Journal of

Mechanical
Design Technical Brief

A Model for the Prediction of power losses have been limited. The first in situ temperature mea-
surements date back to the classic works by Blok 关4兴, Niemann
Churning Losses in Geared and Lechner 关5兴, while the specific studies on churning losses
comprise those of Terekhov 关6兴, Lauster and Boos 关7兴 and, more
Transmissions—Preliminary Results recently, Boness 关8兴. Terekhov 关6兴 conducted numerous experi-
ments with high viscosity lubricants 共from 200 to 2000 Cst兲, low
rotational speeds, and tested gears with modules ranging from 2 to
C. Changenet 8 mm. The resulting churning torque Cch is expressed in terms of
Mechanical Engineering Department, a dimensionless torque Cm as
ECAM,
Lyon, France Cch = ␳⍀2bR4pCm 共1兲

P. Velex1 where ␳ is the lubricant density, ⍀ is the rotational speed, b is the

LaMCoS, gear face width, and R p is the gear pitch radius.
The analytical expression of Cm is deduced from dimensional
UMR CNRS 5514,
analysis and, depending on the flow regime, it takes the following
INSA de Lyon, France forms.
e-mail: philippe.velex@insa-lyon.fr For laminar flows 共10⬍ Re⬍ 2250兲
if Re−0.6Fr−0.25 ⬎ 8.7⫻ 10−3

A series of formulas are presented which enable accurate predic-

tions of churning losses for one pinion characteristic of automo-
Cm = 4.57 Re−0.6 Fr−0.25 冉 冊冉 冊 冉 冊
h
Rp
1.5
b
Rp
−0.4
Vp
V0
−0.5
共2.1兲
tive transmission geometry. The results are based on dimensional
analysis and have been experimentally validated over a wide otherwise

冉 冊冉 冊 冉 冊
range of speeds, gear geometries, lubricants, and immersion 1.5 −0.17 −0.73
depths. The case of a pinion-gear pair in mesh has been consid- h b Vp
Cm = 2.63 Re−0.6 Fr−0.25 共2.2兲
ered, and it has been proved that, depending on the sense of Rp Rp V0
rotation, the superposition of the individual losses of the pinion
For turbulent flows 共2250⬍ Re⬍ 36,000兲
and of the gear leads to erroneous figures. A new formula devoted

冉 冊冉 冊 冉 冊
to a pinion and gear rotating anticlockwise has been derived and 1.5 −0.124 −0.576
validated by comparison with experimental evidence. h b Vp
Cm = 0.373 Re−0.3 Fr−0.25 共2.3兲
关DOI: 10.1115/1.2403727兴 Rp Rp V0
In the above formulas, h is the immersion depth and V p / V0
represents the ratio of the submerged volume to that of the lubri-
1 Introduction cant.
In automotive applications, continuously increasing power den- Using a similar approach but in the specific case of truck trans-
sities require the development of accurate methods of estimating missions, Lauster and Boos 关7兴 proposed a unique expression for
the efficiency of candidate transmissions in order to prevent over- Cm as

冉 冊冉 冊 冉 冊
heating and subsequent failures. Gearbox efficiency and related
1.5 −0.4 −0.5
thermal consequences have therefore become significant issues h b Vp
Cm = 2.95 Re−0.15 Fr−0.7 共3兲
which have to be predicted and taken into account at the design Rp Rp V0
stage. It is accepted that, for low to medium speed gears, power
losses mainly stem from tooth friction and lubricant churning Terekhov’s and Lauster’s models rely on numerous tests but it
whereas, for high speed applications, windage can become promi- can be noticed that the expressions 共2兲 and 共3兲 are independent of
nent. Focusing on churning, the drag torque due to the rotation of gear tooth geometry which seems unrealistic. This finding prob-
discs submerged in a fluid has been analyzed by Daily and Nece ably comes from the particular experimental conditions, i.e., high
关1兴, Mann and Marston 关2兴, Soo and Princeton 关3兴, etc. However, viscosity lubricants combined with low speeds, which limit the
in the case of gears, there are fewer models and, because of ex- quantity of lubricant between the teeth being expelled by centrifu-
perimental difficulties, measurements of thermal performance and gal effects and makes the gear behavior close to that of a disk.
Boness 关8兴 investigated the drag torque generated by discs and
gears rotating in water, or in oil, and proposed that churning
1
Corresponding author. torque be expressed as
Contributed by the Power Transmission and Gearing Committee of ASME for
publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received January 27, ␳
2006; final manuscript received August 21, 2006. Review conducted by Professor Cch = ⍀2SmR3pCm 共4.1兲
David Donner. 2

