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Lubrication simulation in automotive gearbox with

SPH method

Dr. J. Candelier, Dr L. Chiron

(Nextflow Software, Ecole Centrale Nantes, 1 Rue de la Noë, Nantes, France)

Dr. F. Ravet, N. Dabert, B. Pelourdeau, L. Dutfoy

(Renault SAS, Technocentre Renault, 1 Avenue du Golf, Guyancourt, France)

Abstract

Lubrication in automotive gear box address the balance between the reliability
issue and the CO2 emission saving; and depends mainly on mass of oil and
internal oil pathways. The efficiency of the lubrication is a balance between the
oil mass usually limited as low as possible and the split of the oil mass in the
different parts of the gear box. The objective is the maximum of the oil mass
should be used for lubrication. The partway depends on both speed shafts
conditions and internal geometric design of the gear box, including casing,
gears and bearings. Consequently, geometric scales vary from 1 to 100.

Today and with its advancements in industrial applications, SPH-flow, using

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method, represents an interesting
alternative to the conventional mesh-based methods such as Finite Element,
Finite Volume and/or Finite Difference methods for an increasingly large set of
applications. An important and interesting aspect of this method consists in its
ability to couple with other methods, enabling complex multi-physics. It is
especially adapted to high-dynamics phenomena with the presence of a free
surface where mesh-dependent methods can suffer significantly.

A preliminary study was done on a simplified test case and first conclusions
were applied in balance to CPU time consuming. Results were compared to
experimental data and a second study was done using local refinement of the
size of SPH particles.

Simulated oil pathway was compared to experimental results by transparent

casing. The SPH-flow simulations predict accurately the main oil flows during
splash lubrication highlighting the key parameters of gearbox lubrication
mechanism.

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1. Introduction

The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method was initially proposed

for astrophysics in 1977 by Lucy (1977) and Gingold (1977). More recently,
Monaghan (1994) suggests using the method for simulating free surface flows.
But the original method had significant limitations, such as noisy pressure
fields and boundaries management. These were gradually overcome in order to
achieve a method able to simulate academic flow as well as to deal with real
engineering issues. The first part of this paper will review recent developments
which have allowed the use of the method at an industrial level.

The areas of interest of the SPH method are the dynamic flow and/or flow with
complex fluid or solid interfaces. These areas often coincide with the
limitations of more traditional meshed methods. The SPH method is not in
competition with conventional methods but complementary. In automotive
applications, lubrication problems are often dynamic flows with complex
interfaces. The SPH method can therefore respond to questions that are major
issues in the design of gearboxes. This paper will present validations of
lubrication simulation in automotive gearbox with SPH method.

2. Governing equations

The weakly-compressible Navier-Stokes equations in a moving Lagrangian

reference frame read:

𝐷𝐷ρ (1)
= −ρ∇. 𝑢𝑢
�⃗,
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

𝐷𝐷𝑢𝑢
�⃗ 1 (2)
= − ∇P + υ∇2 𝑢𝑢
�⃗ + 𝑔𝑔⃗,
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷 𝜌𝜌

𝐷𝐷𝑥𝑥⃗ (3)
= 𝑢𝑢
�⃗,
𝐷𝐷𝐷𝐷

where the density, velocity, pressure, kinematic viscosity, gravity and position
are respectively noted 𝜌𝜌, 𝑢𝑢
�⃗, 𝑃𝑃, 𝜐𝜐, 𝑔𝑔⃗ and 𝑥𝑥⃗.

In order to close this system, the following equation of state is used throughout
this paper:

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𝑐𝑐02 𝜌𝜌0 𝜌𝜌 𝛾𝛾 (4)

𝑃𝑃 = �� � − 1�,
𝛾𝛾 𝜌𝜌0

where 𝛾𝛾, 𝜌𝜌0 and 𝑐𝑐0 stand respectively for polytropic constant, reference density
of the fluid and nominal speed of sound. Here 𝛾𝛾 is equal to 7 for the simulation
of liquids (Tait, 1888). In order to obtain a quasi-incompressible flow, 𝑐𝑐0
should be chosen as 𝑐𝑐0 ≥ 10𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 where 𝑢𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 is the maximum expected
velocity throughout the whole simulation. This ensures a Mach number
respecting 𝑀𝑀𝑀𝑀 ≤ 0.1.

