NAVIER-STOKES ANALYSIS OF THE PUMP FLOW-FIELD OF AN AUTOMOTIVE TORQUECONVERTER

A three-dimensional, incompressible, viscous flow code, developed by N ASA AMES (INS3D) using the pseudo-compressibility method, is modified for torque converter flow field computations. The code is used to pred ict the velocity and pressure fields in the pump of an automotive torq ue converter. Numerical results are compared to measured static pressu re and velocity distributions. Results show that: 1) the code can fair ly well predict the C-p distribution, the distribution of the through- flow velocity, and the secondary flow field, 2) pump rotation has a ma jor effect on the secondary flow field and on the mass-averaged total pressure loss, and 3) inlet velocity profiles have a profound effect o n the mass-averaged total pressure loss.