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 Table 1 Lubricant properties

Kinematic viscosity Kinematic viscosity Density at 15° C

at 40° C 共cSt兲 at 100° C 共cSt兲 共kg/ m3兲

Oil No. 1 48 8.3 cSt 873

Oil No. 2 145.5 15.7 865
Oil No. 3 320 24 897.8
Oil No. 4 6,16 31,6 874

In contrast to 共1兲, Cch is given in terms of the submerged sur-

face area Sm but here again, the dimensionless torque depends on
the flow regime and reads as follows.
For laminar flows 共Re⬍ 2000兲
20
Cm =
Re
For intermediate flow regimes 共2000⬍ Re⬍ 100,000兲
Cm = 8.6 ⫻ 10−4 Re1/3
For turbulent flows 共100,000⬍ Re兲
5 ⫻ 108
Cm =
Re2
It is observed that, in the transition regime, the drag torque
increases with an increasing Reynolds number, suggesting that
low viscosity lubricants generate higher losses in contradiction
with experimental evidence.
From the observations/remarks above, it appears that a reliable
general churning loss model has still to be developed. In this
paper, some new formulas adapted to modern automotive trans-
missions are proposed based on the results of a versatile test rig
and on dimensional analysis. A variety of lubricants 共Table 1兲 and
gears 共Table 2兲 with several immersion depths have been consid-
ered for rotational speeds between 1000 and 7000 rpm. Only spur
gear teeth have been tested. In addition to the results for a single
gear, pairs of pinions and gears have been tested and the influence
of the interactions between the two bodies in relation to the sense
of rotation has been investigated.
共4.2兲 Fig. 2 Oil flow around the pinions
2 Churning Loss—Formulas for One Pinion
共4.3兲
The test rig developed for churning loss measurements is de-
scribed in Fig. 1. It is composed of an electric motor which oper-
ates a pinion shaft via a belt multiplying the rotational speed by a
共4.4兲 factor of 2.5. One of the housing faces is in Plexiglas so that the
oil flow around the pinions may be observed 共Fig. 2兲. The electric
power needed to run the gears is measured with lubricant in the
casing and then again in the absence of any lubricant; thus, churn-
ing power losses are deduced by subtraction. Thermocouples were
used for determining the ambient and the lubricant temperatures
and particular care was taken to verify that thermal equilibrium
was reached every time power loss was sensed. The maximum
uncertainty on the churning torque was estimated to be in the
range 0.06–0.08 N m. For high speed conditions, the windage
losses were measured in the absence of a lubricant 关9兴 and were
subtracted from the total power losses in order to isolate the con-
tributions of churning.
Figures 3–5 show a series of comparisons between the mea-
sured churning torques and the predictions using Terekhov’s 共2.1兲,
Lauster’s 共3兲, and Boness’ 共2.3兲 equations. Figure 3 focuses on the
influence of speed whereas Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the variations

Table 2 Gear data

Gear 1 Gear 2 Gear 3 Gear 4 Gear 5 Gear 6 Gear 7

Module 共mm兲 1,5 1,5 3 3 5 5 5

Face width 共mm兲 14 14 24 24 24 24 24
Pitch diameter 共mm兲 96 153 90 159 100 125 150
Number of teeth 64 102 30 53 20 25 30

Fig. 1 Oil churning test rig

Journal of Mechanical Design JANUARY 2007, Vol. 129 / 129

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 Fig. 6 Pinion partly immerged in the oil sump—Geometrical
data

Fig. 3 Churning losses „gear 4…—Comparisons between the 共c兲 the dynamic parameters characterized by the gravity ac-
models of Refs. †6–8‡ and the experimental measurements celeration g and the rotational speed ⍀.

