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CHAPTER 5
CLUTCH
5.1 Function of a Clutch
The torque developed by the engine at starting speed is very low. Therefore, it is not
possible to start the engine under load. This requires that the transmission system
should provide a means of connecting and disconnecting the engine from rest of the
transmission system. Such an operation must be smooth and without shock to the
occupants of the vehicle.
Thus the two main functions of a clutch are:
1. To allow the engine to be separated from rest of the transmission system.
This is required when:
a) starting and running the engine at a sufficiently high speed to generate
sufficient power necessary for moving the vehicle from rest;
b) shifting the gears so that damage to gear teeth can be avoided; and
c) Stopping the vehicle after applying brakes.
2. The second function of the clutch is to allow the engine to take up the
driving load of the vehicle gradually and without shock.
Friction Surface
The following are the requirements of the friction mating surfaces used in clutches.
1. It must have good mechanical strength and thermal expansion to
withstand the torque and thermal stresses over a wide temperature range
without distortion, bell-mouthing or excessive expansion.
2. Its heat soak capacity and thermal conductivity should be sufficient.
3. Its structure and finish must provide a consistent mating surface under all
conditions of operation.
4. It must be hard enough to give a long wear life and resist scoring and
abrasion.
5. It must be cheap.
5.2 The main requirements of a clutch :
1. It should be able to transmit maximum torque of the engine under all
conditions.(Torque transmission)
2. It should engage gradually to avoid sudden jerks.( Gradual Engagement)
3. It should be able to dissipate large amount of heat generated during clutch
operation.(Heat dissipation)
4. It should be dynamically balanced, particularly in the case of high speed
engine clutches.(Dynamic Balancing)
5. It should have suitable mechanism to damp vibrations and to eliminate noise
produced during power transmission.(Vibration Damping)
6. It should be as small as possible so that it will occupy minimum space.(Size)
7. It should be easy to operate requiring as little exertion as possible on the part
of the driver.(Ease of operation)
8. It should be made as light as possible so that it will continue to rotate for any
length of time after the clutch has been disengaged.
5.3 Method of operation of a Single Plate Clutch:
The movable parts of the clutch are pressed together by the thrust springs so
that the driven plate is trapped between the flywheel and the pressure plate. The
three components thus clamped together connect the engine to the primary shaft of
the gearbox. When the driver of the vehicle operates the clutch pedal the release
levers draw back the pressure plate, compressing the springs, thus separating the
flywheel, driven plate, and pressure plate hence disconnecting the drive.
As the pedal is released the pressure plate under the influence of the
expanding spring pressure, pushes the driven plate along the splines on the primary
shaft. As the clutch faces press closer together the slip between these faces is
gradually reduced, until the speed of the gearbox primary shaft corresponds to the
engine crankshaft speed.
Besides having a clutch plate, a pressure plate, and a splined shaft, it mainly
consists of (i) Compression spring (3 numbers), and (ii) Weighted levers (3
numbers).
In this figure, only one compression spring and weighted lever are
shown.
The three weighted levers are hinged, and spaced at equal intervals on the periphery
of the clutch assembly. One such weighted lever hinged at B is shown in figure b.
This lever is hinged to pressure plate also through the needle bearing. The bearing
contains several needle rollers. The upper side A of the lever is weighted.
Prof Pradeep Kumar Shetty, Dept of Mech engg., MIT,Manipal
Working: In its operation at low engine speeds, the compression springs assist in
preventing the clutch slipping as the centrifugal effect upon the weighted upper side
is very small.
But when the engine accelerates, the upper end tends to move
outwards under centrifugal action. It thus introduces a torque about hinge B which
causes a normal force over the pressure plate at the needle bearings (3 numbers).
Effect of normal force is to increase the pressure on the pressure plate which is
sufficient to prevent slip at full engine load since the centrifugal force Fc increases as
square of the speed N. Thus Fc is proportional to N2 which is depicted in figure b
and c below.
now limited to the difference between the force Q and the force exerted by the
springs F when the masses having come against the stops G) have compressed
them fully. This difference can be made to have any desired value.
5.6 The Fluid Flywheel
The fluid flywheel shown in figure consists of a split housing which is rotated by the
engine. Inside this housing is a turbine, or driven rotor, which is connected by a
shaft to the gearbox.
