Technical Paper
CFD Methodology for Torque Converter Clutch Slipping Modeling
2024-04-09
2024-01-2150
In torque converters, a lockup clutch is used for direct torque transfer from the engine to the gearbox. Nowadays, earlier lockup engagement is necessary to reduce fuel consumption. It introduces noise and vibration issues in the transmission that are solved by clutch slipping. However, the clutch experiences much heat because of earlier engagement, which needs to be adequately dissipated by ATF oil. To overcome this issue, multi-plate clutches are commonly used for efficient torque transfer and clutch slipping. On the other side, packaging space for torque converters is reducing at the vehicle level, especially in hybrid vehicles, which reduces the efficient cooling of clutches. So, accurate modeling of clutch slipping is necessary to improve the clutch performance and durability of the product. Clutch slipping is a transient phenomenon that involves conjugate heat transfer and rotational flow modeling. There are different ways to model clutch slipping in CFD simulations.