3. SPH background

The classical SPH method is based on gradient approximations which are

achieved by convolving the variables with a kernel function 𝑊𝑊:

���⃗� ∇𝑊𝑊 �𝑥𝑥⃗ − 𝑥𝑥′

〈∇𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥⃗)〉 = � 𝑓𝑓 �𝑥𝑥′ ���⃗� 𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥′
���⃗. (5)
Ω

The kernel function 𝑊𝑊 used throughout this paper is a Wendland kernel

(Wendland, 1995). The discrete SPH scheme uses a set of interpolation points
to discretize the fluid domain. Each of these points (particles) carries discrete
values of the calculated fields. The volume of each particle acts as a weight
term for the discrete approximation of the previous integral (Villa, 1999).
Indeed, calling 𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 the volume carried by a particle i, the continuous equation
(5) is approximated by:

〈∇𝑓𝑓(𝑥𝑥⃗)〉𝑖𝑖 = � 𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 𝑓𝑓�𝑥𝑥

���⃗�∇𝑊𝑊�𝑥𝑥
𝚥𝚥 ���⃗𝚤𝚤 − ���⃗�
𝑥𝑥𝚥𝚥 . (6)
𝑗𝑗∈℘(Ω)

In its original form, SPH uses a pressure gradient and velocity divergence
defined as:

〈∇P〉𝑖𝑖 = � 𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 (𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖 + 𝑃𝑃𝐽𝐽 )∇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , (7)

𝑗𝑗∈℘(Ω)

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〈∇. 𝑢𝑢
�⃗〉𝑖𝑖 = � 𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 (𝑢𝑢
�⃗𝑗𝑗 − 𝑢𝑢
�⃗𝑖𝑖 ). ∇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , (8)
𝑗𝑗∈℘(Ω)

where ∇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 stands for ∇𝑊𝑊�𝑥𝑥

���⃗𝚤𝚤 − 𝑥𝑥
���⃗�.
𝚥𝚥

SPH-flow numerical scheme is the linearized Riemann-SPH scheme proposed

by Murrone (2005) in a Finite Volume context, resulting in the following
discrete equations:

𝑑𝑑𝑥𝑥
���⃗𝚤𝚤 (9)
= �����⃗,
𝑣𝑣0𝚤𝚤
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖
����⃗∗ − ��𝑣𝑣�⃗�.
= 2𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 � 𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 �𝑣𝑣 𝚤𝚤 ∇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , (10)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑗𝑗

𝑑𝑑𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 𝜌𝜌𝑖𝑖 (11)

= 0,
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑

𝑑𝑑𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 𝜌𝜌𝑖𝑖 𝑣𝑣𝑖𝑖

= −𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 � 𝜔𝜔𝑗𝑗 2𝑃𝑃∗ ∇𝑊𝑊𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + 𝜔𝜔𝑖𝑖 𝜌𝜌𝑖𝑖 𝑔𝑔⃗, (12)
𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑗𝑗

𝑣𝑣 ∗ and 𝑃𝑃∗ represent solutions of the linearized Riemann problem. With such a
scheme, particles are moved with a speed-law 𝑣𝑣 0𝚤𝚤 (see Eq. (9)) in order to
�����⃗
disrupt particle structures (See Oger, 2015).

4. Particle refinement theory

The dynamic particle refinement algorithm used in this article was initially
proposed by Feldman (2007) and improved by Barcarolo (2014). In this
algorithm, when a particle needs to be refined (mother particle) it is divided
into a finite number of smaller particles (called daughters particles) following a
predefined pattern.

Three parameters should first be defined:

• The separation parameter 𝜀𝜀 ∈ [0,1]

• The radius ratio parameter 𝛼𝛼 ∈ ]0,1]
• The switch parameter 𝛾𝛾 ∈ [0,1]

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Particle refinement process: mother (red) particles are split into four
daughters (blue) particles.

The separation parameter e determines the distance between daughter particles.

For example, a value of 𝜀𝜀 = 0.5 is used for a “cartesian” splitting (see Figure
1). The radius ratio parameter a defines the radius length of the daughter
particles with respect to the mother particle. The switch parameter 𝛾𝛾
determines if a particle should be advanced in time actively or passively with
the flow.

We introduce two sets of particles:

• d containing daughter particles

• m containing mother particles.