The constantly
circulating fluid thus gains energy from the driving member and imparts this energy
to the turbine.
At maximum efficiency the amount of slip between the two rotating parts is only
about 2%, the slip being greater at lower speeds. Complete disconnection of the
drive is not possible with a fluid coupling, and it is not suitable for use with an
ordinary gearbox. It is generally used in conjunction with epicyclic gears to provide a
semi- or fully-automatic gearbox.
Advantages:
- Fluid flywheels require less attention than friction clutches and need no
adjustment.
- The drive is taken up smoothly,
- Torsional vibration of the crankshaft and the transmission are damped out,
- The fluid absorbs transmission shocks when braking or coasting down a hill
and
- The clutch pedal is eliminated.
5.7 GEAR BOX
Torque available and torque required by an automobile:
The torque developed by the engine at the starting speed is very low.
Therefore, it is not possible to start the engine under load. This requires that
the transmission system should provide a means of connecting and
disconnecting the engine from rest of the transmission system.
Such an
operation must be smooth and without shock to the occupants of the vehicle.
The engine should be able to start and propel the fully laden car up to a
gradient of at least 1 in 4. This roughly requires that the overall transmission
torque ratio should be about 10:1 for sports cars and 20:1 for small vehicles.
Since the final drive ratio varies from 3.5:1 to 5:1, it means that an additional
torque ratio of 3:1 to 4:1 is required to give an overall ratio to cope with the
maximum gradients.
The transmission should allow the engine to run in the region of its maximum
power speed when the car is traveling at maximum speed.
This means
For obtaining good fuel economy the transmission system should give
automatically the highest possible torque ratio at steady running.
Thus an optimum transmission system would give a smooth start from the rest
and bridge the gap between the maximum speed and starting speed by suitable
gears so as to provide good acceleration and hill climbing consistent with fuel
economy over a wide speed range.
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It should permit relative movement between the frame mounted engine and
the spring supported axle.
however, is quite small and the rolling resistance can for practical purposes, be
considered as independent of speed.
2. Air Resistance:
The vehicle while moving experiences aerodynamic drag the magnitude of which
depends upon the frontal area of the vehicle, shape and the speed of the vehicle.
This aerodynamic drag is called the air resistance and is given by
Air resistance =
1
Cd AV 2
2
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Where Cd is the coefficient of drag, A the frontal area, is the density of air and V
the vehicle speed.
vehicle speed, it becomes quite significant for high speed vehicles and requires
careful study of the frontal area, its profile, and the surface finish, etc.
3. Gradient Resistance:
When a vehicle moves up a gradient, a part of its weight tries to pull it down. That
means a force equal to this pull must be supplied by the engine to overcome this
resistance which is referred to as gradient resistance.
The gradient resistance depends upon the weight of the vehicle and the steepness
or t he grade of the road. It is independent of the speed of the vehicle.
4. Total Resistance
The total resistance to the motion of the vehicle is thus given by
Rt = Rr + Ra + Rg
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Figure 5.8 shows the method of engagement of gears in a sliding mesh and a
constant mesh gear box.
Figure 5.8.
Figure 5.9 Sliding mesh gear box with 4 forward and one reverse speed
.
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Figure 5.10. A typical 3 forward and one reverse speed type sliding mesh type gear
box
a. Sliding mesh gear box: In a sliding mesh gear box the movement of the fork will
make the gears on the main shaft to slide on the splines provided on the shaft. This
will lead to one of the gears on the main shaft to engage with the corresponding
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matching gear on the counter shaft (lay shaft) and thus receive the required power
and speed.
mainshaft provides means of locking the freely rotating main shaft gears to the main
shaft to allow a gear ratio change.
Fig.5.12 Constant mesh gear box
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c. Synchromesh Mechanisms
The purpose of the synchromesh mechanism is to bring to the same speed, the two
coupling members just before the actual coupling so that the gear teeth do not clash
and a smooth and silent coupling is obtained.
