THE MAJOR LIMITING RELIABILITY COMPONENTS OF CRYOGENIC SYSTEMS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SEALS.

THE MAJOR LIMITING RELIABILITY COMPONENTS OF CRYOGENIC SYSTEMS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SEALS. BESIDES CONTRIBUTING TO GAS CONTAMINATION AND DEBRIS PARTICLE ACCUMLATION, SEALS HAVE PHYSICALLY FAILED; AS A RESULT, SEALS HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAJORITY OF FAILURES OCCURING IN CRYOGENIC LIQUEFACTION AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS. A POTENTIALLY VIABLE SOLUTION IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF LONG- LIFE CRYOGENIC SEALS EMPLOYING A HARD-ON-HARD, WEAR- RESISTANT MATERIALS COMBINATION, FOR EXAMPLE, AN UNFABRICATED HARD MATERIAL SEALING AGAINST ANOTHER HARD MATERIAL WITH MINIMAL ENSUING WEAR. THIS APPROACH HAS BEEN USED BEFORE SEALS ON MACHINERY OPERATING IN BOTH ABRASIVE AND EXTREME TEMPERATURE ENVIRONMENTS. THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROGRAM IS THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A SEAL CONFIGURATION PROMISING 30,000 HOURS MTBF (MEANS TIME BEFORE FAILURE) AND SUITABLE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. DIVIDED INTO FOUR TASKS, THIS PROGRAM INCLUDES AMBIENT AND CRYOGENIC TEMPERATURE WEAR AND FRICTION TESTING OF CANDIDATE HARD MATERIALS, AND PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF AT LEAST FOUR PROPOSED SEAL CONFIGURATIONS.