Gas turbine engine including lift-off finger seals, lift-off finger seals, and method for the manufacture thereof

摘要

Embodiments of a gas turbine engine including a lift-off finger seal are provided, as are embodiments of a lift-off finger seal and embodiments of a method for the manufacture thereof. In one embodiment, the gas turbine engine includes an engine housing having low and high pressure cavities, a shaft rotatably mounted in the engine housing, and a lift-off finger seal. The lift-off finger seal includes an finger seal backing spring and an aerodynamic foil. The aerodynamic foil extends around the outer circumference of the shaft and is configured to expand radially outward in response to aerodynamic forces generated during rotation of the shaft. The finger seal backing spring resiliently biases the aerodynamic foil toward the shaft, deflects to accommodate the outward radial expansion of the aerodynamic foil, and forms an annular seal around the aerodynamic foil to impede pressurized airflow from the high to low pressure zone.

主权项

1. A gas turbine engine, comprising:
an engine housing containing a high pressure zone and a low pressure zone during operation of the gas turbine engine; a shaft rotatably mounted in the engine housing and extending from the low pressure zone to the high pressure zone; and a lift-off finger seal, comprising:
an aerodynamic foil extending around the outer circumference of the shaft and configured to expand radially outward in response to aerodynamic forces generated during rotation of the shaft;a finger seal backing spring biasing the aerodynamic foil toward the shaft, deflecting to accommodate the outward radial expansion of the aerodynamic foil, and forming an annular seal around the shaft to impede pressurized airflow from the high pressure zone to the low pressure zone; anda finger seal retaining structure securing the finger seal backing spring to the engine housing; wherein the finger seal backing spring comprises a plurality of disc-shaped laminates, each disc-shaped laminate comprising:
an outer circumferential flange portion fixedly coupled to the finger seal retaining structure; anda plurality radially-resilient fingers extending radially inward from the outer circumferential flange portion to contact an outer circumferential surface of the aerodynamic foil.