抄録
The automotive torque converter is one of the key components of automatic transmission, which transfers power from the engine to the gear system. The occurrence of cavitation in the torque converter should be avoided, due to which significant noises and mechanical vibrations might be generated. Although the cavitation is suppressed by imposing the charge pressure on the torque converter, it is necessary to understand the occurrence of cavitation and its behavior in torque converter elements. It is known that the occurrence of cavitation is the most susceptible on stator at the stall condition with zero turbine velocity condition. In the present study, we observe cavitation behaviors in an automotive torque converter at the stall condition by means of the transparent model. At the same time, we measure pressure fluctuations in the torque converter, and investigate a relationship between the occurrence of cavitation and the pressure fluctuation.
