Investigation of characteristics of splash lubrication and churning power loss in gearboxes with a guide plate

Abstract

In order to clarify the action mechanism of the guide plate’s influence on the oil flow and power loss of the gearbox, this paper investigates the churning loss and lubrication performance of the gearbox with guide plate based on an advanced MPS method. The numerical results were compared with the existing experimental results to verify the applicability and accuracy of the numerical method. The effects of rotational speed and oil immersion depth on the oil flow in the gearbox were analyzed, and the structural parameters of the guide plate were changed to reduce the churning loss. It is found that the total churning loss decreases due to the effect of the guide plate, which is related to the weakening of the turbulent kinetic energy, the weakening of the aeration phenomenon and the reduction of the churning loss at the periphery and end face of the gears. In general, the smaller radial and axial clearance between the guide plate and the gears corresponds to lower churning loss and better lubrication performance.