Effects of forced convection and roughness of surface on viscous coupling unit of crossover utility vehicles Online publication date: Fri, 17-Aug-2007
by Sheng-Chung Tzeng, K. David Huang, Tai-Sheng Wu
International Journal of Vehicle Design (IJVD), Vol. 45, No. 4, 2007
Abstract: An experiment was conducted to analyse the local heat transfer and flow characteristics in the viscous coupling unit (VCU) of a crossover utility vehicle (CUV). Heat is transferred by free convection and forced convection, and affected by the lubrication effect of the smooth wall and the embedded circumferential ribs, at various rotational speeds. In the simulation of the practical operational range of VCU of CUV under experimental conditions, both rotational speed and geometric parameters must correspond closely to the real situation. In addition, the test section is designed such that the cooling characteristics of the power transmission system of the CUV of actual size could be investigated. The overall temperature distribution is measured and the local heat transfer coefficient is analysed. The impact of the centrifugal force upon the Taylor vortex is clarified with reference to the flow-field distribution. Finally, some empirical formulae by CUV designers are obtained from the experimental results.
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