It is therefore deduced that the churning torque can be written

associated with the immersion depth and the gear tooth geometry.
It can be concluded that none of the models gives satisfactory
correlations over the parameter range of variation thus justifying
the tentative development of more reliable formulas.
The parameters which are influential on churning loss have
been categorized and comprise:
共a兲 the gear geometry described by its module m, its pitch
diameter D p, and face width b,
共b兲 the characteristics of the lubricant, i.e., viscosity ␮, den-
sity ␳, immersion depth h, and the volume of lubricant
V0, and
as
Cch = f共m,D p,b, ␮, ␳,h,V0,g,⍀兲 共5兲
Boness’ normalization of the churning torque has been pre-
ferred because it seems logical to consider 共i兲 a pressure of refer-
ence of the form 共1 / 2兲␳⍀2R2p and 共ii兲 the immersed surface of the
pinion 共Sm兲, thus leading to the expression
1
Cch = 2 ␳⍀2R3pSmCm 共6.1兲
Sm is the surface area of contact between the gear and the lubri-
cant 共Fig. 6兲 which is decomposed into the lateral surface area
Sl = R2p共2␪ − sin 2␪兲 and the surface area of the teeth approximated
as St = D pb␪ + 2Z␪ Htoothb / ␲ cos ␣.
Dimensional analysis has been used to determine an expression
of the dimensionless drag torque Cm. The ten parameters in Eq.
共5兲 depend on the three fundamental units 共mass, length, and time兲
and, from the theorem of Vaschy–Buckingham 关10兴, the normal-
ized churning torque can be expressed in terms of seven groups of
dimensionless quantities as

Cm = ␺1 冉 冊冉 冊冉 冊冉 冊
m
Dp
␺2
b
Dp
␺3
h
Dp
␺4
V0
D3p
␺5
Re␺6 Fr␺7 共6.2兲

where ␺1 , . . . , ␺7 are constant coefficients which are adjusted from

Fig. 4 Churning losses „gear 3…—Comparisons between the
models of Refs. †6–8‡ and the experimental measurements
experimental results, Fr is the Froude number, and Re is the Rey-
nolds number.
Boness 关8兴 has defined the Reynolds number using lm, the chord
at the immersion depth 共Fig. 6兲, but by so doing, the influence of
immersion and that of the ratio of the inertia to the viscous forces
are mixed. In order to overcome this limitation, the length of
reference in the definition of Re is taken as the gear pitch radius
R p and the Reynolds number employed reads

Fig. 5 Churning losses „gear 2…—Comparisons between the
models of Refs. †6–8‡ and the experimental measurements
⍀R2p
Re = 共7兲
␯
In the same way, the gear pitch radius is used as the length of
reference in the definition of the Froude number as
⍀ 2R p
Fr = 共8兲
g
The parameter identification has been conducted based on nu-
merous tests following the procedure described in Ref. 关11兴. It has
been found that, depending on rotational speed, no single formula
was possible. At low-medium speeds, gear geometry is influential
via the submerged surface area only while tooth number and face
width play a negligible role as such. At high speeds, churning
power losses are found to be largely independent of oil viscosity
and the inertia forces become much more significant than the vis-

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 Fig. 9 Definition of the senses of rotation

