Numerical modelling of oil distribution and churning gear power losses of gearboxes by smoothed particle hydrodynamics

Sufficient oil supply of all machine elements in gearboxes is usually required to avoid damage during operation. Quite frequently, transmissions are conservatively designed with an oversupply of oil to guarantee operational reliability. An oversupply of oil results in an unnecessarily high amount of oil being kept in motion, which in turn leads to excessive hydraulic gear power losses. In high-speed gearboxes in particular, churning losses can contribute greatly to the total power losses. Further detailed information on the oil distribution in gearboxes is needed in order to increase the efficiency and operational reliability of gearboxes. Computational Fluid Dynamics methods provide a flexible way of investigating oil behaviour in transmissions with almost no restrictions regarding geometry and operating conditions. Generally, there are two main methods of computational fluid dynamics simulation in gearboxes: the traditional finite-volume based method (Eulerian approach) and the mesh-free particle-based method (Lagrangian approach). In this work, a computational fluid dynamics model based on the particle-based smoothed particle hydrodynamics method is built to investigate the oil distribution and churning losses of a dip-lubricated single stage gearbox on an efficiency gear test rig. Results are shown and discussed for different rotational speeds and oil temperatures. The smoothed particle hydrodynamics method provides a high potential of predicting the oil distribution of modern dip-lubricated transmission systems. Comparisons with high-speed camera recordings show good agreement. However, the method shows a need for improvement in churning loss prediction.