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17
Synchromesh Mechanisms
Figure5.14 below gives the exploded view of the synchro unit
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When the synchromesh is disengaged, gears are running free on the main shaft and
the two gears to be engaged are running at different speeds. When the selector
lever is moved, the sliding sleeve and the sliding gear slide together because of the
pressure of the spring-loaded balls until the cones on the gears contact. Both gears
have now reached the same speed. As the selector lever is moved further, the
sliding gear cone is held against the high speed gear cone as shown in the extreme
right part of figure and the sliding sleeve presses the spring loaded balls and slides
over on to the high-speed gear, thereby, locking the sliding gear to it. Since at the
time of final engagement of the gears, both the gears are running at the same speed,
the meshing is quiet and clash-free.
5.11 TORQUE CONVERTER
Performance of a Torque Converter
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Torque converters are similar in construction to the fluid flywheel, the main
difference being that the former has a reaction member or stator.
This stator
produces a change of torque between the input and output shafts of the converter,
enabling an infinite number of speed and torque changes to be obtained to suit
varying conditions. If this conversion is multiplied by the ratio of an epicyclic gearbox,
the torque demands of a large-engine car are covered for all practical purpose.
A single stage three-element torque converter is shown in a simple form in
figure. The three elements are the impeller, stator, and turbine; other designs have
more elements and additional stages to improve the efficiency over a wide range,
and may have variable-angle stator-vanes.
Basically, the action of the torque converter is as follows. The stator, or
stationary member, redirects the flow of oil leaving the turbine outlets and, with the
stator as a fulcrum, boosts the action of the impeller. To improve the performance,
the blades of the turbine are curved and are fewer in number than the impeller to
overcome the effects of vane interference.
As the turbine speed increases the stator vanes would tend to impede the
return of oil to the impeller, and to prevent this, the stator is mounted on a one-way
clutch. Thus the stator can rotate in the same direction as the engine, together with
the turbine and impeller, but is held in the opposite direction and possesses similar
characteristics to the fluid flywheel, the speed ratio between the engine and output
shaft approaching 1:1.
Figure.5.16.Flow of fluid in torque converter (a) under low speed condition the stator deflects the fluid
flow back to the impeller (b) under high speed condition the stator free wheels and fluid flow is not
deflected.
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Carrier
arm a
components of the system and causing the others to rotate around it.
Action
Arm a
S (Ts)
(Tp)
TS
TP
(TA)
TS TP
T
S
TP TA
TA
+x
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TS
x
TP
TS
x
TA
+x rev. to S
Sl.
TS
x
TP
Y+x
member
TS
x
TA
to frame)
1.
Sun gear S
Speed of A = y
TS
x
TA
(x +y) = 0 or x =
-y
2.
or
T T
y S A
TA
Speed of arm =
TS
x
TA
= 0 or
Speed of S = x + y
T T
or y S A
TS
TA
y
TS
Speed
Speed of arm =
Reduction
Sun gear S
Speed of A =
(x +y) = 0 or x =
-y
TS
x
TA
Speed
increase
Speed of arm = y
or
4.
Reduction
Annulus A
y
3.
Speed
T T
y S A
TA
(Overdrive)
Annulus A
y
TS
x
TA
Speed of S = x + Speed
= 0 or
increase
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5.
TA
y
TS
Speed of arm = y
(Overdrive)
T T
or y S A
TS
y =x as y = 0
Annulus
of
A
T
y S x
TA
Reverse gear
speed
reduction
6.
TS
x
TA
TS
T
x = S x
TA
TA
= x +y = x as y = overdrive
0
A lay-shaft gear arrangement with a given set of parts can provide only two ratios but
a given epicyclic train can provide six ratios depending upon which member is held
stationary for reaction and which is used for input. Brake bands are used to hold the
member of epicyclic gear train. Out of these six ratios two are reducing ratios, by
driving firstly from sun wheel to career and secondly from annulus to carrier. Another
two gear ratios are speed increasing ratios (overdrives) by driving firstly from carrier
to sun wheel and secondly from planet carrier to annulus. The rest of the two gear
ratios are reversing ratios-one giving speed reduction by driving from sun wheel to
annulus and the other giving a speed increase by driving from annulus to sun wheel.
If any two members are locked together the entire epicyclic gear train acts as a solid
shaft because locking two members locks up the whole system.