3 Churning Loss—Formulas for a Pinion-Gear Pair

In actual transmissions, the most common situation corresponds
to a pinion and a gear in mesh and the current practice consists in
adding their individual contributions to derive the total churning
loss. In order to assess this calculation method, a series of experi-
Fig. 7 Influence of tooth face width ments was conducted in which one gear was driven by the pinion
共cf. Sec. 2兲 in the test rig. Two pinion-gear pairs were examined
共one with a module of 1.5 mm and the other with that of 3 mm兲
with 共i兲 two relative immersion depths of 0.6 and 0.45, respec-
cous ones. The Reynolds number is therefore discarded in the tively 共immersion measured on gear兲, and 共ii兲 two senses of rota-
formulation but, as opposed to low-medium speeds, the ratio tion 共clockwise and counter-clockwise as described in Fig. 9兲.
共b / D p兲 appears to be influential 共Fig. 7兲. Power losses were determined following the same methodology as
for the experiments with a single pinion. Depending on the sense
The identified coefficients ␺1 , . . . , ␺7 are listed in Table 3 with a
of rotation, very different trends have been found showing that the
threshold between the medium and high-speed equations charac-
assumed linearity 共addition of the two individual contributions兲
terized by a critical Reynolds number 共Rec兲 in the range of 6000–
works well for clockwise rotations but leads to erroneous results
9000.
for bodies rotating counter-clockwise 共Table 4兲. The latter condi-
Due to the influence of tooth face width at high speeds, the
tion systematically gives rise to higher power losses than those
critical Reynolds number is defined as follows:
estimated by the simple addition of the individual pinion and gear
losses. From a physical point of view, this difference is probably
⍀R pb due to the trapping of lubricant by the meshing teeth 关13兴 and by
Rec = 共9兲
␯ a swell effect which dissipates energy and increases the immer-
In the transition zone 共6000⬍ Rec ⬍ 9000兲, a linear interpola- sion depth on the pinion as illustrated in Fig. 10. Several experi-
tion between the two formulae is employed. The validity of the ments were conducted in order to quantify the additional loss
proposed formulation is illustrated in Fig. 8 in which the dotted 共⌬P兲 associated with counter-clockwise rotations. These com-
lines represent the numerical results whereas the solid lines ac- prised the testing of 共i兲 four pinion-gear pairs formed by combin-
count for the experimental findings. These curves represent a ing the gears of same module in Table 2, 共ii兲 the four lubricants in
sample of the results obtained from more than 100 tests and simu- Table 1, and 共iii兲 relative immersion depths h / R p between 0.4 and
lations with various lubricants 共Table 1兲, gears 共Table 2兲, speeds 0.7 共the gear being taken as the reference for the definition of
共in the 1000–7000 rpm range兲, and relative immersions 共between immersion parameters兲. The rotational speeds on the pinion were
0.1 and 0.6兲. A satisfactory agreement is observed in all cases; in the 500–1500 rpm range. When comparing power losses for a
further comparisons are given in Ref. 关12兴. given pinion-gear set and lubricant, numerical findings have been
corrected in order to account for the viscosity variations associ-
ated with the different temperatures of equilibrium in the sump.
According to the low-medium speed formula proposed in 共6.2兲, it
Table 3 Coefficients in Eq. „4.1… appears that viscosity is embodied in the Reynolds number only
and that churning losses are therefore proportional to ␯⌿6, with
␺1 ␺2 ␺3 ␺4 ␺5 ␺6 ␺7 ⌿6 = −0.21. From the latter, a viscosity correction factor for cal-
culating power loss variations is defined by
Low-medium speed 1.366 0 0 0.45 0.1 −0.21 −0.6
High speed 3.644 0 0.85 0.1 −0.35 0 −0.88

Table 4 Results for a pinion-gear pair of module 1.5 mm

Rotational speed 共rpm兲 500 750 1000 1250 1500

Power loss measured for 11 25 41 56 76
anticlockwise rotation 共W兲
Power loss calculated by 5.3 15 23.5 31.5 39.5
addition of the two
individual contributions 共W兲

Fig. 8 Comparisons between the experimental results and the

results from the dimensional analysis for two gear Fig. 10 Schematic representation of the swell effect

Journal of Mechanical Design JANUARY 2007, Vol. 129 / 131

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 Fig. 11 Oil viscosity influence on ⌬P