Thus, we get the following equations:

∆𝑥𝑥𝑑𝑑 = 𝜀𝜀∆𝑥𝑥𝑚𝑚 , 𝑅𝑅𝑑𝑑 = 𝛼𝛼𝑅𝑅𝑚𝑚 . (13)

We also define a mass ratio 𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑 ∈ ]0,1] which gives the mass of each daughter
particle:

𝑚𝑚𝑑𝑑 = 𝜆𝜆𝑑𝑑 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 . (14)

Mass is conserved by appliying the following constraint:

𝐷𝐷

� 𝜆𝜆𝑗𝑗 = 1, (15)
𝑗𝑗

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where 𝐷𝐷 stands for the number of daughter particles of each mother particle
(𝐷𝐷 = 4 in Figure 1 for example).

More information concerning particle refinement algorithm in SPH-flow can

be found in Chiron (2018).

5. Numerical validation

Kleefsman (2005) proposed the experiment test case of a dam break impacting
an obstacle. Despite this test case displays three dimensional effects in a first
attempt, we treat this flow as 2D. This approximation is acceptable namely at
the first instants of the impact. We therefore performed a 2D simulation (see
Figure 2) and compared our results for various discretizations with
experimental pressure sensors.

2D Dam break Kleefsman’s simulation sketch.

We performed three simulations with particle diameters Δx = 0.005 m (coarse

simulation), Δx = 0.0025 m (fine simulation) and APR simulation using Δx =
0.005 m in the unrefined area and Δx = 0.0025 m in the refinement level. The
speed of sound is taken at 100 m. 𝑠𝑠 −1. Particle disrupting is used on both
mother and daughter particles. This choice is motivated by the fact that we
need an efficient particle reorganization in order to capture well P1 pressure
signal.

A good agreement is observed between simulations with/without Particle

Refinement and a good consistency with experimental signals. Figures 3 and 4
shows the convergence of the simulation at t = 0.6 s and t = 1 s. The jet is
captured more and more finely and the pressure at the corner of the block is
becoming better defined.

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Pressure field comparison at t = 0.6 s for different resolutions.

Pressure field comparison at t = 1 s for different resolutions

Figure 5 (a) and (b) show the evolution of pressure sensor P1 in comparison
with the experimental signal. We clearly identify the gain using Particle
Refinement compared to the coarse simulation on Fig. 5 (a). A good agreement
between particle refinement and fine spatial resolution is obtained, which can
be clearly identified using a zoom (Fig. 5 (b)). The use of Particle Refinement
gives the same trend on the P3 sensor as coarse and refined simulations (Fig. 5
(c)). The differences observed between the numerical results and experience
may attributed to 3-D effects. It may be noted that the simulation performed by
Kleefsman (2005) gives the same trends, namely a result slightly higher for P1
and slightly lower for P3.

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Simulation comparisons: (a) Pressure sensor P1, (b) Zoom on pressure

sensor P1, (c) Pressure sensor P3.

Simulations were performed using 14 processors Intel Xeon E5620 clocked at

2.4 GHz. An analysis of the CPU time between both simulations is made for
this test case (Table 1) after t = 1 s of physical time. The finest spatial
resolution simulation is the reference and was performed with Δx = 0.0025 m
(107360 particles) while the initial Particle Refinement particle resolution was
Δx = 0.005 m (26840 particles).

Table 1: Comparison in terms of CPU time between simulations.

Simulation performed CPU Time (second) Profit

Fine spatial resolution 21 000 -

Particle Refinement 9 000 57.2%

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6. Description of the lubrication concept in the gear box

Saving CO2 emission is the key issue for current internal combustion engine
developments. Lubrication efficiency in the gear box is one of contributors to
limit CO2 emission by limiting the on-board mass of oil. Consequently,
developers of the lubrication system need to minimize the volume of oil in the
gear box without any penalties on reliability of the system.

In addition, any developments should be done in a shorter and shorter time

frame to comply with competition and automotive market evolution.

The three-dimensional CFD approach appears as a promising tool to help

designers to meet the targets of CO2 emission saving, to respect the time
schedule of the developments and to comply with saving cost by limiting the
number of prototypes.

The description of the lubricant flow in the gear box should be addressed by
any numerical technics for free surface simulation.

Wheel Oil collector

Bearings
Gears G

Gear box concept.

For lubrication, the wheel is used as a pump to put the oil in the collector.
Thus, the oil mass flow is split through dedicated holes, partly to the gears,
partly to the bearings.

