tooth element integrally formed in one piece with said front plate.  
   
   
       16 . A method as in  claim 12 , further comprising forming a platform on the rotary member for said rubbing contact with said first seal component.  
   
   
       17 . A method as in  claim 16 , wherein the platform is fabricated so that a cavity is defined therebelow.  
   
   
       18 . A method as in  claim 17 , wherein the platform is fabricated so that the cavity is entirely closed.  
   
   
       19 . A method as in  claim 18 , wherein the platform is fabricated so as to contain only air.