冉 冊
Fig. 13 Schematic representation of the immersion for a
␯ac 0.21
pinion-gear pair with a large speed ratio
⌬P = Pac − Pcc 共10兲
␯cc
where ␯ac represents the kinematic viscosity at oil sump tempera- disappears, as is schematically illustrated in Fig. 13. In order to
ture for counter-clockwise rotation and ␯cc is the viscosity for account for these extreme situations, a correction factor of the
clockwise rotation. form 共1 / u兲n was tested and has led to good agreement with the
As in 共5兲, the variation in churning power loss ⌬P is expressed
experimental evidence for n = 8. Finally, the following expression
in terms of a dimensionless variation of churning torque ⌬Cm and
of ⌬Cm has been retained

⌬P is sought under the form
1 共u − 1兲
⌬P = 2 ␳⍀3SmR3p⌬Cm
in which all the geometrical data are those of the gear.
From the experimental results obtained, the following conclu-
sions have been drawn
共a兲 As shown for isothermal conditions in Fig. 11, the vis-
cosity of the lubricant has a weak influence on ⌬P and
Re is discarded in the formulation.
共b兲 ⌬P is sensitive to rotational speed 共Fig. 12兲 and, by anal-
ogy with the structure of Eq. 共6.2兲, a proportionality to
Fr−0.68 is considered.
共c兲 For identical pinions and gears, no swell effect can be
generated due to the symmetry. In these conditions, ⌬P
was found to be close to zero, thus demonstrating that the
air-lubricant trapping by the teeth is negligible and con-
sequently proving that the swell effect is prominent.
The latter observation is taken into account by considering the
difference in relative immersion depths between the gear and the
pinion defined as
冋 冉 冊 册
h
共11兲 ⌬Cm = 17.7Fr0.68 1− 共13兲
u8 Rp GEAR
Numerous power loss measurements were conducted and the
experimental ⌬P and the corresponding values derived from 共11兲
and 共13兲 are shown in Fig. 14. A good correspondence is observed
over a large range of parameters which proves that the proposed
formulation is sound.
4 Conclusion
A new model has been presented which enables reliable predic-
tions of churning losses in automotive transmissions. It has been
validated by more than 100 experimental measurements from a
specific test rig. Particular attention was paid to the influence of
temperature on lubricant viscosity and that of windage on high
speed measurements in order to avoid bias. One specific charac-
teristic of the proposed model is that it accounts for a pinion and
a gear in mesh and for their senses of rotation. It has been proved
that, for counter-clockwise rotations, the total loss is not equal to
the sum of the individual losses associated with the pinion and the

冉 冊 冉 冊 冋 冉 冊 册
gear when considered apart. The comparisons with the experimen-
h h h tal evidence over a wide range of speeds, gear geometries, and
− = 共u − 1兲 1 − 共12兲 lubricants are good and, moreover, the corresponding churning
Rp GEAR Rp PINION Rp GEAR
torque equations have been indirectly validated by simulating and
where u is the speed ratio measuring global power losses in gearboxes under various load/
⌬Cm is supposed to be proportional to 共12兲 but, for very high speed conditions 关11兴. In the context of minimizing energy losses,
speed ratios, it can be inferred that, in practice, the swell effect one possible way to improve churning losses consists in changing
the shape of the casing. So far, the casing contribution is intro-

Fig. 12 Rotational speed influence on ⌬P Fig. 14 Additional churning power loss ⌬P

