Bristle Angle Effects on Brush Seal Contact Pressures

This paper examines, analytically and experimentally, how the bristle angle affects the operating contact pressure of typical brush seals at pressure drops up to 50psi. Experimental data has been gathered on two seals, one with a bristle angle low in the typical range and the other high. The test data is compared to a full 3D FEA bristle pack model. An equation is presented to represent the contact pressure of a seal with interference and pressure drop, this will allow more accurate heat generation numbers than traditional single bristle beam theory methods.