Cavitation inside an automotive torque converter running at various pump speeds was simulated by using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) commercial package ANSYS-CFX 10.0/11.0. The numerical solution obtained for the case with no cavitation was used as an initial condition for the case of flow with cavitation to accelerate convergence. The converter was initially modeled using several grid sizes to evaluate the effect of grid density on the numerical solution and to select the optimum grid size for subsequent simulations. Comparison of CFD to actual test results demonstrates that the cavitation model built in the commercial code, which was developed by Zwart et. al. (2004) based on the simplified Rayleigh-Plesset equation of bubble dynamics, does not capture the full effect of cavitation inside the converter. Modifications to this model have been investigated in this study. The effect of the variation of the automotive transmission oil vapor pressure due to the rise in temperature during normal operating conditions was also investigated and found not to cause any significant change to the area of vapor formation, and hence did not have a significant effect on the converter performance. Values of the empirical coefficients of the cavitation model had to be modified in order for the model to capture the full effect of cavitation on the performance of the converter operating at high pump speeds. Results showed a much larger area of vapor over the converter stator and traces of vapor appeared inside the pump, and turbine blades. With these modifications, the model produced results in better agreement with the available experimental data. Moreover, simulations have been carried out in both steady and transient states using various turbulence models available in CFX10.0/11.0 in order to evaluate the effect of the choice of turbulence models on cavitation prediction. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/23166 |
| Date | 01 1900 |
| Creators | Chuang, Di |
| Contributors | Hamed, Mohamed, Mechanical Engineering |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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