Water and Iron Wear Influence on Wet Clutch Systems

Research Topic

Short Title InTribology
Start of Project Q2/2022
Funding FFG-Nr. 872176, K2
Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies mbH, COMET
Project Partners Magna Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG
AC2T research GmbH
Contact T. Schneider, M.Sc.; Dr.-Ing. K. Völkel

Project Description

The driving comfort and safety of automotive vehicles are significantly related to the performance, lifetime, and functionality of wet clutches used as a transmission subsystem in automotive powertrains. The project focuses on the investigation of the NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness) behavior of wet clutches. This failure mode frequently occurs in transmissions and can mostly be eliminated by applying new transmission oil. In some instances, the entire transmission system must be replaced to re-establish fault-free system operation. Proper clutch plates and lubricants contribute to reduce NVH behavior and prevent early-stage oil changes or system part disposals. Hence, a deep knowledge of the tribological interactions between clutch plates and transmission oil as well as the property changes of the clutch plate and the performance reduction of the lubricant in reference to the system running time is inevitable.

This project aims to gain previously unknown knowledge about the influence of water content and iron contamination and their manifold interactions in modern gear lubricants. Therefore, component test rigs and associated test methods are being used to determine the NVH behavior of wet clutches in an application-related test environment.