Motor Vehicle Powertrain

Clutch
o Types of clutches in engineering practice
▪ Positive clutch
▪ Friction clutch
o Disc Clutches
o Cone Clutches
o Fluid Couplings
• Mathematical Formulations
Lecture 2

Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 1
Motor Vehicle Powertrain
Positive Clutches

The positive clutches are used when a positive drive is required. The simplest type of a positive
clutch is a jaw or claw clutch. The jaw clutch permits one shaft to drive another through a direct
contact of interlocking jaws. It consists of two halves, one of which is permanently fastened to the
driving shaft by a sunk key. The other half of the clutch is movable and it is free to slide axially
on the driven shaft, but it is prevented from turning relatively to its shaft by means of feather key.

A square jaw type is used where engagement and disengagement in motion and under load is not

Fig. 1 Jaw Clutch

necessary. This type of clutch will transmit power in either direction of rotation. The spiral jaws
may be left-hand or right-hand, because power transmitted by them is in one direction only. This
type of clutch is occasionally used where the clutch must be engaged and disengaged while in
motion. The use of jaw clutches are frequently applied to sprocket wheels, gears and pulleys. In
such a case, the non-sliding part is made integral with the hub.

Friction Clutches

A friction clutch has its principal application in the transmission of power of shafts and machines
which must be started and stopped frequently. Its application is also found in cases in which power
is to be delivered to machines partially or fully loaded. The force of friction is used to start the
driven shaft from rest and gradually brings it up to the proper speed without excessive slipping of
the friction surfaces.

In automobiles, friction clutch is used to connect the engine to the drive shaft. When operating
such a clutch, care should be taken to ensure that the friction surfaces engage smoothly and
gradually bring the driven shaft up to the proper speed. The proper alignment of the bearing must
be maintained and it should be located as close to the clutch as possible. It may be noted that :

Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 2
Motor Vehicle Powertrain
1. The contact surfaces should develop a frictional force that may pick up and hold the load with
reasonably low pressure between the contact surfaces.

2. The heat of friction should be rapidly *dissipated and the tendency to grab should be at a
minimum.

3. The surfaces should be backed by a material stiff enough to ensure a reasonably uniform
distribution of pressure.

Fig. 2 Friction clutch

Principal operation of the clutch

Figure (2) shows an automotive-type clutch, used with "standard” transmissions. The flywheel,
clutch cover, and pressure plate rotate with the crankshaft. A series of circumferentially distributed
springs force the Material for Friction Surfaces pressure plate toward the flywheel, clamping the
clutch plate (driven disk) between them. The hub of the clutch plate is spline connected to the
transmission input shaft. The clutch is disengaged by depressing the clutch pedal, which rotates
the lever marked “To release.” This pushes the clutch release bearing against a series of radially
oriented release levers that pull the pressure plate away from the flywheel. Note that the clutch
release bearing is a thrust bearing. The right side bears against the release mechanism, which does
not rotate; the left side bears against the release levers, which rotate with the crankshaft. This clutch
has two driving surfaces, one on the flywheel and one on the pressure plate, and two driven
surfaces, the two sides of the clutch plate.
Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 3
Motor Vehicle Powertrain
The feature of the automotive clutch friction disk gives three main advantages:

• Smooth engagement
• Slip only during engagement
• Acts as safety device

Mathematical Formulations

Equations are now developed below relating clutch size, friction coefficient, torque capacity, axial
clamping force, and interface pressure, using each of two basic assumptions. Throughout the
development the coefficient of friction f is assumed to be constant.

Uniform Pressure Distribution Assumption:

This assumption is valid for an unworn (new), accurately manufactured clutch, with rigid outer
disks. With reference to Figure (1), the normal force acting on a differential ring element of radius
r is

Where p is the uniform level of interface pressure. The total normal force acting on the area of
contact is

where F is also the axial force clamping the driving and driven disks together. The friction torque
that can be developed on a ring element is the product of the normal force, coefficient of friction,
and radius,

and the total torque that can be developed over the entire interface is

Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 4
Motor Vehicle Powertrain
Uniform Wear rate at Interface

Wear rate is generally proportional to the rate of friction work-that is, friction force times
rubbing velocity. With a uniform coefficient of friction, wear rate is proportional to the product
of pressure times sliding velocity on the clutch face, velocity is proportional to radius; hence, rate
of work is proportional to the product of pressure and radius. The uniform wear rate is assumed to
result from a uniform rate of friction work-that is, a constant product of pressure and velocity, or
a constant product of pressure and radius.

Thus:

(5)

The greatest pressure, pmax, obviously occurs at the inside radius, and this has an allowable value
determined by the characteristics of the friction lining material. Hence, for a clutch of inside radius
ri and a friction lining with allowable pressure pmax, the clutch design is based on

(6)

(7)

(8)

Substitute in equation (8) to get

(9)

Where (N) is the number of friction interfaces.

Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 5
Motor Vehicle Powertrain
Friction Materials Coefficient of Friction

Approximate data relative to coefficients of friction and allowable pressures for various friction
lining materials are given in Tables 1 and 2.

Table (2) Representative Values of Friction Coefficient for Friction Materials Operating in Oil

The maximum torque for a given outside radius is obtained when

Proportions commonly used range from

Dr. Anteneh Wogasso, Assistant Professor, School of Aerospace and Automotive Engineering 6