An Improved Hydrodynamic Model for Open Wet Transmission Clutches

Abstract

A mathematical model describing the hydrodynamics of the flow within a disengaged wet transmission clutch is presented. The primary improvement of this model over the existing ones is the inclusion of the surface tension effect, which is expressed in the pressure equation as an additional term. The drag torque predicted by the model correlates well with the test data for nongrooved clutch packs. The significance of the surface tension in this type of flows is discussed as well.