Application study of PIV measurement of flow field around lock-up clutch of automotive torque converter

Abstract

A visualization of the flow field around a lock-up piston inside an automotive torque converter was carried out by use of the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Consequently, it turned out that the flow velocity distribution on the surface of the lock-up piston was measurable. Using the experimental results obtained by this PIV measurement, a key for improving the response of a lock-up clutch operation can be acquired.