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Examination of Throughflow in a Radial ESF Clutch

College of Mechanical Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fujian Province, 350002, China, smchen{at}fzu.edu.cn, smch2002{at}vip.sina.com

W.A. Bullough

Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK

A prototype clutch having horizontal rotational axis and a narrow gap between its two parallel radial disks is examined using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The narrow gap between the discs is filled with an unexcited electrostructured fluid (ESF); the throughflow of electrorheological (ERF) or magnetorheological (MRF) fluid that would arise is contemplated as a means of contributing towards the cooling of the clutch. The throughflow, caused by body/centrifugal force action, is examined first when both plates rotate together at a speed, . The aim is to estimate the flow rates arising under conditions of different rotational velocities, clutch geometries, and fluid properties. Following this, the cooling of the clutch is examined for the case of one plate fixed and the other rotating at a constant speed throughout. The inlet and outlet port pressures are made the same and the fluid is taken to be unexcited/Newtonian with viscosity µ.

Key Words: electrorheological • magnetorheological • clutch • optimization.

References

• Bullough, W.A., Johnson, A.R., Tozer R. and Makin, J. 1997. ``Methodology, Performances and Problems in ER Clutch Based Positioning Mechanisms,'' Proc. 6th Int. Conf. ER/MR Fluids, Yonezawa, Japan, July 1997. 623—630.
• Ellam, D.J., Atkin, R.J. and Bullough, W.A. 2000. ``Appraisal of an ESF Radial Plate Clutch with Cooling Flow using a NNF CFD Solver,'' Rheology and Fluid Mechanics of Non linear Materials ASME, 252: 117—125.
• Ellam, D.J., Atkin, R.J. and Bullough, W.A. 2005. ``Analysis of Smart Fluid Clutches with Cooling Flow using Two Dimensional Bingham plastic Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics,'' Proc. IMechE, Part A: J. Power and Energy, 219: 639—652.
• Ellam, D.J. 2004. ``Modeling Smart Fluid Devices Using Computational Fluid Dynamics,'' Ph.D. Thesis, University of Sheffield, UK.
• Ellam, D.J., Bullough, W.A. and Chen, S.M. 2006. ``Comparison of ERF Clutch Designs,'' 10th Int. Conf. on ER/MR Fluids, 18—22, June, Tahoe, USA.

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 18, No. 12, 1175-1179 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X07084715


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chen, S.M. Articles by Bullough, W.A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?