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24
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Generally an overdrive is fitted to top or third and top gear only. Over drives are
especially suited to high powered cars employing three speed gear boxes since in
order to produce flexible top gear performance a low gear final drive may be
necessary, resulting in the engine running faster at high speeds than is desirable.
The over drive may be operated manually or automatically; in the latter case it
comes to operation at a particular speed.
Typical over drive unit is shown in the figure. Epicyclic gears are normally used in the
over drive. During normal drive, the cone clutch locks the sun wheel to the annulus
and the entire assembly rotates, giving a direct drive through the one way clutch. To
bring the over drive into operation, the clone clutch is moved until it contacts the
stationary brake lining. Now the planet wheels and their carrier are driven round the
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stationary sun wheel, the one way clutch is over run by the annulus and the output
shaft speed is increased.
Advantages of epicyclic gear trains:
1. The epicyclic gear trains are very popular for automatic transmissions
because change from one ratio to another can be made without loosing any
traction as there is no axial engagement or disengagement of gear teeth or
dogs.
2. It is very compact compared to the layshaft gear train.
3. The loads coming to the gear teeth are lower because of being shared by at
least two (more usually three) tooth contact points.
4. The epicyclic gear box is inheritently quieter in operation.
5. By using several planet gears the loads on the bearings can be balanced; the
shaft bearings in a layshaft gear train are comparatively heavily loaded.
5.14 Free wheel mechanism:
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shaft. The outside surface of the hub contains twelve cams so designed to hold
twelve rollers in a cage between them and the outer race. The outer race is splined
to the overdrive output shaft. When the hub is driven in the direction shown in figure,
(clockwise) the rollers ride up the cams and by their wedging action force the outer
race to follow the hub. This is the method of driving the output shaft in direct drive.
Figure B shows what happens when the outer race becomes the driving member.
The rollers move down the cams, to release the outer race from the hub, thus
allowing it to move independent of the hub, and so make the entire assembly act like
a roller bearing. In this way the unit runs free whenever power is being transmitted
through the planetary gears or whenever the engine slows down and the output shaft
starts to drive the transmission main shaft.
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Problems on clutch
Single -plate clutch:
5.1 A motor car engine develops 5.9 b.KW at 2100 r.p.m. Find the suitable size
of clutch plate having friction linings riveted on both sides, to transmit the
power, under the following conditions:
a.) intensity of the pressure on the surface not to exceed 6.87 x 104 Pa,
b.) Slip torque and losses due to wear etc. is 35% of engine torque.
c.) Co-efficient of friction on contact surface is 0.3.
d.) Inside diameter of the friction plate is 0.55 times the outside diameter.
Solution:
2 N
2 2100
Or
T = C (r22 r12) 2
2
r1
2
36.23 = x 0.3 x 6.87 x 10 x r
r1 2
0.55
= x 4.122 x 104
1 r13
0.303
36.23 0.303
1.22
4 m3
4
4.122 10 0.697 10
or
r13
or
r1 = 49.5 mm
and
r2 = 90 mm
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= 180 mm
5.2: In a gear box the clutch shaft pinion has 14 teeth and low gear main shaft
pinion 32 teeth. The corresponding layshaft pinions have 36 and 18 teeth. The
rear axle ratio is 3.7:1 and the effective radius of the rear tyre is 0.355 m.
calculate the car speed in the above arrangement at an engine speed of 2500
r.p.m.
Solution:
Gear ratio
36 32
= 4.57:1
14 18
2 Nr 2 2500 0.355
km / hr = 19.8 Km/hr
G
16.92 1000
********************************************************************************************
Exercise 5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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8. Explain with a neat sketch of a Sliding Mesh gear box and show the diagram
of engaging gear 1st and 4th gear.
9. Explain with a neat sketch of a Constant Mesh gear box and show the
diagram of engaging gear 1st and Reverse gear gear.
10. Explain with a neat sketch of a Synchromesh Mesh gear box and show the
diagram of engaging gear 1st and 3rd gear.
11. Write a short note on i) Torque converter ii) Epicyclic gear box
sketch.
12. Explain with a neat sketch working of a Overdrive.
13. What are the advantages of epicyclic gear box?
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with a neat