INVESTIGATION OF THE CAVITATION PROCESS IN THE CIRCULATION CIRCLE OF THE HYDROMECHANICAL TRANSMISSION OF THE BELAZ LOADER

A study of the working fluid flow in the torque converter was carried out using CFD modeling technology and an analysis of the dependence of cavitation on the torque converter operating mode. It is noted that torque converter cavitation mainly occurs at low gear ratios, the degree of cavitation decreases as the gear ratio increases. Most of the cavitation bubbles formed at the ends of the reactor wheel blades, which led to an unstable change in the moment characteristics and a deterioration in the torque converter performance. The analysis showed that the cavitation process is extremely unstable and periodic, and the development of cavitation near the top of the impeller blade occurs in four stages: the creation, growth, separation and decay of cavitation bubbles.