Trelleborg to Showcase Pioneering Advances in Rotary Vane Actuator Sealing Technology

Pioneering advances in sealing technology for Rotary Vane Actuators (RVA) will be showcased by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow.

Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, which has been making highly developed seals for RVA for over 30 years, are set to attend the event which brings together leading experts from the global aerospace community.

Engineered polymer solutions

The specialists in engineered polymer solutions has supplied RVA seals for primary flight controls, aircraft rudder dampers as well as Formula 1 cars and ships’ rudders, and will demonstrate the latest examples of its work from Monday, July 11 at the five-day aerospace trade event.

Damien Savary, General Manager of Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Aerospace Hub Europe, said: “It is vitally important to take the requirements of the seal and bearing into the design considerations from a very early phase of the design of any high performance actuator.

Pushing innovation

“We are constantly pushing the barriers of innovation, and this can be seen through our developments in the RVA market. We pride ourselves on meeting challenges and are constantly striving to achieve exceptional standards.”

Years of development and manufacturing found that sealing around the whole edge of the vane was more efficient than previous designs and helped to reduce any internal leakage.

Unique techniques

The company has also created several unique manufacturing techniques which include milling, stamping and now even 3D printing, which are used depending on the actual design of the part and the number of seals required. 

New RVA designs incorporating Trelleborg seals have several innovative features such as high power to weight ratio compared to traditional linear actuators and fewer moving parts, which increases reliability.

Meeting market requirements
The world-renowned sealing manufacturer has worked hard on creating slim build profiles in line with market requirements, which allow the designs to fit into very thin wings or other applications with limited space.