Abstract
This paper investigates the windage power losses generated by spur gears rotating in pure air by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The three-dimensional simulations are at first validated comparing CFD predictions with the power losses measured in similar conditions from other investigations. The volumetric flow rate which is expelled by the teeth is then analysed, and a correlation which is based on a classical approach used in turbomachinery is finally proposed which makes it possible to estimate windage losses for spur gears. It was observed that this latter approach seems satisfying since the formulation of the volumetric flow rate which is employed in the model is appropriate to each gear.
Highlights
This simplified approach led to similar results as Hill et al [9] and it is shown that windage power losses (WPL) are closely linked with the associated expelled volumetric flow rate and the tooth geometry
Where Q is the volumetric flow rate passing through the outlet section area at the exit
The formulation (10) is able to estimate the contribution of teeth on total windage power loss
Summary
2 r u tooth face width (m) tooth depth (m) turbulent kinetic energy (m2.s−2) volumetric flow rate (m3.s−1). Marchesse et al [10] used a structured mesh of a singlegear tooth, with periodic boundary conditions, in a rotating reference frame This simplified approach led to similar results as Hill et al [9] and it is shown that WPL are closely linked with the associated expelled volumetric flow rate and the tooth geometry. This latter point has been confirmed recently in Reference [11] as a variation of both expelled volumetric flow rate and WPL is noticed when a modification of dedendum parameter is made. A formulation, based on a classical approach used in turbomachinery, is proposed which makes it possible to estimate windage losses for spur gears
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