Internal Combustion Engine - Automatic Transmission Matching for Next Generation Power Transfer Technology Development in Automotive Applications

Development of the next generation internal combustion engines and automatic transmissions for automotive applications is a mandatory powertrain engineering activity required now and in the coming years to meet forthcoming global emissions regulations. This paper details a preliminary investigation into possible synergies for fuel consumption reduction considering emerging automotive technologies integrated into the next generation combustion engine and automatic transmission architectures. A range of hypothetical gasoline engines were created and paired with a generalized set of step gear automatic transmissions designed to meet the performance requirements of high volume longitudinal full size truck application. These designs were then run through a design of experiments orthogonal array for prediction of fuel consumption on the WLTP test schedule and stand still acceleration to 100 kph. Results from the design of experiments agrees with previous investigations with regards to required transmission gearing selection even with profoundly different engine brake specific fuel consumption maps. New automatic transmission concepts were then developed with the objective to alter the paradigm for step gear automatic transmissions. A number of unique automatic transmission concepts are discussed at length for longitudinal applications, including architecture and functionality, that match the performance attributes of the next generation gasoline engines. These designs represent a reduction in fuel consumption from current 6 speed planetary technology at a minimum of 2% while maintaining equivalent or better acceleration characteristics.