hydraulic coupling , Torque Converter

‫محمد محمود عبد هللا احمد رجب‬

Sec : 9
NO : 399
 Fluid Coupling(hydraulic coupling )

Fluid coupling is also known as hydraulic coupling is a

hydrodynamic device which is used to transfer rotational power
from one shaft to another by the use of transmission fluid. It is
used in automotive transmission system, marine propulsion
system and in industries for power transmission. It is used as an
alternative for the mechanical clutch. It also has widespread
application in marine and industrial machine drives, where
variable speed operation and controlled start-up without shock
loading of the power transmission system is essential

It was discovered by Dr. Hermann Fottinger. He patented his

discovery of fluid coupling and torque converter in the year
1950.
Main Parts
It consists of three main components

1. Housing: It is also known as the shell. It has oil-tight seal around the
drive shaft. It also protects the impeller and turbine from outside
damage.
2. Impeller or pump: It is a turbine which is connected to the input
shaft and called as impeller. It is also known as pump because it acts
as a centrifugal pump.
3. Turbine: It is connected to the output shaft to which the rotational
power is to be transmitted.
The impeller is connected to the prime mover (internal combustion
engine) which is a power source. The turbine is connected to the output
shaft where rotation power is needed to be transmitted. The impeller
and turbine is enclosed in an oil-tight sealed housing. The housing
consists of transmission fluid.

Working Principle

The working principle of fluid can be easily explained by the taking two
fans in which one is connected to the power supply and other is not.
When the power switch is ON, the air from the first fan is starts to blow
towards the second fan (which is not connected to the power source).
Initially when the first fan is blowing at lower speed, it does not able to
drive the second fan. But as the speed of the powered fan increases,
the speed of air striking the blades of second fan also increases and it
starts to rotate. After some time it acquires the same velocity of that of
the first fan.
 On the same principle the fluid coupling works. In that the impeller act
as first fan and the turbine act as second fan. Both impeller and turbine
enclosed in an oil tight housing. The impeller is connected the input
shaft of the prime mover and the turbine with the output shaft. When
the impeller is moved by the prime mover, the fluid in housing
experiences centrifugal force and due to curved vanes of the impeller
the fluid directed towards the turbine blades. As the fluid strikes the
turbine blades it starts rotating. With the increase in the speed of
impeller, the velocity of the turbine increases and becomes
approximately equal to the impeller speed. The fluid after passing
through the turbine blades again return to the impeller.

Working of Fluid Coupling

1. As the prime mover moves, it rotates the impeller of the coupling. The
impeller acts as a centrifugal pump and throws the fluid outward and
directs it towards the turbine blade.
2. As the high moving fluid strikes the turbine blades, it also starts
rotating, after striking on the blades, the direction of the fluid is
changed and it is directed towards the impeller again. The blades of
turbine are designed in such a way that it can easily change the
direction of the fluid. It is the changing of direction of the fluid that
makes the turbine to rotate.
3. As the impeller speed increases, the speed of the turbine also
increases. After sometime the speed of both impeller and turbine
becomes equal. In this way power is transmitted from one shaft to
another by the use of fluid coupling.
4. In same way torque converter works but the difference is that it has
stator placed in between impeller and turbine for torque multiplication.
 Torque Converter
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling which is used to
transfer rotating power from the engine of a vehicle to the
transmission. It takes place of mechanical clutch in an automatic
transmission. The main function of it is to allow the load to be
isolated from the main power source. It sits in between the engine
and transmission. It has the same function as the clutch in manual
transmission. As the clutch separates the engine from the load when
it stops, in the same way it also isolates the engine from load and
keep engine running when vehicle stops.Its main functions are:
1. It transfers the power from engine to the transmission input shaft.
2. It drives the front pump of the transmission.
3. It isolates the engine from the load when the vehicle is stationary.
4. It multiplies the torque of the engine and transmits it to the
transmission. It almost doubles the output torque.
Working Principle

