Laser Velocimeter Measurements in the Pump of an Automotive Torque Converter Part I – Effect of Speed Ratio

Abstract

A torque converter was tested at four turbine/pump rotational speed ratios (0.200, 0.400, 0.600, and 0.800) all with a constant pump rotational speed in order to determine the effect of speed ratio on the torque converter pump flow field. Laser velocimetry was used to measure three components of velocity within the pump and a shaft encoder was employed to record the instantaneous pump angular position. Shaft encoder information was correlated with measured velocities to develop flow field blade-to-blade profiles and vector plots. Measurements were obtained in both the pump mid- and exit planes for all four speed ratios. Results showed large separation regions and jet/wake flows throughout the pump. The midplane flow was found to have strong counter-clockwise secondary components and the exit plane flow had strong clockwise secondary components. Mass flows were calculated from the velocity data and were found to decrease as the speed ratio was increased. Also, the vorticity and slip factors were calculated from the experimental data and are included. The mid-plane slip factors compare favorably to those for conventional centrifugal pumps but less slip was present in the exit plane than the mid-plane. Neither the slip factor nor the vorticity were seen to be strongly affected by the speed ratio. Finally, the torque core-to-shell and blade-to-blade torque distributions are presented for both planes.