Article
Article
Fluid coupling
Article By:
Wirry, Henry J. Twin Disc, Inc., Rockford, Illinois.
Last reviewed:June 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.262000
A device for transmitting rotation between shafts by means of the acceleration and deceleration of a hydraulic fluid. Structurally, a fluid coupling consists of an impeller on the input or driving shaft and a runner on the output or driven shaft. The two contain the fluid (Fig. 1). Impeller and runner are bladed rotors, the impeller acting as a pump and the runner reacting as a turbine. Basically, the impeller accelerates the fluid from near its axis, at which the tangential component of absolute velocity is low, to near its periphery, at which the tangential component of absolute velocity is high (Fig. 2). This increase in velocity represents an increase in kinetic energy. The fluid mass emerges at high velocity from the impeller, impinges on the runner blades, gives up its energy, and leaves the runner at low velocity (Fig. 3). See also: Fluid mechanics; Hydraulics
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