Numerical Study on Cavitation in Oil Film and Its Impact on Transferred Torque

Title:Numerical Study on Cavitation in Oil Film and Its Impact on Transferred Torque

Volume: 10 Issue: 2

Author(s): Fangwei Xie*, Jie Zhu, Yaowen Tong, Yun Wang, Bing Zhang and Ramesh K. Agarwal*

Affiliation:

• School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013,China

• Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130,United States

Keywords: Cavitation, CFD, friction pair, hydro-viscous drive, multi-phase flow, oil film, transferred torque.

Abstract: Background: Using viscosity of fluid between friction pairs to transmit power is called the Hydro-viscous Drive (HVD), which has obvious energy-saving effects on soft start and speed regulation in large belt conveyors, fans, and pumps. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to conduct the HVD technology research to improve its performance. In some conditions, cavitation in the oil film is generated, consequently affecting its transferred torque.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to study comparatively the oil film characteristics of both single phase and multi-phase flow, and to reveal the cavitation mechanism of oil film and its effect on transferred torque.

Methods: In this paper, we build a 3D model of oil film between friction pairs to study the characteristics of both single phase and multi-phase flow of the oil film through using the mixture model in ANSYS Fluent. The distribution of pressure field, temperature field, and torque transferred by the oil film are investigated by using the CFD technology.

Results: It is found that distribution of pressure and temperature of the oil film are almost similar in single phase and multi-phase models. However, the physical phenomena at the outlet of the oil film is entirely different. For multi-phase simulation of flow with cavitation, we first obtain the volume fraction of air bubbles at rotation speeds of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 revolutions/min. With the increase of the rotation speed, the volume fraction of air bubbles increases, and their maximum value becomes even greater than 10%. Current and future developments of the HVD technology are finally provided to improve the current HVD technology and fulfill its theoretical basis.

Conclusion: Due to oil film cavitation, the torque transferred by the oil film is no longer linear with the rotation speed; its value decreases gradually. These results are important for the study of HVD and its applications; they shed a new light on the mechanism of power transmission through oil film in the presence of cavitation. This paper also can provide a theoretical basis for the cavitation study and its effect on transferred torque by addressing recent patents and scholarly articles on the subject of design, control and application of such systems.

Cite this article as:

Xie Fangwei*, Zhu Jie, Tong Yaowen, Wang Yun, Zhang Bing and Agarwal K. Ramesh*, Numerical Study on Cavitation in Oil Film and Its Impact on Transferred Torque, Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering 2017; 10 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2212797610666170215121955

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2212797610666170215121955	Print ISSN 2212-7976
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher	Online ISSN 1874-477X