A New Method to Calculate Energy Dissipation and Temperature Distribution in Multidisc Clutches in Powershift Transmissions

This paper describes a simulation program to calculate energy throughput and temperature distribution in a clutch pack in powershift transmissions for any gear change.

Unlike other approaches, the program is built as a time related loop in which both mechanical and thermal variables are calculated. This approach permits a flexible implementation of dependencies of all variables on each other.

Given an applied clutch pressure of any shape, the behaviour of any powershift transmission configuration can be calculated.

Special care has been taken to solve the temperature equation, using an implicit notation and a technique called TriDiagonal Matrix Algorithm.