• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.85-91
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• 2017

This work studies the flow behaviors in the gap between the friction pad and separator in wet-clutch systems. The fluid volume of the lubricant is modeled using the entire system of wet-clutch pack of a dual clutch transmission that has larger outer radius of odd gear shifts and smaller inner radius of even gear shifts. Flow behaviors in the gap of the clutch pad are computed using the gear shift modes that consider the real relative velocities between the friction pad and separator. Flow behaviors in the gap of the disengaged clutch pad are mainly investigated for the wet-clutch system, whereas the engaged clutch pad is modeled with no fluid rate through the contacting surfaces. The developed hydrodynamic fluid pressures and velocity fields in the clutch pad gap are computed to obtain the relevant information for managing flow rates in wet-clutch packs under dual operating conditions during gear shifts. These hydrodynamic pressures and velocity fields are compared on the basis of each gear level and gap location, which is necessary to determine the effects of groove patterns on the friction pad. Shear stresses in the gap locations are also computed on the basis of the gear level for the inner and outer clutch pads. The computed results are compared and used for the design of cooling capacity against frictional heat generation in wet-clutch pack systems.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.265-270
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• 2014

Frictional heat greatly influences the friction behaviors during clutch engagement. Therefore, the engagement of a wet or dry clutch is frequently not under control by the frictional heat. In a wet clutch, the frictional temperature also specially needs to be controlled, and in many cases, the clutch material is selected to prevent a temperature rise from the friction between friction pad and separator. However, only the selection of the clutch material cannot ensure sufficient control of the temperature rise by the friction. The groove pattern on a friction pad is designed for more flow rates of transmission fluid between the contact gap of clutch pad and separator for the cooling effect. In this work, grove patterns are designed for more flow rates out of the contact gap between friction pad and separator plate. Selected groove design shows the improvement flow rates of transmission fluid through both inner and outer radius, where most of the transmission fluid flows through the outer radius when the clutch is engaged due to the centrifugal force in conventional wet clutch groove. Several comparisons of the amounts of frictional heat generated on clutch pads are made in order to verify the decrease of the temperature rise according to the flow rates along the groove patterns.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.183-190
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• 2016

Engine torque is transferred to the transmission where drag torque is minimized improving fuel efficiency. This is particularly true in a wet clutch pack. This study measures slip friction when the wet clutch pack in a DCT (Dual-Clutch Transmission) is disengaged, and the friction pads are slipping. Shudder engagement velocity, and applied forces can be measured under various working conditions through these torque transfer experiments. Test results demonstrate that the design parameters, and engagement conditions of wet clutch packs can be optimized to reduce shudder and frictional vibration during engagement in a dual clutch transmission.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.269-274
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• 2017

Currently, fuel efficiency becomes one of critical issues for automotive industries as concerns about environmental and energy problems grow. In an automatic transmission of an automobile, a drag torque due to a viscous drag of a fluid between friction and clutch plates is one of factors that degrade fuel economy. In this work, the drag torque characteristics of a wet clutch was experimentally investigated with respect to rotational speed, temperature of automatic transmission fluid (ATF), and gap between friction and clutch plates. The experimental results showed that drag torque increases to a certain level, and then decrease to the steady state value with increasing rotational speed. This behavior may be associated with two-phase flow of air and ATF at gap between friction and clutch plates. Also, it was found that the maximum drag torque value decreased as ATF viscosity decreases with increasing temperature. However, it was shown that the point at which the maximum drag torque occurs was not significantly affected by the ATF temperature. In addition, maximum drag torque was found to decrease as the gap between friction and clutch plates increased from 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm. Furthermore, it was observed that the generation of maximum drag torque was delayed as the gap increased. The outcomes of this work are expected to be helpful to gain a better understanding of drag torque characteristic of a wet clutch, and may therefore be useful in the design of wet clutch systems with improved performance.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.92-98
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• 2014

Transmission fluid film behaviors in the gap between the wet clutch pad and separator plate are analyzed using the CFD software ADINA. Three pattern groove designs are selected and are used to validate the fluid film behaviors based on the outlet flow in the gap when the wet clutch pad and separator plate are engaged. The main design goal for pattern grooves is faster engagement. In most cases, much of the outlet flow of transmission fluid in the gap occurs on the outer radius boundary due to the centrifugal force generated by the clutch pad circular motion. Groove patterns are created to ensure faster transmission fluid outlet flow in the direction of the inner radius boundary. Computational results of the selected groove patterns are compared.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.14-20
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• 2018

