Windmill and negative-G oil system for geared turbofan engines

1. A lubrication system for a gear system of a geared turbofan engine, the lubrication system comprising:

an upper strut including an upper sump;

a lower strut including a lower sump, the upper strut and the lower strut supporting the gear system;

a conduit extending from the upper sump within the upper strut to the lower sump within the lower strut;

a lubricant collector surrounding the gear system and receiving lubricant exhausted from the gear system and directing the received lubricant into one of the lower sump and the upper sump;

a pump in communication with the conduit for drawing lubricant from at least one of the lower sump and the upper sump and communicating lubricant to a lubricant inlet of the gear system, wherein the pump draws lubricant from the lower sump when operating within a positive g-force environment and draws lubricant from the upper sump when operating within a negative g-force environment.

2. The lubrication system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the pump is driven by the gear system such that the pump delivers lubricant under any flight or non-flight condition.

3. The lubrication system as recited in claim 2 , wherein the gear system drives a fan shaft and the fan shaft is coupled to the pump for driving the pump.

4. The lubrication system as recited in claim 3 , wherein the pump comprises a bi-directionally driven pump such that the pump will operate to draw lubricant from at least one of the upper sump and the lower sump responsive to rotation of the gear system in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

5. The lubrication system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the lubricant collector surrounds the gear system and includes an upper discharge opening and a lower discharge opening.

6. The lubrication system as recited in claim 1 , wherein upper strut and the lower strut comprise a structural support component of the geared turbofan engine.

7. The lubrication system as recited in claim 6 , wherein the upper strut includes an upper cavity and the upper sump is disposed within the upper cavity and the lower strut includes a lower cavity and the lower sump is disposed within the lower cavity.

8. The lubrication system as recited in claim 1 , including a main lubrication system including a main pump drawing lubricant from a main lubricant reservoir and communicating lubricant from the main reservoir to the lubricant inlet of the gear system, wherein the main lubricant reservoir is disposed in a location separate of the upper strut and the lower strut.

9. The lubrication system as recited in claim 8 , including passages directing lubricant from the pump to the inlet of the gear system, wherein the passages are configured to supply lubricant to the inlet of the gear system independent of the main lubrication system.

10. The lubrication system as recited in claim 1 , including a bearing compartment supported by a radially inner end of each of the upper strut and the lower strut and each of the upper strut and the lower strut extends radially through a core flow passage.

11. A geared turbofan engine comprising:

a fan configured to drive air along a bypass flow path and a core flow path;

a compressor section configured to communicate compressed air to a combustor section for generating a high energy gas flow for driving a turbine section where energy is extracted and utilized to drive the compressor section and the fan through a geared architecture;

an upper strut and a lower strut supporting the geared architecture relative to the fan section;

a main lubrication system including a main pump that communicates lubricant from a main reservoir to the geared architecture, the main reservoir disposed outside of the upper strut and the lower strut; and

an auxiliary lubrication system for supplying lubricant to the geared architecture separate from the main lubrication system, the auxiliary lubrication system including:

an upper sump within the upper strut,

a lower sump within the lower strut,

a conduit extending from the upper sump within the upper strut to the lower sump within the lower strut,

a lubricant collector surrounding the geared architecture and receiving lubricant exhausted from the geared architecture and directing the received lubricant into one of the lower sump and the upper sump, and

an auxiliary pump in communication with the conduit for drawing lubricant from at least one of the lower sump and the upper sump and communicating lubricant to a lubricant inlet of the geared architecture, wherein the auxiliary pump draws lubricant from the lower sump when operating within a positive g-force environment and draws lubricant from the upper sump when operating within a negative g-force environment.

12. The geared turbofan engine as recited in claim 11 , wherein the auxiliary pump is driven by the geared architecture such that the auxiliary pump delivers lubricant under any flight or non-flight condition.

13. The geared turbofan engine as recited in claim 12 , wherein the geared architecture drives a fan shaft and the fan shaft is coupled to the auxiliary pump for driving the auxiliary pump responsive to rotation of the fan.

14. The geared turbofan engine as recited in claim 13 , wherein the auxiliary pump comprises a bi-directionally driven pump such that the auxiliary pump operates to draw lubricant from at least one of the upper sump and the lower sump responsive to rotation of the fan section in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

15. The lubrication system as recited in claim 11 , including passages directing lubricant from the auxiliary pump to the inlet of the geared architecture, wherein the passages are configured to supply lubricant to the inlet of the geared architecture independent of the main lubrication system.

16. The geared turbofan engine as recited in claim 11 , including at least one service line for a system other than the lubrication system extending through at least one of the upper strut and the lower strut.