A method of minimizing oil consumption in a gas turbine engine, by avoidingreliance on air intake into the engine oil circuit for bearing chamber oilsealing purposes. The engine has an oil circuit with at least one bearingsupporting at least one engine shaft at a support point along a shaft axis, atleast one bearing chamber enveloping each bearing and maintaining a volume ofoil with an oil-air interface in communication with a volume of air, and anoil circulation system in flow communication with each bearing chamber forsupplying a flow of oil to a bearing chamber inlet and for evacuating spentoil from an outlet of the bearing chamber. The method involves sealing eachbearing chamber with a hydropad seal between the shaft and bearing chamber.The hydropad seal having an annular ring mounted to the shaft and an annularpad mounted to the chamber, each having abutting seal surfaces. During engineoperation the ring rotates to cast oil radially outwardly from the shaft axistoward the outer periphery of the bearing chamber under centrifugal force. Oilis then collected from the outer periphery of the bearing chamber and directedto the bearing chamber outlet.
展开▼
