Seal and bearing assembly for a gas turbine engine and method of assembling same

A method of assembling a seal and bearing assembly of a gas turbine engine having an engine case and a rotary shaft for rotation in the engine case around a main axis, the seal and bearing assembly including:

• a bearing inner ring and a runner assembly both mounted to a rotary shaft, the runner assembly having a runner portion, a sleeve portion being concentric and radially internal to the runner portion, and a cooling fluid passage having an outgoing segment extending along a radially-inner surface of the sleeve portion, a returning segment extending along the radially-inner surface of the runner portion, and a radial segment bridging the outgoing segment and the returning segment at a distal end of the runner assembly, and
• a bearing outer ring, ring segments and at least one cooling fluid nozzle, all being mounted to the engine case, with the at least one cooling fluid nozzle being located between the axial locations of the bearing outer ring and the ring segments and being directed radially inwardly,
• the method of assembly comprising:
• positioning the engine case and rotary shaft in axial alignment, and
• axially moving the engine case relative to the rotary shaft including moving the bearing outer ring across the axial location of the runner portion and into an assembled condition in which roller bearings are operably received between the bearing outer ring and the bearing inner ring.

A gas turbine engine comprising one or more compressors, a combustor and one or more turbines, at least one of said compressors and at least one of said turbines being interconnected by an engine shaft rotating about a longitudinal axis thereof, the gas turbine engine comprising:

• a rotary assembly having a bearing inner ring and a runner assembly both mounted to a rotary shaft of the gas turbine engine, the runner assembly having a runner portion rotating with the rotary shaft, a sleeve portion being concentric and radially internal to the runner portion, the sleeve portion rotating with the rotary shaft, the runner portion and the sleeve portion forming a cooling fluid passage having an inlet, an outgoing segment, a radial segment and a returning segment, the inlet communicating with a radially-inner surface of the sleeve portion at a proximal end of the runner assembly, the outgoing segment extending from the inlet and axially along the radially-inner surface of the sleeve portion, away from the bearing inner ring, to a distal end of the runner assembly, the radial segment fluidly linking the outgoing segment with the returning segment via a passageway formed at the distal end of the runner assembly, across a radial thickness of the internal sleeve, and the returning segment extending from the radial segment and axially along a radially-inner surface of the runner portion, toward the bearing inner ring, the returning segment being between the radially-inner surface of the runner portion and a radially-outer surface of the sleeve portion;
• and
• a case assembly rotatably receiving the rotary assembly, the case assembly having a bearing outer ring complementary to the bearing inner ring in receiving roller elements therebetween, ring segments positioned in abutment with a radially-outer surface of the runner portion and axially spaced apart from each other, the radially-outer surface of the runner portion extending axially, a bearing cavity extending from the ring segments to the bearing outer rings, and at least one cooling fluid nozzle positioned in the bearing cavity between the bearing outer rings and the ring segments, the at least one cooling fluid nozzle being directed radially inward and operable to feed cooling fluid to the inlet of the cooling fluid passage of the runner assembly during use.