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For vehicle transmissions, limited slip devices, and brakes employing wet friction elements, there are growing demands for improvements in reliability, performance and durability. In order to meet the requirements, it is essential to improve the paper type wet friction material applied to such mechanical devices. Remarkably, the durability of the paper is most important because it directly determines the life of the devices. This article presents advanced paper type wet friction materials which have achieved both greater heat resistance and the mechanical fatigue resistance strength, together. Additionally, this article refers to development of Non-paper type friction materials with three dimensional structure to meet the highest durability demands.

Recently high heat resistant friction materials containing synthetic fibers have been developed to meet the requirements from heavy-duty vehicle manufactures. However, traditional cut in groove process (hereafter, CIG process) cannot cut grooves on these materials clearly. Projection near groove and fuzz inside of groove exist after the CIG process. The projection and fuzz are generally considered the reason of high drag torque during idling [1]. But very little information was provided to deal with the projection and fuzz and how to reduce the drag torque caused by projection and fuzz. In this paper, various processes will be discussed to reduce drag torque and an optimized groove specification will also be proposed for high heat resistant friction materials for heavy-duty vehicles.

Experiments were conducted to study the effects of design factors of clutch packs on drag torque. From the test results, the design factors with a large effect were facing area and wave height. At high rotational speeds, automatic transmission fluid (ATF) flow rates and the number of grooves also had a significant effect. At low rotational speeds, since drag torque increased linearly with increasing speed, the results were compared to calculated values using theoretical equations based on Newton's law of viscosity. Furthermore, it was confirmed through visualization experiments of ATF flow on the rotating facing surface that the ATF completely covered the surface at low rotational speeds and that air mixed with the ATF at high rotational speeds.

Reduction of the drag torque and longevity of the clutch assembly are the most important factors for vehicle transmission improvement. The decreasing trend of the drag torque with speed after its peak is a common characteristic of the clutch assembly. Several theoretical models have been presented by the researchers describing the drag torque characteristics at lower clutch speed region. However, very little study has been made on the drag torque behavior at very high clutch speed region (6000~10000+ rpm). The unwanted occurrence of drag torque jump up at high speed operating condition remains unexplained till date. In this paper, we have investigated the possible reasons of torque jump up at high rotation speed and solution to overcome this problem. We have presented an analytical correlation of torque jump up with the excessive decrease of local static pressure and assumed that vacuum formation is one of the possible reasons of high speed torque rising and associated vibration.

Reduction of drag torque is a crucial demand for improvement of transmission efficiency and fuel economy. In the low speed range, the drag torque at first increases with speed until it reaches a peak point, and then it starts decreasing sharply and finally stays at a minimum level until certain speed limit. Several analytical and simulation models have been presented by the researchers describing the drag torque characteristics at lower clutch speed. However, under certain conditions, the drag torque again starts to rise sharply in the high speed range (6000~10000+ rpm) and even exceeds the peak torque magnitude of low speed. The alarming jump of the drag torque at high rotational speed remains indeterminate to date. In this paper, we presented a simulation model that can predict the high speed torque jump up at different conditions. Simulation result shows that the static pressure decreases very sharply in the oil outlet region as the speed rises beyond 5000 rpm.

Drag torque reduction is one of the key targets to improve the efficiency of transmission. Drag torque is generated by the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) that is circulated in the gap between the friction disks and separator plates for cooling purpose. Due to the relative motion between the friction disks and separator plates in disengaged mode, a shear stress is developed on the disks’ wall which gives rise to drag loss. The most conventional technique to suppress the drag loss is to cut grooves on the friction disk to facilitate smooth and faster discharge of the ATF. The shape of the grooves also plays a substantial role on the drag torque characteristics. Previously, we presented a simplified simulation model to predict the drag torque behavior of different grooves. However, the simplified model doesn’t include the oil inflow and outflow behavior from the oil inlet and outlet holes respectively.

The typical graph of a drag torque or spin loss vs. speed of disengaged wet clutch of automotive transmission shows 4 types of trends. First one is increasing until a peak level, next decreasing to the lowest level, next saturating or being no change, and last again increasing. If the absolute value of drag torque at high speed (6000-20,000rpm) is high, the possibility of fluttering of friction disk, chipping, burning and delamination of friction materials will be high. Moreover, the efficiency of a transmission will be dropped and the life of it become shorter. Therefore, it is important to understand the physics behind the torque jump up at high speed. In our previous study, we investigated the possible reasons of torque jump up at high rotation speed. In this paper, we have extended our previous study and developed new groove design to reduce the drag toque in the high speed range.

Reduction of the drag torque and longevity of the clutch assembly are the most important factors for vehicle transmission improvement. The decreasing trend of the drag torque with speed after its peak is a common characteristic of the clutch assembly. Several theoretical models have been presented by the researchers describing the drag torque characteristics at lower clutch speed. However, very little study has been made on the drag torque behavior at very high clutch speed (6000∼10000+ rpm). The alarming jump of the drag torque at high speed operating condition remains unexplained till date. In this paper, we investigated the possible reasons of torque jump up at high rotation speed and solution to overcome this problem. We presented an analytical correlation of torque jump up with the excessive decrease of local static pressure and assumed that vacuum formation is the possible reason of high speed torque rising and associated vibration.

A significant reduction of C02 emission can be achieved by improving the efficiency of transmission of cars. A reduction of drag torque or spin loss of disengaged clutches can improve the efficiency of transmissions. Generally, the drag torque is measured by conducting drag test which needs making samples, manpower, power and wastage of raw materials. In this paper, an analytical model is proposed to predict the drag torque of a disengaged wet clutch at different rotation speeds, clearances, disk sizes and oil temperatures without making any samples and conducting any drag tests. Various assumptions are made from the results of visualization investigations. Visualization results show that the volume of oil existed in between the clutch disk and clutch plate decreases with increasing speed due to centrifugal force. It is also noticed that several visible air bubbles are formed in the oil film at lower speeds and the size of the bubbles increase with increasing speeds.