132 / Vol. 129, JANUARY 2007 Transactions of the ASME

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 duced via a global factor related to the lubricant volume which, ␳ ⫽ fluid density 共kg/ m3兲
for instance, cannot account for flanges and deflectors. The devel- ⍀ ⫽ rotational speed 共rad/s兲
opment of a new test rig with movable walls and enclosures is
currently under way in order to systematically analyze the influ- References
ence of radial and axial clearances and derive a more sophisticated
关1兴 Daily, J. W., and Nece, R. E., 1960. “Chamber Dimension Effects on Induced
churning loss model capable of simulating these different running Flow and Frictional Resistance of Enclosed Rotating Disk,” ASME J. Basic
conditions. Eng., 82, pp. 217–232.
关2兴 Mann, R. W., and Marston, C. H., 1961, “Friction Drag on Bladed Disks in
Housings as a Function of Reynolds Number, Axial and Radial Clearance and
Nomenclature Blade Aspect Ratio and Solidity,” ASME J. Basic Eng., 83共4兲, pp. 719–723.
关3兴 Soo, S. L., and Princeton, N. J., 1958, “Laminar Flow Over an Enclosed
b ⫽ tooth face width 共m兲 Rotating Disk,” Trans. ASME, 80, pp. 287–296.
Cch ⫽ churning torque 共N m兲 关4兴 Blok, H., 1937, “Les Températures de Surface Dans les Conditions de Grais-
Cm ⫽ dimensionless drag torque sage Sous Extrême Pression,” Proc. 2nd Congrès mondial du Pétrole, Paris,
Dp ⫽ pitch diameter 共m兲 pp. 471–486.
关5兴 Niemann, G., and Lechner, G., 1965, “The Measurement of Surface Tempera-
Fr ⫽ Froude number ture on Gear Teeth,” ASME J. Basic Eng., 11, pp. 641–651.
g ⫽ acceleration of gravity 共m / s2兲 关6兴 Terekhov, A. S., 1975, “Hydraulic Losses in Gearboxes With Oil Immersion,”
h ⫽ immersion depth of a pinion 共m兲 Vestnik Mashinostroeniya, 55共5兲, pp. 13–17.
关7兴 Lauster, E., and Boos, M., 1983, “Zum Wärmehaushalt mechanischer Schalt-
Htooth ⫽ tooth height 共m兲 getriebe für Nutzfahrzeuge,” VDI-Ber., 488, pp. 45–55.
m ⫽ module 共m兲 关8兴 Boness, R. J., 1989, “Churning Losses of Discs and Gears Running Partially
Pac ⫽ power loss for anticlockwise rotation 共W兲 Submerged in Oil,” Proc. ASME Int. Power Trans. Gearing Conf., Chicago,
Vol. 1, pp. 355–359.
Pcc ⫽ power loss for clockwise rotation 共W兲 关9兴 Diab, Y., Ville, F., Velex, P., and Changenet, C., 2004, “Windage Losses in
Rp ⫽ pitch radius 共m兲 High-Speed Gears. Preliminary Experimental and Theoretical Results,” ASME
Re ⫽ Reynolds number J. Mech. Des., 126共5兲, pp. 903–908.
Sm ⫽ immersed surface area of the pinion 共m2兲 关10兴 Candel, S., 1995, Mécanique des Fluides—Cours, 2nd ed., Dunod, Paris, pp.
151–183.
u ⫽ speed ratio 关11兴 Changenet, C., Oviedo-Marlot, X., and Velex, P., 2006, “Power Loss Predic-
V0 ⫽ oil volume 共m3兲 tions in Geared Transmissions Using Thermal Networks—Applications to a
Z ⫽ number of teeth Six-Speed Manual Gearbox,” ASME J. Mech. Des., 128共3兲, pp. 618–625.
关12兴 Changenet, C., 2006, “Modélisation du Comportement Thermique des Trans-
␣ ⫽ pressure angle missions par Engrenages,” PhD. thesis, Institut National des Sciences Appli-
⌬Cm ⫽ dimensionless variation of churning torque quées de Lyon, pp. 70–75.
⌬P ⫽ additional churning power loss 共W兲 关13兴 Diab, Y., Ville, F., Houjoh, H., Sainsot, P., and Velex, P., 2005, “Experimental
and Numerical Investigations on the Air Pumping Phenomenon in High Speed
␮ ⫽ dynamic viscosity 共Pa s兲 Spur and Helical Gears,” Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng., Part C: J. Mech. Eng. Sci.,
␯ ⫽ kinematic viscosity 共m2 / s兲 219共8兲, pp. 785–800.

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