Design of Seals for a Lunar Soil In-Situ Volatile Heating Furnace and Analysis of Lunar Dust Effects

Abstract

The sealing ring of the heating furnace in the volatiles measurement instrument is prone to contamination by lunar dust during on-orbit use，affecting its performance. Therefore， a static sealing spring-energized sealing ring was designed which is resistant to high and low temperatures，capable of multiple repeated seals，and possesses good dust tolerance. In order to verify the stable sealing performance of the sealing ring under moon dust contamination，a test platform was constructed to evaluate the changes in sealing performance after contamination by simulated lunar dust. The results show that under extreme conditions，with a sealing force of only 300 N，the leakage rate was less than 9 × 10^–4 Pa·m³/s，increasing sealing force was to be the most effective way to reduce leakage rate，and within an appropriate range of sealing force，the sealing ring was capable of multiple repeated seals. This study provides a reference for on-orbit application of the lunar soil volatiles measurement instrument.

Keywords

spring-energized seal / lunar dust / leakage mechanism / sealing capability