Energy Based Analytical Study of Effect of Engine Calibration, Clutch Modulation on the Life of Dry Clutch in View of City Traffic Using Road Load Data

Single plate dry clutch is one of the most abuse components in the vehicle. With the growing population of traffic in cities, useful life of clutch is affected drastically which is evident from the rise in complaints on clutch from metropolitan cities. The governing design parameter, which affects the life of clutch, is the energy dissipated in clutch per unit area of friction lining of clutch disc. The life of clutch is affected by many factors like vehicle weight, engine torque, driveline ratios, friction lining, size of clutch, which are taken into consideration during design stage of the clutch. Apart from these factors, one more factor, engine calibration, affects the clutch life drastically. However, it is not taken into consideration during design stage owing to its inherent nature as it gets matured over the vehicle development program. Engine calibration, especially driven idle speed calibration of engine in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd gear for a particular vehicle, governs the vehicle behavior and drivers maneuvering of clutch, brake and accelerator in city traffic. This paper presents study done using road load data collected in metropolitan city traffics to understand drivers maneuvering in traffic, effect of engine calibrations on typical maneuvering, using energy dissipated in clutch as basis. The paper discusses the effectiveness of changes done in driven idle speed calibration of engine with two vehicle, having different calibrations, driven back to back in city traffic. As energy dissipated in clutch is used as basis, the study indicates avenues in engine calibration for improvement in clutch life.