DEVICE HAVING AT LEAST TWO COMPONENTS, AND GAS TURBINE ENGINE HAVING SUCH A DEVICE

Abstract

A device has two components that delimit a space containing oil. A rotationally fixed component is moved axially to press against an axial sealing surface of a rotatable component by an actuating force to seal the space in a region of another axial sealing surface. An air flow between the two sealing surfaces results in a further actuating force, acting on the fixed component in the axial direction to counteract the actuating force and move the fixed component away from the rotatable component once a defined speed of rotation of the rotatable component is reached. The rotatable component and the fixed component are supplied with oil close to the sealing surfaces. In the installed position of the fixed component, oil is passed from an upper region of the fixed component in the circumferential direction of the fixed component in the direction of a lower region of the fixed component.

Claims

1. A device having at least two components, which, at least in some region or regions, delimit a space in which oil is present, wherein one of the components is embodied in such a way as to be rotatable relative to the other component, which is of rotationally fixed design, wherein the rotationally fixed component can be moved axially relative to the rotatable component and is subjected to an axial actuating force which acts on the rotationally fixed component, acting in the direction of the rotatable component, wherein the rotationally fixed component is pressed against an axial sealing surface of the rotatable component in an axial direction by the actuating force in order to seal the space in the region of an axial sealing surface, wherein the rotationally fixed component and/or the rotatable component are/is embodied, in the region of its sealing surface or of their sealing surfaces, in each case with at least one means which, during a rotary motion of the rotatable component relative to the rotationally fixed component, produce/s an air flow which flows out of the environment of the components and through between the sealing surfaces in the direction of the space, wherein the air flow results in a further actuating force, which acts on the rotationally fixed component in the axial direction and so as to counteract the actuating force and which moves the rotationally fixed component away from the rotatable component in the axial direction once a defined speed of rotation of the rotatable component has been reached, wherein the rotatable component and/or the rotationally fixed component are supplied with oil close to the sealing surfaces of the components, and wherein, in the installed position of the rotationally fixed component, the oil is passed from an upper region of the rotationally fixed component in the circumferential direction of the rotationally fixed component in the direction of a lower region of the rotationally fixed component.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the rotationally fixed component is designed as a hollow-cylindrical component and, on its outer side, has at least one groove extending in the circumferential direction, through which the oil is passed from the upper region of the rotationally fixed component in the direction of the lower region.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the rotationally fixed component is arranged in such a way as to be axially movable in a groove of a further component, and the oil is passed through the further component into the groove of the rotationally fixed component.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the actuating force corresponds to a spring force of a spring device which is arranged in the groove of the further component and comprises at least one spring element, one end of which rests against a shoulder on the rotationally fixed component and the other end of which rests against a shoulder on the further component.

5. The device according to claim 3, wherein the oil is passed through a channel in the further component into the groove of the rotationally fixed component.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the channel is provided in the further component, extending substantially in the axial direction of the rotatable component, and is in operative connection with at least one tap hole, which emerges in an inner side of the further component, wherein the mouth of the tap hole is arranged above the groove of the rotationally fixed component in the installed position of the further component.

7. The device according to claim 3, wherein the further component is designed, below the groove of the rotationally fixed component, with a catcher region communicating in the axial direction with an oil collecting region.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein a depth of the catcher region rises in the axial direction, at least in some region or regions, starting from a region of the catcher region remote from the space, towards a region of the catcher region adjacent to the space.

9. The device according to claim 3, wherein a sealing unit is provided between the rotationally fixed component and the further component.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the rotationally fixed component is produced using carbon.

11. The device according to claim 3, wherein the further component is of rotationally fixed design and at least partially delimits the space.

12. The device according to claim 5, wherein the oil is introduced into the channel via a pressure line, and/or the channel is in operative connection with the space, and oil is passed out of the space into the groove of the rotationally fixed component via the channel.

13. A gas turbine engine, in particular gas turbine engine of an aircraft having a device according to claim 1.

14. The gas turbine engine according to claim 13, wherein the further component is a casing part which delimits a bearing chamber or an internal space of a transmission.

15. The gas turbine engine according to claim 13, wherein the rotatable component is a shaft or a component in operative connection therewith.

Description

[0033] in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a highly schematized longitudinal sectional view of a gas turbine engine;

[0035] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partially sectioned view of a region II, marked in more detail in FIG. 1; and

[0036] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view along a section line III-III of the region shown in FIG. 2.

