Effect of two-phase flow on transmission characteristics of oil film between friction pair

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use the viscosity of fluid to transmit power known as the hydro-viscous drive (HVD) to research the effect of two-phase flow on transmission characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, a 3D computational model of oil film between friction pair was built to study the transmission characteristics of a two-phase oil film, and the distribution contours of pressure and temperature of oil film were investigated using the computational fluid dynamics technology.

Findings

The finding of the paper suggests that the distribution law of pressure and temperature of two-phase oil film is almost linear along the radial direction. However, since the physical phenomena near the outlet of the oil film are entirely different, there exists fluctuation. Meanwhile, the volume fraction of air was obtained at different rotation speeds, and the maximum value is 10.55 percent. Compared to the single-phase oil film, the torque transferred by the oil film is not linear with the rotation speed, its value decreases gradually.

Originality/value

This paper’s conclusions are very important for the study of HVD and its applications, which provide a new idea to further study the mechanism of oil film transmission and its cavitation. The development of fluid viscous speed clutch is dedicated to a large industrial fan and water pump speed regulation and energy saving. With the successful application of the technology, it will have more wide applications in different fields, such as, in steel, water, petrochemical, power plant of slag pump and exhaust fan.

Citation

Chen, H., Zhu, J., Xie, F., Guo, X. and Zheng, X. (2018), "Effect of two-phase flow on transmission characteristics of oil film between friction pair", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 255-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSI-06-2017-0038