A Guide to Handle Dry DCT (Dual Clutch Transmission) Motor 2018-01-0393

These days, the usage of Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT) system is increasing in the transmission systems according to Strategy Analytics [1]. The reason is mainly due to its quicker and smoother transition of gear shifting than conventional single clutched transmissions. Among two main types of DCTs, dry DCT is more beneficial in reducing fuel consumption than wet DCT due to the lack of hydraulic structure. However, dry DCT requires highly precise control due to its mechanical structure. Therefore, the main focus in this paper will be on dry DCT as the main idea of this paper was found during developing its particular control algorithm. Due to this reason, where DCT is mentioned later in this paper, it means “dry” type of DCT.

When a conventional hydraulic automatic transmission with single clutch fails, the system simply locks at the third speed gear mechanically. However, the failure modes can vary numerously in DCT systems where several moving parts should be controlled simultaneously. However, in the authors’ opinion, the current criteria of failure mode detection are so broad that even a minor issue could drag the whole system down to the failure mode. This could unnecessarily cause inefficient fuel consumption and irregular gear transitions.

This article is a part of Autron’s 7 speed DCT project. The microcontroller (MCU) used to control this system is Aurix TC275, Infineon 32bit Tricore.