Aircraft labyrinth fire seal

摘要

A fire seal (52) for an aircraft propulsion system including at least one mating plate pair (54) formed between a nozzle body (44) and an outer structure (24) and a support pylon (26). The mating plate pairs (54) each include an upper plate row (58) and a lower plate row (60), both rows extending in an arc (66) about an upper region (56) of the propulsion system, with a vertical overlap (88) existing between the upper and lower plate rows. A gap (90) exists between the upper plate row (58) and lower plate row (60) of each mating plate pair (54), preferably at all times. A seal region (62) exists between the forward-most mating pair and the aft-most mating pair. A pressure equalization mechanism controls pressure between the area forward of the seal region (62) and the area aft of the seal region (62). A number of endplates (110) are positioned at various longitudinal locations near the lateral ends of the mating plate pairs. A method of fire-sealing an aircraft propulsion system fire zone area including providing at least one mating plate pair (54) positioned between opposed surfaces in order to create a labyrinth path through which flame has difficulty passing. The method further includes controlling pressure between the area forward of the mating plate pairs and the area aft of the mating plate pairs.