LASER VELOCIMETER MEASUREMENTS IN THE PUMP OF AN AUTOMOTIVE TORQUE CONVERTER .1. AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS

A torque converter was tested for two turbine/pump rotational speed ra tios, 0.065 and 0.800, and a laser velocimeter was used to measure thr ee components of velocity within the pump. Shaft encoders were used to record the instantaneous pump angular position, which was correlated with the velocities. Average flow velocity profiles were obtained for the pump inlet, mid-, and exit planes. Large separation regions were s een in the mid- and exit planes of the pump for a speed ratio of 0.800 . Strong counterclockwise secondary flows were observed in the midplan e and strong clockwise secondary flows were seen in the exit plane of the pump for all conditions, vorticities were evaluated and are report ed. Velocity data were also used to find the torque distribution. For both speed ratios the torque was approximately evenly distributed betw een the inlet and exit. Finally, slip factors were evaluated at the mi d- and exit planes. At the midplane they were approximately the same a s for conventional centrifugal pumps; however, at the exit plane the s lip factors are larger than for centrifugal pumps.