Fluid-mechanical evaluation of different clutch geometries based on experimental and numerical investigations

Wet clutches in their open state add losses caused by drag torque to the drive train, making the optimization of the disk design and drag torque reduction a core development aspect. The present work focuses on the influence of the chosen disk-groove geometry on the resulting flow topology in open wet clutches. Therefore, the flow topology of six different disk designs is investigated experimentally and numerically. Other influences of the operating conditions such as volume flow or other design elements such as wave springs are not considered. New parameters for the flow topology are derived, for a better description of the influence of the flow topology on the drag torque. Based on these insights strategies for further understanding of the complex flow topology on open wet clutches are derived and optimization approaches proposed.