Modeling and Simulation of Clutch Damper Spring Saturation Phenomenon 2021-01-1104

In modern automotive vehicles, there is a major concern for noise and vibrations generating from drivetrain. These noise and vibrations affect the passenger comfort and drivetrain parts life.

Engine generates fluctuating torque and causes angular acceleration that results into torsional vibrations. These vibrations are transmitted to powertrain. Clutch disc consists damper springs and hysteresis which aids reducing these torsional vibrations. Based on the damper spring stiffness, one can control the resonance speed range and shift the resonance rpm out of driving speed range of engine. The resonance should not happen within driving speed range of vehicle to avoid large amplitude torsional vibration. But here limitation is put on the torque transmission capability of clutch for meeting vehicle requirements. As, low stiffness of damper spring requires large wind-up angle so, it is critical to decide its stiffness.

The present work is related to resolving the issues of clutch damper spring failures by incorporating adequate design parameters. The vehicle model was built in AMESIM for simulation of clutch twist angle during operating condition. The damper spring can undergo full compression and hit stopper pin which is termed as spring saturation. Due to saturation, damper spring can break down if the stress generated exceeds its threshold material strength. Damper spring design was optimized based on simulation results, by proper selecting the stiffness values, to overcome saturation phenomenon. From simulation, it is concluded that new designed values are meeting requirements.