The variety of transmissions available in the market today has grown exponentially within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The result is definitely that we are actually dealing with a varied number of transmitting types including manual, standard automatic, automatic manual, dual clutch, continually adjustable, split power and natural EV.
Until very recently, automotive vehicle manufacturers largely had two types of tranny to choose from: planetary automatic with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of options avaiable demonstrates the adjustments seen over the industry.
This is also illustrated by the many different types of vehicles now being manufactured for the marketplace. And not just conventional automobiles, but also all electrical and hybrid vehicles, with each type needing different driveline architectures.
The traditional development process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and all of those other powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the restrictions and complications of the method becoming more widely recognized, and the continuous drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at decreased weight and cost.
New powertrains feature close integration of components like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and also rely on highly sophisticated control systems. That is to make certain that the best amount of efficiency and performance is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under increased pressure to create powertrains that are completely new, different from and much better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more technical by the necessity to integrate brand elements, differentiate within the marketplace and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering teams are on deadline, and the advancement process needs to be more efficient and fast-paced than ever before.
Until now, the usage of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most typical way to build up drivelines. This process involves components and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the organization that lean toward verified component-level analysis tools. While they are highly advanced tools that allow users to extract extremely reliable and accurate data, they are still presenting data that is collected Driveline gearboxes without factor of the complete system.
While this may produce components that work nicely individually, putting them collectively without prior account of the entire program can create designs that don’t work, leading to issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to correct.