Improved Seal Rings

Hydrovision introduced new Seal Rings for the Curvetech range of thrusters that are compatible and interchangeable with the existing rings. The Seal Ring is an important component of the Curvetech thrusters as it provides the high-speed rotational sealing surface. Rotating surfaces that are in contact over a period of time are subjected to wear, which eventually lead to leakage and time consuming maintenance of the thrusters.

Hydrovision have adapted advances in the technology developed for jet engines within the Aerospace Industry that gave engines 20 to 40 times greater life expectancy over traditional hard facing techniques. This technology has been used by Hydrovision to develop the new Seal Ring for their Curvetech thrusters. The original Seal Ring had a high tensile steel base; the new Seal Ring has a high Nickel content alloy that combines strength with ductility and an extremely high resistance to corrosion. The traditional hard-faced plating technique is replaced by powder technology. Extremely hard particles in a powder format are brought to near their melting point and projected at supersonic velocities onto the Seal Ring alloy.

The new rings cost a little more but the benefits of improvements are to provide a Seal Ring that is impervious to corrosion with a dense uniform coating that has an extremely high surface hardness and bond strength resulting in a much longer life.