For understanding the working principle of torque converter, let’s

take two fans. One fan is connected to the power source and other is
not connected with power source. When first fan connected to the
power source starts moving, the air from it flows to the second fan
 which is stationary. The air from the first fan strikes on the blades of
the second fan and it also starts rotating almost at the same speed
to the first one. When the second fan is stopped, it does not stop the
first one. The first fan keeps rotating.
On the same principle the torque converter works. In that the
impeller or pump acts as first fan which is connected to the engine
and turbine act as the second fan which is connected to the
transmission system. When the engine runs, it rotates the impeller
and due to the centrifugal force the oil inside the torque converter
assembly directed towards the turbine. As it hits turbine blades, the
turbine starts rotating. This makes the transmission system rotate
and the wheels of the vehicle moves. When engine stops, the
turbine also stops rotating but the impeller connected the engine
keeps moving and this prevent the killing of engine.

Main Parts
The torque converter has three main parts
1. Impeller or Pump
The impeller is connected to the housing and the housing connected to
the engine shaft. It has curved and angled vanes. It rotates with the
engine speed and consists of automatic transmission fluid. When it
rotates with the engine, the centrifugal force makes the fluid move
outward. The blades of the impeller are designed in such a way that it
directs the fluid towards the turbine blades. It acts as centrifugal pump
which sucks the fluid from the automatic transmission and delivers it to
the turbine.

2. Stator
The stator is located in between the impeller and turbine. The main
function of the stator is to give direction to the returning fluid from the
turbine, so that the fluid enters to the impeller in the direction of its
rotation. As the fluid enters in the direction of the impeller, it multiplies
the torque. So stator helps in the torque multiplication by changing the
direction of the fluid and allows it to enter in the direction of the
impeller rotation. The stator changes the direction of fluid almost upto
90 degree. The stator is mounted with a one way clutch that allows
rotating it in one direction and preventing its rotation in other
direction. Turbine is connected to the transmission system of the
vehicle. And the stator is placed in between the impeller and turbine.

3. Turbine
Turbine is connected to the input shaft of the automatic transmission.
It is present at the engine side. It also consists of curved and angled
blades. The blades of the turbine are designed in such a way that it can
change the direction of the fluid completely that strikes on its blades. It
is the change in the direction of the fluid that forces the blades to move
in the direction of the impeller. As the turbine rotates the input shaft of
the transmission also rotates and made the vehicle to move. The
turbine is also has a lock up clutch at its back. The lock up clutch comes
into play when the torque converter achieves coupling point. the
lockup eliminates the loses and improves the efficiency of the
converter.
Working of Torque Converter
It has three stages of operations
1. Stall: During stall (stop) condition of the vehicle, the engine is
applying power to the impeller but the turbine cannot rotate. This
happens, when the vehicle is stationary and driver has kept his foot on
the brake paddle to prevent it from moving. During this condition
maximum multiplication of torque takes place. As the driver removes
its foot from the brake paddle and presses the accelerator paddle, the
impeller starts moving faster and this set the turbine to move. At this
situation, there is a larger difference between the pump and turbine
speed. The impeller speed is much greater than the turbine speed.
2. Acceleration: During acceleration, the turbine speed keeps on
increasing, but still there is large difference between the impeller and
turbine speed. As the speed of the turbine increases the torque
multiplication reduces. During acceleration of the vehicle the torque
multiplication is less than that is achieved during stall condition.
3. Coupling: It is a situation when the turbine achieved approximately
90 percent speed of the impeller and this point is called coupling point.
The torque multiplication seizes and becomes zero and the torque
converter behaves just like a simple fluid coupling. At the coupling
point the lock up clutch come into play and locks the turbine to the
impeller of the converter. This puts the turbine and impeller to move
with the same speed. Lock up clutch engages only when coupling point
is achieved. During coupling the stator also starts to rotate in the
direction of the impeller and turbine rotation.
Note:
1. The maximum torque multiplication takes place during stalling
condition.
2. The stator remains stationary before coupling point and helps in the
torque multiplication. As the coupling attained, stator stops torque
multiplication and starts rotating with the impeller and turbine.
3. Lock up clutch engages when coupling point is achieved and removes
the power losses resulting in increased efficiency.