NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF FLOW FIELD BETWEEN FRICTIONAL PAIRS IN HYDROVISCOUS DRIVE SURFACE

The flow field of the oil film between frictional pairs in the hydroviscous drive test rig is investigated.A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes(N-S)equation considering viscous force and inertial force rather than Reynolds equation or modified Reynolds equation is presented to model the flow field.Pressure and temperature distribution in radial and circumferential direction under three different conditions,i.e.,isothermal,that considering viscosity-temperature characteristic as well as shear thinning non-Newtonian fluid are simulated,respectively,by utilizing the commercial computational fluid dynamics(CFD)software FLUENT.The results reveal that the grooves on the driven plate make the pressure,temperature distribution present periodic variation.The oil temperature and shear rate have important effects on the flow field between frictional pairs,and the oil temperature is more important parameter.The simulation results lay a theoretical foundation for the reasonable designs of hydroviscous drive.