CFD study on the windage power loss of high speed gear

Abstract

The windage power loss is main factor of the power loss in a high speed gearbox. CFD simulation method has been developed for a detailed understanding of the physical mechanism of windage power loss. Comparisons are made with experimental data from the open literature. The CFD results are in good agreement with experiment. The study focuses on the influence of the shroud on the windage power loss for rotating speed ranging from 5000rpm to 7000rpm. It is critical to capture the energy efficiency prize by shrouding the gear. Smooth shroud and grooved shroud have been selected to reduce the windage power loss. It is observed that the better performance occurs with shroud, whereas it is found that the grooved shroud provides a considerable increase in energy efficiency at about 10% over the smooth shroud.