Patent ID: 8727703

Claim:
A gas turbine engine comprising: a diffuser section supplying cooling fluid and including an inner diffuser wall that at least partially defines an inner boundary of said diffuser section; a rotatable shaft; shaft cover structure disposed about said rotatable shaft; support structure providing structural support for said shaft cover structure, said support structure receiving cooling fluid from said diffuser section and comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart struts; said inner diffuser wall comprising a plurality of apertures through which at least a portion of said cooling fluid passes, at least one of said apertures extending through an axially forward portion of said inner diffuser wall upstream from said support structure; and a cooling fluid channel between said shaft cover structure and said support structure, said cooling fluid channel in fluid communication with said apertures in said inner diffuser wall for supplying cooling fluid to a blade disc structure located in a turbine section of the engine.