To overcome the proposals concerning to the reduction of the fuel consumption and gases emissions required by the regulatory councils around the world, but also required by the actual market, since economic vehicles have been more valorized than ever, the automotive industry have dispended considerable efforts in the development of new technologies, such as hybrid cars, and in the improvement of the current projects.
Friction of any magnitude retards the motion and results in energy loss, causes temperature increase and should be reduced in order to improve the system efficiency.
This paper intends, by means of analytical calculation based on dynamic systems and comparisons with Finite Elements Analysis, propose a robust method to analyze friction losses in automotive mechanical systems.
Transmission application was chosen to conduct this analysis. Freewheels of 1st and 2nd Speeds of a vehicle available in the market were investigated concerning friction torque and losses, also improvements on the project were suggested in order to promote the reduction of fuel consumption and gases emissions.