Influence of the Lubrication Oil Temperature on the Disengaging Dynamic Characteristics of a Cu-Based Wet Multi-Disc Clutch

Clutch disengaging dynamic characteristics, including the disengaging duration and the variations of friction pair gaps and friction torque, are crucial to the shifting control of an automatic transmission. In the present paper, the influence of lubrication oil (ATF) temperature on disengaging dynamic characteristics is investigated through a comprehensive numerical model for the clutch disengaging process, which considers the hydrodynamic lubrication, the asperity contact, the heat transfer, the spline resistance, and the impact between the piston and clutch hub. Moreover, the non-uniformity coefficient (NUC) is proposed to characterize the disengaging uniformity of friction pairs. As the ATF temperature increases from 60 °C to 140 °C, the clutch disengaging duration shortens remarkably (shortened by 55.1%); besides, the NUC sees a decreasing trend before a slight increase. When the ATF temperature is 80 °C, the distribution of friction pair gaps is most uniform. During the disengaging process, the increase of ATF temperature not only accelerates the change of the lubrication status between friction pairs but also contributes to the decrease of contact torque and hydrodynamic torque. This research demonstrates for the first time, evidence for clutch disengaging dynamic characteristics with the consideration of ATF temperature.