Analysis and Experimental Validation of the Effect of Lunar Dust from Heating Furnace Seals for in Situ Analysis of Volatile Matter from Lunar Soil

The sealing ring of the heating furnace in the volatiles measurement instrument is prone to contamination by lunar dust during on-orbit use, affecting its performance. Therefore, this paper focuses on the design of a static sealing spring-energized sealing ring. The designed sealing ring is resistant to high and low temperatures, capable of multiple repeated seals, and possesses good dust tolerance. In order to verify the stable sealing performance of the sealing ring under moon dust contamination, a test platform is constructed to evaluate the changes in sealing performance after contamination by simulated lunar dust. The results show that under extreme conditions, with a sealing force of only 300 N, the leakage rate is less than 9 × 10^–4 Pa∙m³/s. Increasing the sealing force is found to be the most effective way to reduce the leakage rate, and within an appropriate range of sealing force, the sealing ring demonstrates the ability for multiple repeated seals. This study provides a reference for the on-orbit application of the lunar soil volatiles measurement instrument.