Analytical Estimation of Clutch Life for Manual Transmission

The clutch is the connecting link between engine and the power train. It connects and disconnects the engine to the gearbox as per the wish of the driver. Clutch has a friction disc which acts like a fuse wire which wears in the process of the connection. This paper tries to calculate the clutch life analytically (In terms of Kms. run by vehicle), of automotive vehicles having manual transmission. As the clutch engages and disengages the engine to the gearbox, during this time due to slippage, energy is dissipated which results in the wear of the clutch disc. It calculates life based on the volumetric wear of the clutch disc and wear allowance available. The work done by other people in this domain include the empirical estimation of clutch life based on the past data, effect of the surface topography on the friction characteristics of the wet clutches, modeling of clutch housing and facing temperature for the estimation of the clutch life of a manual transmission etc. The present work simplifies the estimation of clutch performance using fundamental principles, without high end analysis software or past data. It helps to estimate the clutch performance in the concept stage itself thereby saving time and labor making the selection of the right clutch at the very first time. The complete work was done in-house and its purpose was to estimate the life of the clutch in terms of vehicle run in Kms. The results estimated were closely compared with respect to the field data of vehicles. This tool will be of immense help in such a fast changing automotive world where competition is cut-throat and product development time is shrinking continuously.