The aim of this work was to investigate the rate of heat transfer from a moving radial plate clutch surface. The paper presents experimental results over a range of angular speeds (Q) and fluid gap widths (h), which are then favorably compared to analytical and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solutions for the same geometry and operating conditions. Verifying the heat transfer capabilities of the latter goes some way towards validating a CFD package as a viable virtual prototyping method. In light of the results assumptions were established to allow the comparison of a duel channel radial and concentric clutch designs on a heat transfer basis.

No abstract

Two-dimensional (orthogonal) steady isothermal flows of a Bingham plastic between two plates, one moving and the other stationary, are discussed. This is done principally to examine and quantify the concept of cooling a smart clutch by throughflow. The fluid is modelled conventionally as an ideal Bingham plastic to verify the subsequent use of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package for similar flows in more complex situations but with a futuristic view to including heat transfer, electrical conductance, thermal and shear rate effects on fluid properties, and unsteady motion. The CFD (Fluent) package incorporates a user-defined subroutine facility which allows non-Newtonian constitutive models to be incorporated. Both radial and concentric geometries are considered. The two approaches (conventional analysis and CFD) are seen to complement one another.

This paper is primarily concerned with the feasibility of modelling the flow of electro-structured fluids (ESFs) by the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The non-steady performance of specimen devices in which power, force, or torque is transmitted via an ESF is predicted. This is achieved by incorporating a Bingham plastic type model into a commercial CFD package. Adequately describing the rheology of these fluids requires the use of several parameters. The presence of plug flow and unsteady terms in the equations of motion adds a certain complexity, and a future view of including heat transfer, field distributions, and electrical conductance adds even more difficulty. For enabling practical device development/ optimization studies that incorporate these features, an approach utilizing a well-endowed CFD package for this purpose is near essential. The results are verified by experiments that represent a wide range of flow situations. For experimentation, an electrorheological (ER) fluid is used as the test medium on the grounds of convenience owing to the current availability of a reliable fluid with some characterization. However, the CFD procedures apply both to ER and to magnetorheological (MR) fluids.

The aim of this work was to investigate the rate of heat transfer from a radial plate clutch surface. The paper presents experimental results over a range of angular speeds () and fluid gap widths (h), which are then favourably compared to analytical and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions for the same geometry and operating conditions. Verifying the heat transfer capabilities of the latter goes some way towards validating the CFD package as a viable virtual prototyping method. The results allow a procedure to be established for the selection of a good electro-structured fluid (ESF) clutch design.