Wet clutches in an automatic transmission enable the transmission of the engine power by the frictional torque experienced and noted between disk and plates. Since the clutch frictional torque considerably affects the shift quality of an automatic transmission as well as the durability of the machinery, its friction characteristics must be carefully examined to meet the design requirements. The SAE No. 2 friction test machine is a well-known standard to evaluate mainly the friction characteristics of plate clutches along with the required automatic transmission fluids. This paper reviews the experimental analysis of the wet clutch friction characteristics by using the exclusively developed clutch test machine which is capable of controlling the clutch test procedure, in accordance with the applicable test standard and processing of the experimental data automatically. As the clutch test machine is designed for the accommodation of dual clutches which is applied to the real transmission, it can evaluate not only the clutch friction characteristics, but also an actuation performance of a measured clutch piston. In respect to friction characteristics involving dynamic friction coefficients, the energy absorbed in a clutch disk and the recorded temperatures of clutch plates during braking actions and procedures are also investigated. Additionally, the change of friction coefficients by the use of the repeated clutch application is also observed with the endurance test functions of an accurately calibrated and dedicated clutch test machine.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2014

As the importance of transmission efficiency to reducing fuel consumption and conserving the environment rapidly increases, reducing the drag torque in an automotive wet clutch is emerging as an important issue in the automotive industry. The drag torque in a clutch occurs from viscous drag generated by automatic transmission fluid in the narrow gap between separate friction plates. In this study, the drag torques in an automotive wet clutch are investigated with respect to the angle and density of the grooves between separate friction plates by three-dimensional finite element simulation of a single set of wet clutch disks considering the two-phase flow of air and oil. The simulation results shows that the drag torque generally increases with the rotational speed to a critical point and then decreases at the high-speed regime. The grooves between the plates plays an important role in reducing the drag peak, and the inclined angle of the grooves affects the oil flow. The grooves with an angle of $50^{\circ}$ shows the lowest drag torques at both low and high speeds. The flow vectors inside the $50^{\circ}$ grooves shows clear evidence that the fluid flows out more easily from the grooves compared with the flow vectors inside grooves with lower angles. The simulation results shows that increasing the number of grooves (density of grooves) decreases the drag torque.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Drag torque reduction in a wet clutch pack is a key aspect of the design process of the dual clutch transmission (DCT) system. In order to reduce the drag torque caused by lubricant shear resistance, recently developed wet clutch pack systems of DCT, as well as automatic transmission and other four-wheel drive (4WD) couplings, frequently utilize wavy wet clutch pads. Therefore, wavy shape of friction pad are made on the groove patterns like waffle pattern for the reduction of drag torque. Additionally, the groove patterns are designed with larger channels at several locations on the friction pad to facilitate faster outflow of lubricant. However, channel performance is a function of the waviness of the friction pad at the location of the particular channel. This is because the discharge sectional area varies according to the waviness amplitude at the location of the particular channel. The higher location of the additional channel on the friction pad results in a larger cross-sectional area, which allows for a larger flow discharge rate. This results in reduction of the drag torque caused by the shear resistance of DCTF, because of marginal volume fraction of fluid (VOF) in the space between the friction pad and separator. This study computes the VOF in the space between the friction pad and separator, the hydrodynamic pressure developed, and the shear resistance of friction torque, by using CFD software (FLUENT). In addition, the study investigates the dependence of these parameters on the location and waviness amplitude of the channel pattern on the friction pad. The paper presents design guidelines on the proper location of high waviness amplitude on wavy friction pads.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2017

The drag torque in the wet clutch system of a dual clutch transmission system is investigated because it is relatively high, up to 10 of the total output torque of the engine, even when the clutch is in the disengagement state with zero torque transfer. Drag torque results from the shear resistance of the DCTF between the friction pad and separator plate. To reduce the drag torque for ensuring fuel economy, the groove pattern of the wet clutch friction pad is designed to have a high flow rate through the pattern groove. In this study, four types of groove patterns on the friction pad are designed. The volume fraction of the DCTF (VOF) and hydrodynamic pressure developments in the gap between the friction pad and separator plate are computed to correlate with the computation of the drag torque. From the computational results, it is found that a high VOF and hydrodynamics increase the drag torque resulting from the shear resistance of the DCTF. Therefore, a patterned groove design should be used for increasing the flow rate to have more air parts in the gap to reduce the drag torque. In this study, ANSYS FLUENT is used to solve the flow analysis.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.337-342
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• 2014

The reduction of drag torque is an important research issue in terms of improving transmission efficiency. Drag torque in a wet clutch occurs because of the viscous drag generated by the transmission fluid in a narrow gap (clearance) between the friction plate and a separate plate. The objective of this paper is to observe the effects of the friction plate area and the clearance on the drag torque using finite element simulation. The two-phase flow of air and oil fluid is considered and modeled for the simulation. The simulation analysis reveals that as the rotational speed increases, the drag torque generally increases to a critical point and then decreases sharply at a high speed regime. The clearance between the two plates plays an important role in controlling drag torque peak. An increase in the clearance causes a decrease in shear stress; thus, the drag torque also decreases according to Newton's law of viscosity. An observation of the effect of the area of contact between transmission fluid and friction plate shows that the drag torque increases with the contact area. The flow vectors inside the flow channel present clear evidence that the velocity of the fluid flows is faster with a larger friction plate, that is, in the case of a larger contact area. Therefore, the optimum size of the friction plate should be determined carefully, considering both the clutch performance and drag reduction. It is expected that the results from this study can be very useful as a database for clutch design and to predict the drag torque for the initial design with respect to various clutch parameters.