The reduction of fuel consumption remains an important criterion in the development of new vehicles. Apart from parameters such as drag and rolling resistance, the efficiency of the drive train also plays an decisive role. Following a concentration on the engine and transmission over the past few years, attention has now turned to apparently less important components such as axle joints and how these can be incorporated into the fuel consumption reduction process.
Since the transmission losses of axle joints are relatively low, “classic” methods to determine the efficiency (such as MD-measurements using wire strain gauges) are inapplicable due to the attained accuracy.
A new method has thus been developed at the Institute of Automotive Engineering (ika), which enables a very accurate recording of the efficiency of joints (±0.03 percentage points). Extensive investigations on test benches have recently been carried out using this measuring method, and these allow substantiated comments on the influence of axle design, grease, torque, speed and bending angle on the overall efficiency.