Modelling and simulation of transient clutch system dynamics

The automotive industry faces a continuous challenge to design vehicles that meet increasingly stringent regulations, societal expectations and demands concerning tail pipe emissions, passenger safety and perceived quality. Frequently, any advancement towards meeting a single prescribed design objective may (without a fundamental understanding of the system-level behaviour) worsen the performance of the vehicle in another respect. For example, the reduction of vehicle weight, in order to improve fuel/energy efficiency, while simultaneously meeting the anticipated Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) behaviour by the discerning customer presents such a potential conflict. The aim of the current work is to formulate a numerical dry clutch system dynamics model that enables physical understanding of transient clutch oscillatory behaviour during the engagement process, enabling design optimisation and NVH improvement.