Controlled gap seal with surface discontinuities
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsIgnatius THERATIL, Aldo ABATE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is disclosed a controlled gap seal for a gas turbine engine. The seal has a ring annularly and continuously extending about a central axis. A runner that is configured for rotation about the central axis and rotatable relative to the ring. The runner has a face facing a face of the ring. The face of the ring is spaced apart from the face of the runner by a gap. Surface discontinuities are circumferentially distributed around the central axis. The surface discontinuities are located at specific locations and distributed in specific ways. A method of using the controlled gap seal is disclosed.
Claims20
A controlled gap seal for a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a ring in a sealing engagement with a housing, the ring annularly and continuously extending about a central axis;
- a runner configured for rotation relative to the ring about the central axis, the runner having a runner face at least in part facing a ring face of the ring, the ring face spaced apart from the runner face by a gap;
- and
- a plurality of surface discontinuities circumferentially distributed around the central axis and equally distanced from one another along a circumferential direction relative to the central axis, the surface discontinuities located at least at one of the runner face and a face of the housing, the face of the housing facing the runner, the surface discontinuities located downstream of the ring relative to a flow of fluid circulating within the gap.
A controlled gap seal for a gas turbine engine, comprising:
- a ring in a sealing engagement with a housing, the ring annularly and continuously extending about a central axis;
- a runner configured for rotation relative to the ring about the central axis, the runner having a runner face at least in part facing a ring face of the ring, the ring face spaced apart from the runner face by a gap;
- and
- a plurality of surface discontinuities circumferentially distributed around the central axis and equally distanced from one another along a circumferential direction relative to the central axis, the surface discontinuities located at the runner face, the surface discontinuities located upstream of the ring relative to a flow of fluid circulating within the gap.
A method of operating a controlled gap seal, comprising:
- imparting a pressure differential between a cavity and an environment outside the cavity;
- fluidly connecting the cavity to the environment via a gap of the controlled gap seal, the gap located between a runner and a ring, the ring in sealing engagement with a housing of the controlled gap seal;
- and
- disrupting a flow circulating within the gap by circulating the flow between surface discontinuities circumferentially distributed around a central axis of the controlled gap seal and equally distanced from one another along a circumferential direction relative to the central axis, the surface discontinuities located either upstream of the gap and on the runner or located downstream of the gap and on at least one of the runner and the housing of the controlled gap seal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.