Penetration Seals
Multi-Purpose Penetration Sealing System
Multi-purpose penetration sealing systems maintain pressure boundary integrity at all lunar habitat penetration points, preventing atmospheric loss into the surrounding vacuum. Because every penetration represents a potential 100-year leak source against cumulative settlement leak rate budgets, these installations employ dual-barrier containment. A permanent welded or brazed joint serves as the primary hermetic seal, backed by a secondary silicone O-ring or Inconel spiral-wound metallic gasket that allows maintenance access. Dedicated inter-seal pressure sensors track degradation between barriers, providing early fault detection that supports robotic replacement of compromised seals.
Sealing systems at all penetration locations maintaining pressure boundary integrity
Purpose
Sealing systems at all penetration locations maintaining pressure boundary integrity
Context
Child of L2-STR-PEN
Principles
- ▸Primary seal: welded or brazed joint provides permanent hermetic seal
- ▸Secondary seal: O-ring or gasket provides backup and enables maintenance access
- ▸Seal monitoring: inter-seal pressure monitoring detects seal degradation
- ▸Seal replacement provisions enable robotic maintenance of degraded seals
Typical implementations
- ▸Parker O-ring seal design guide for space applications
- ▸Garlock metallic gasket technology
- ▸ISS pressure boundary seal maintenance procedures
Lunar considerations
- ▸Every penetration seal is a potential 100-year leak source
- ▸Total leak rate budget for all penetrations must keep atmosphere loss acceptable
- ▸Seal monitoring enables proactive replacement before failure
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Sealing systems at all penetration locations maintaining pressure boundary integrity |
Physical
| materials | Silicone O-rings, Metal gaskets (Inconel spiral wound), Seal monitoring pressure sensors |
Interfaces
Provides
- Hermetic sealing at all penetration points
Requires
- Replacement seal materials
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Penetration Seals" (L3-STR-PEN-SEAL). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-STR-PEN-SEAL
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.