CFD simulations of gearboxes: implementation of a mesh clustering algorithm for efficient simulations of complex system\u2019s architectures

Marco Nicola Mastrone,Franco Concli

doi:10.1186/s40712-021-00134-6

Marco Nicola Mastrone, Franco Concli

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40712-021-00134-6

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Abstract

In the last decade, computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools have become a determinant factor in the analysis of engineering problems. In fact, they bring a clear reduction of time in the design phase of a new product thanks to parametrical studies based on virtual prototypes. The application of such tools to gearboxes allowed engineers to study the efficiency and lubrication inside transmissions. However, the difficulties of handling the computational domain are still a concern for complex system configurations. For this reason, the authors maintain that it is fundamental to introduce time efficient algorithms that enable the effective study of any kind of gear, e.g., helical and bevel configurations. In this work, a new mesh handling strategy specifically suited for this kind of studies is presented. The methodology is based on the Global Remeshing Approach with Mesh Clustering (GRAMC) process that drastically reduces the simulation time by minimizing the effort for updating the grids. This procedure was tested on spur, helical, and bevel gears, thus demonstrating the flexibility of the approach. The comparison with experimentally measured power losses highlighted the good accuracy of the strategy. The algorithm was implemented in the opensource software OpenFOAM®.

Highlights

Thanks to continuous technological developments in computer science, simulation software packages have gained their consideration among academic researchers, and in industries
For structural analysis the finite element analysis (FEA) is used, while the study of fluids is achieved through the computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
Differently from previous analyses, complex domains involving helical and spiral bevel gearboxes were simulated in an opensource environment with a general procedure that drastically reduce the computational effort of the simulations

Summary

Introduction

Thanks to continuous technological developments in computer science, simulation software packages have gained their consideration among academic researchers, and in industries. While works dealing with systems in which extrusion algorithms can be adopted (e.g., spur gears, epicyclic spur gearboxes, cycloidal drives) have been already published (Gorla et al 2013; Liu et al 2018; Concli et al 2019), particular gears’ geometries such as helical and bevel ones, present in many of real applications, were poorly touched by numerical studies This is mainly due to the difficulties of handling the remeshing of such domains ensuring a sufficient quality of the grid during the simulation and the convergence of the solution. Trying to fill this lack, the authors have implemented a remeshing strategy that can be applied to any system configuration, overcoming the current limitations of the available approaches

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