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a gas turbine engine 1, preferably a gas turbine engine for an aircraft, in a schematized longitudinal sectional view. The gas turbine engine 1 is designed with a bypass channel 2 and an inlet region 3. Downstream of the inlet region 3 there is an adjoining fan 4 in a manner known per se. Downstream of the fan 4, the fluid flow is divided in the gas turbine engine 1 into a bypass flow A and a core flow B. The bypass flow A flows through the bypass channel 2, while the core flow B flows into an engine core 5. The engine core 5 is fitted in a manner known per se with a compressor device 6, a burner 7 and a turbine device 8.

[0038] The gas turbine engine 1 in the present case has two shafts, a first shaft 9 and a second shaft 10. The first shaft 9 represents a “low-pressure shaft”, while the second shaft 10 represents a high-pressure shaft of the gas turbine engine 1. The low-pressure shaft 9 and the high-pressure shaft 10 are each mounted so as to be rotatable about a central axis or center line 19. The low-pressure shaft 9 is connected to the fan 4 for conjoint rotation, and during operation of the gas turbine engine 1 rotates about the central axis 19 with a lower speed of rotation than the high-pressure shaft 10. For mounting the shafts 9, 10 together and relative to a casing 11 of the gas turbine engine 1, a plurality of bearings 14, 15, 16, 17A, 17B is provided. The bearings 14, 15, 16, which are each embodied as rolling bearings, are in the present case arranged in a bearing chamber 12 which is at the front in the axial direction X of the gas turbine engine 1, while the bearings 17A and 17B, which are likewise embodied as rolling bearings, are mounted in a bearing chamber 13 which is at the rear in the axial direction X of the gas turbine engine 1.

[0039] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial sectional view of a region II indicated more specifically in FIG. 1, which includes part of the rear bearing chamber 13. Here, FIG. 2 shows a device 20 in the installed position or during horizontal flight of an aircraft constructed with the gas turbine engine 1. By means of the device 20, sealing of the rear bearing chamber 13 is made available between a rotating component 21 and a rotationally fixed component 22. The rotatable component 21 is connected rotatably in a manner not shown specifically to the low-pressure shaft 9, wherein two O rings 24, 25 are provided for the purpose of sealing between an inner side 23 of the rotatable component 21 and an outer side of the low-pressure shaft 9.

[0040] In the present case, the rotationally fixed component 22 is embodied as a hollow-cylindrical annular body is produced using carbon. In the operating state of the gas turbine engine 1 illustrated in FIG. 2, a sealing surface or axial end face 27 of the rotationally fixed component 22, which component is arranged in such a way that it can be moved axially or longitudinally in a groove 41 of a further rotationally fixed component 26, is pressed against a sealing surface or axial end face 29 of the rotatable component 21 by at least one spring element 28A of a spring device 28. This operating state of the gas turbine engine 1 is distinguished by a speed of rotation of the low-pressure shaft 9 and hence of the rotatable component 21 which is lower than a threshold speed of rotation.

[0041] If the speed of rotation of the rotatable component 21 is higher than the threshold speed of rotation, means provided in the region of the end faces 27 and 29 cause air to be drawn in. Starting from the inner side 30 of the rotatable component 21, the air is in this case guided by the means between the two end faces 27 and 29 and in the direction of an internal space 31A of the rear bearing chamber 13. This air volume flow has the effect that the rotatable component 21 is acted upon by a further actuating force, which counteracts the spring force of the spring device 28 in the axial direction X.

[0042] The means in the region of the end faces 27 and 29 can be embodied as spiral grooves, for example. In this case, the spiral grooves are designed to build up a pressure field between the end faces 27 and 29 at speeds of rotation of the rotatable component 21 above the threshold speed of rotation. The pressure field results in the further actuating force, which moves end face 27 away from end face 29 counter to the spring force of the spring device 28 at speeds of rotation of the rotatable component 21 higher than the threshold speed of rotation. This means that the further actuating force due to the air volume flow pushes the rotationally fixed component 22 away from the rotatable component 21 in an axial direction when the further actuating force due to the volume flow exceeds the spring force of the spring device 28. As a result, the operative connection between the rotatable component 21 and the rotationally fixed component 22 is canceled, but without impairing the sealing effect.

