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The performance characteristics of a torque converter strongly depends on the blade geometry, which directly affects its torque ratio and input capacity factor. The present study developed a program that designs a blade system and analyzes its performance characteristics. Using the design and analysis program, TorconMaster®, several blade systems were newly generated and compared their performance characteristic with reference blade system. The objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of the blade geometry on the performance of a torque converter. As analysis tools, one-dimensional performance analysis were used for sensitivity analysis, where a full three- dimensional flow computation was used for investigation of three-dimensional blade geometry on performance. The analytical and numerical results obtained a refined relationship between geometry and performance.

The performance characteristic of a torque converter strongly depends on the reactor blade geometry, which directly affects its torque ratio and input capacity factor. We investigated the effect of the reactor blade geometry with varying thickness ratios and scroll angles on the performance of a torque converter. Using a previously developed design software, TorconMaster®, several reactor blades were newly generated with varying thickness ratios and scroll angles. Their performance characteristics were analyzed by numerical analysis. The present numerical analysis considered the details of the full three-dimensional, viscous and turbulent flow field within the automotive torque converter adopting a mixing plane model and showed good agreement with experimental results. The numerical results provided refined relationships between geometry and performance.

The internal flow of a torque converter strongly depends on the blade geometry, which directly affects its performance. Among the various parameters that influence the performance of a torque converter, blade angles have been the main focus of investigation as the major governing parameter. Recently, however, other parameters including bias and scroll angles have become new areas for research in order to achieve a better performance. The objective of this paper is to numerically investigate the effect of the scroll angle of impeller and turbine blades on the performance of a torque converter. In the present study, the internal flow field of an automotive torque converter was calculated using the 3-D Navier-Stokes flow code with a mixing plane. The results provide a physical understanding of the internal flow characteristics and the effect of the scroll angle on the general flow behavior.

The present study describes a computer-integrated design modification strategy for a torque converter using virtual modeling and flow analysis. As a preliminary analysis tool, the present study adopted one-dimensional performance analysis with a forced vortex method and a corrected blade angle with flow angle based on three-dimensional flow analysis. From the results of the performance analysis, first-stage optimized blade angles were determined with satisfying design requirements. A CAD program was developed for the virtual modeling of blade geometry with newly chosen blade angles and design path radii. As an accurate inspection tool, a computational fluid dynamics program adopting the mixing plane model was developed with flow and performance analyses for a virtually modeled torque converter, which involves a full three-dimensional flow calculation of a torque converter.

This paper addresses the fundamental flow feature question of how to design and optimize torque converter blades with numerical analysis. The present numerical analysis describes the details of the incompressible, three-dimensional, viscous and turbulent flow field within the pump of an automotive torque converter. An advanced Navier-Stoked flow code was modified for computations of the torque converter flow with the mixing plane and the k-ε turbulence models. The pump blade tip in our analysis is bent backward to meet the performance characteristics. The present numerical results assess the development of jet/wake flow and secondary flow along the flow direction. It is of note that the direction of the secondary flow at pump exit has not been changed. Undesirable pressure distributions near the exit were seen, mainly as a result of tip bending at the pump exit.