NRS ceramic corner seals
 

NRS ceramic corner seals are on their way down under for extensive testing. Pete from Rice Racing will be testing the ceramic corner seals in conjunction with NRS 2mm 2pc apex seals. These will be installed in a new engine for Pete's SP. Other tests will be done later by Pineapple Racing including static drag tests comparing stock corner seals to the ceramic corner seals. Then of course they will go into an engine for further testing.
NRS hard faced c.s. springs will be used to ensure the tests will go the distance. Custom corner seals springs will be made also for testing as we know we can increase the pressure for better performance.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...alswspring.jpg

Hard faced c.s. springs heat treated with an extra little twist.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...dCSSprings.jpg

guesstimate on price once they go on sale?

Retail should be around $625.00 USD for a set of 12. Trade pricing will be available as it is with the ceramic apex seals.

Sven
Any updates on these? Also how are the 2mm seals doing? Will I get the same results using them as I did with the 3mm?
Thanks,
Ernie

Hey Ernie, good to see you over here :) I have a new customer that will be testing a set of the 3mm corner seals in a very high reving 13B along with 3mm 1pc ceramic apex seals. Then there is Pete in AU who will be running 2mm corner seals and 2mm 2pc apex seals. We should have something soon from Pete. Frankly I'm dying to see how they are going to perform. In fact I'm going to email him now and see where he is at. I'll post any details as soon as I know.

You want me as a test mule, let me know :)

You know.......I just happen to have a 3mm set here, $500 plus springs and they're yours!

Can you call me tomarrow? I forgot how to get you payment.

Yup, will do

Sven
Can't wait to get them!

Who will be the first to make history?
 

The race is on!! Who will be the first to make history?? The first in the world to run ceramic corner seals. Ernie T, Pete in AU or the mystery test bed (engine built to run 13,000 rpm)?? All are on track for around the same time for completion so either way we will have some results soon :) I spoke to Ray today from PFS and he is about two weeks away in getting Ernie's engine finished. All the best to all of them for thier hard work and participation in testing something that has never been done. Right now I'm working on making the thicker c.s. springs for more pressure and we'll add these to the mix later on.

Meanwhile here's a little teaser preview vid of the NRS sponsored 2mm 2pc 4 rotor BMI RX8 time attack car. More vids to come.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Rotor_0002.flv

It won't be long now, ceramic corner seals are in
 

This just in from Pete:
Hello Sven,

Here are the compression results, along with applicable notes.

Engine: RR street port (new), 2 piece NRS Apex seal, Ceramic NRS corner seal. 9.0:1 engine compression ratio

Condition, Ambient temperature 22 deg C, 101.5kpa pressure

*0km on engine, tested from engine stand*

Rear Rotor average (picture include) 128psi

Front Rotor (picture included) 132psi

Comments: This is a noticeable increase in cranking compression over other same engines (new, same port timing but with one piece NRS seals and OEM corner seals)… On average the one piece RR engine develops about 95psi compression, this engine you can see is at the 130psi range (OEM sealed engines on same specification develop about 105~110psi).

This compression figure will go up once the seals are bedded in and when the engine is tested at operating temperature. It was tested without manifolds hooked up, but the influence give the very low air flow rate will be negligible. Further tests will be conducted after the engine has be initially fired up and then again after the run in period.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...estengine5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...estengine6.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../compfront.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...S/comprear.jpg

Static testing on ceramic corner seals
 

I almost forgot, a set of 2mm ceramic corner seals and hard faced c.s. springs are on their way to Pineapple Racing for the static drag testing. Rob will make a fixture to test the drag created by the steel corner seals and we will compare this to the drag created by the ceramic corner seals. He figures he will need a couple of weeks to get the fixture done. This should give us a baseline to quantify and compare to the real world results. The data will also help us to quantify any changes made in spring pressure as we will be trying a couple of different spring thicknesses for better sealing and rotor stability. Then they will be installed into an engine and all the data collected will be put to the test. There is a real possibility these corner seals could find their way into the SpeedSource RX8. We will present this opportunity to them when the time comes. Their engines consistantly produce power within 1 or 2 hp from one to the next so this would be an ideal situation to prove the benifit of ceramic corner seals.

I will post pics and results from Rob when they become available.

Sven, if the ceramics show a significant improvement in drag relative to steel, is it feasible to produce a side seal in ceramic? Seems I've seen documentation (SAE papers? I forget, might be wrong) that Mazda had tried ceramic side seals.

I had that same thought when he started making the Apex seals. I wonder what a full ceramic seal engine could do....