The efficiency of the lubrication is quantified by the negative torque on the

shafts, the oil mass flow though the holes to address gears and the oil mass
flow into the bearings. The target is a maximum of the oil mass should
contribute to the lubrication. The ratio between the “working mass” of oil and
the “mass” of oil should be as high as possible.

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Oil in the collector Oil through holes

Oil cascade for

bearings

Oil flow by the wheel

Typical lubrication simulation with SPH method

7. Validation

The quantification of the lubrication efficiency is usually determined on three

speeds, 1000 rpm, corresponding to urban condition, 3000 rpm, corresponding
to road condition and finally 5000 rpm corresponding maximum power
condition. For each speed, a range of gears is investigated from gear 1 to
maximum gears, depending the system, plus the reverse gear. As a
consequence, the number of simulations needed to cover a complete plan may
be important: usually from ten to twenty.

The plan may be completed by particular cases such as strong acceleration or

strong breaking to determine the impact on the oil split when an external force
is applied to the oil.

The simulation time is about seven days on 70 CPU cores for three seconds
real time and a SPH-flow simulation needs about 1.5 million of SPH particles
for 1.5 liter of oil. The use of local particles refinement (see Figure 8) helps to
achieve higher fidelity in zone of interest such as bearings or holes in the oil
collector. Consequently, covering all the simulation plan and complying with
the time schedule of the development means that all the simulations must be
run simultaneously, so a huge CPU capability is required.

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Example of local refinement application in gear box simulation.

The validation is a two-step process. The first step is to compare simulation

with visualization in transparent casing gear box. There is no measurement
except the negative torque on the shaft. The quality of the comparison is
usually very low. Nevertheless, particular functions may be confirmed, such as
the level of oil in each component.

Flow comparison in transparent casing with simulation.

The second step of the validation process in on real gear box and the test is
reliability test, maximum power, maximum speed, up to break the system.

8. Conclusion

In recent years, the limitations of the original SPH method have been overcome
thanks to several innovative techniques briefly introduced in this paper. These
are implemented in the code SPH-flow made it possible to make the transition
from an academic method to a solver for complex engineering problems, here
lubrication applications.

The SPH method is suitable for dynamic flows and complex interfaces. In this
paper, the comparison of simulated oil pathway to experimental results by
transparent casing demonstrate that SPH-flow simulations can predict
accurately the main oil flows during splash lubrication highlighting the key
parameters of gearbox lubrication mechanism, contributing to reliability and
CO2 emission saving.

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© NAFEMS 2019 REPRODUCTION AND REDISTRIBUTION PROHIBITED nafems.org

9. References

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hypothesis: Astronomical Journal. 82: 1013-1024.

Gingold R.A., Monaghan J.J. (1977). Smoothed particle hydrodynamics:

theory and application to non-spherical stars: Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society. 181:375–389.

Monaghan J.J. (1994). Simulating free surface flows with SPH: Journal of
Computational Physics. 110: 399-406.

Tait P. (1888). Report on some of the physical properties of fresh water and
sea water: Physical Chemistry. 2.

Wendland H. (1995). Piecewise polynomial, positive definite and compactly

supported radial functions of minimal degree: Adv. Comput. Math. 4:389–396.

Vila J.P. (1999). On particle weighted methods and SPH: Mathematical

Models and Methods in Applied Sciences. 9:161210.

Murrone A., Guillard H. (2005). A five equations reduced model for

compressible two phases flow problems: Journal of Computational Physics.
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Oger G., Marrone S., Le Touzé D. (2015). SPH accuracy improvement through
the combination of a quasi-Lagrangian shifting transport velocity and
consistent ALE formalisms: Journal of Computational Physics.

Feldman J., Bonet J. (2007). Dynamic refinement and boundary contact forces
in SPH with applications in fluid flow problems: Int. J. Numer. Meth. Eng.
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Barcarolo D. A., Oger G., Le Touzé D. (2014). Adaptive particle refinement

and derefinement applied to Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method:
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Chiron L., Oger G., Le Touzé D., De Leffe M. (2018). Analysis and
improvements of Adaptive Particle Refinement (APR) through CPU time,
accuracy and robustness considerations: Journal of Computational Physics.
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Kleefsman K.M.T., Fekken G., Veldman A.E.P., Iwanowski B., Buchner B.

(2005). A volume-of-fluid based simulation method for wave impact problems:
Journal of Computational Physics. 206:363–393.

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