Abstract
The power transducing mechanism of the hydraulic torque converter is quite different from that of the mechanical or electromagnetic coupling. In this paper, the dynamical behavior of a torque converter with 1-stage, 1-phase and 3-element is analyzed as a 2-port circuit element. The geometrical interpretation of the Lagrangian dynamics of the impeller and the fluid flow crearly reveals the process of power transducing through the impeller.
By the geometrical representations, the torque converter operation is quantitatively evaluated employing the admittance matrix for small deviations from the steady state operation. And the interrelations of these admittance characteristics of the converter, with those of other system components such as the prime mover and the load generator, are clarified in terms of the driving point admittances evaluated at the input and the output terminals of the converter.
The main results obtained are as follows.
1) The unsteady motion of the fluid in the impeller has little relationship with the dynamics of the rotating mechanical parts. The frequency range in which these two dynamical parts produce considerable effects, depends on their time constants, which are evaluated in the paper.
2) The source and load characteristics scarcely affect the system behaviors and thus except in the relatively lower frequency range where the dynamics of rotating systems are dominant, the driving point admittances Yie* and Yoe* are equivalent, respectively, to the blocked admittances Y11 and Y22 evaluated at the input and the output terminals of the converter.
