Patent ID: 8641366

Claim:
A section for a gas turbine engine comprising: a rotating element and at least one bearing compartment including a bearing for supporting said rotating element, a seal for resisting leakage of lubricant outwardly of said bearing compartment and for allowing air to flow from a chamber across the seal and into the bearing compartment; said seal having a seal face facing a rotating face rotating with said rotating element, and said seal being a non-contact seal; said rotating element is a shaft rotating with a rotor having an axial face facing said seal face; a grooved area is formed in one of said faces, with said grooved area having a plurality of circumferentially spaced grooves for generating hydrodynamic lift-off forces and allowing leakage of pressurized air across said seal face and into the bearing compartment to resist leakage of lubricant from the bearing compartment; and said grooved area is formed in said rotor.