[0043] In addition, the pressure field has the effect that sufficient air flows out of the region radially to the inside of the inner side 30 of the rotationally fixed component 22 and radially to the inside of the further rotationally fixed component 26, between the two end faces 27 and 29, and from there into the internal space 31A of the rear bearing chamber 13.

[0044] If the two end faces 27, 29 come into contact with one another during the operation of the gas turbine engine 1, despite a speed of rotation of the rotatable component 21 being higher than the threshold speed of rotation, the heat which is generated by the sliding frictional contact between the end faces 27 and 29 is dissipated in the manner described more specifically below by oil cooling of the rotationally fixed component 22.

[0045] For the oil cooling of the rotationally fixed component 22, the further rotationally fixed component 26 is embodied with a channel 31. In the installed position of the further rotationally fixed component 26, the channel 31 is provided above an upper region 32 of the rotationally fixed component 22 in the radial direction Y and extends in the further rotationally fixed component 26 in the axial direction X of the gas turbine engine 1. In addition, the channel 31 is embodied as a blind hole and opens into the internal space 31A of the rear bearing chamber 13.

[0046] A plurality of tap holes 33 are operatively connected at one end to the channel 31 and, at the other end, emerge in the region of an inner side 34 of the further rotationally fixed component 26, above the rotationally fixed component 22. The rotationally fixed component 22 is designed with a plurality of grooves 35, which extend over the entire outer circumference of the rotationally fixed component 22 and are produced in an outer side 40 of the rotationally fixed component 22 by means of milling or the like. The grooves 35 and the tap holes 33 are in at least partial overlap with one another, both in the circumferential direction U and in the axial direction X. The oil which enters the channel 31 from the internal space 31A of the rear bearing chamber 13 can thus be introduced into the grooves 35 from the channel 31 via the tap holes 33 purely by the gravitational force acting on the oil.

[0047] From the upper region 32 of the rotationally fixed component 22, the oil then flows in the grooves 35 in the circumferential direction U of the rotationally fixed component 22, toward a lower region 36 of the rotationally fixed component 22, in the manner illustrated more specifically in FIG. 3. There, the oil emerges downward from the grooves 35 in the direction of an upwardly open catcher region 37 of the further rotationally fixed component 26, owing to the gravitational force. The catcher region 37 has a wedge-shaped cross section in the axial direction X. As a result, the oil which is caught is guided from the catcher region 37 into the internal space 31A of the bearing chamber 13 without further effort, even during various flying attitudes of an aircraft that deviate from horizontal flight.

[0048] To avoid oil escaping from a radial region between the rotationally fixed component 22 and the further rotationally fixed component 26, a further O ring 38 is provided between these components.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0049] 1 Gas turbine engine [0050] 2 Bypass flow channel [0051] 3 Inlet region [0052] 4 Blower [0053] 5 Engine core [0054] 6 Compressor device [0055] 7 Burner [0056] 8 Turbine device [0057] 9 First shaft, low-pressure shaft [0058] 10 Second shaft, high-pressure shaft [0059] 11 Casing [0060] 12 Front bearing chamber [0061] 13 Rear bearing chamber [0062] 14 Bearing [0063] 15 Bearing [0064] 16 Bearing [0065] 17A Bearing [0066] 17B Bearing [0067] 19 Central axis, center line [0068] 20 Device [0069] 21 Rotatable component [0070] 22 Rotationally fixed component [0071] 23 Inner side of the rotatable component 21 [0072] 24, 25 O ring [0073] 26 Further rotationally fixed component [0074] 27 Sealing or end face of the rotationally fixed component 22 [0075] 28 Spring device [0076] 28A Spring element [0077] 29 Sealing or end face of the rotatable component 21 [0078] 30 Inner side of the rotationally fixed component 22 [0079] 31 Channel [0080] 31A Internal space of the rear bearing chamber [0081] 32 Upper region of the rotationally fixed component 22 [0082] 33 Tap hole [0083] 34 Inner side of the further rotationally fixed component [0084] 35 Groove [0085] 36 Lower region of the rotationally fixed component 22 [0086] 37 Catcher region of the further rotationally fixed component 26 [0087] 38 O ring [0088] 40 Outer side of the rotationally fixed component [0089] 41 Groove of the further rotationally fixed component [0090] A Bypass flow [0091] B Core flow [0092] U Circumferential direction [0093] X Axial direction [0094] Y Radial direction