>>1150128I do feel I'm going off topic by talking about hydraulic converters in a thread about electrifying american diesel locomotives, but I've seen worse topic derails.
It would be possible, theoretically, to lock the turbines at speed, actually. I haven't considered the possibility before. I doubt that would eliminate slip, I've noticed slip even at very low torque but at high speed, but it would prevent the loss of efficiency otherwise found at high speeds. Perhaps it's because it would require a clutch of some kind. As Voith primarily deals in hydraulic transmissions, they might not want to showcase another type of transmission in their own components. It's been said in jest that if Voith could build hydraulic light bulbs, they would use them on their Gravita locomotive.
The converters are built together in the same housing, and both transmit power, through the same gear, to the driveshafts. Which converter transmits power is determined by which turbine set is filled with oil.
Pic related, converter with a single turbine set (couldn't find one of a converter with several turbines, but the principle is the same). Red is the primary turbine, powered by the engine, and blue is the secondary turbine, transmitting power to the gear seen at upper right.
Multiple turbines may be connected to the same gear seen here, but only one turbine is filled with oil (marked yellow on the picture). The turbines not currently filled with oil are just spinning around and providing no resistance.
