Effect of non-uniform contact on friction characteristics of wet clutches

The non-uniform contact states of friction pairs are simulated by the different contact ratio. A lubrication model of the friction pair is proposed and corresponding tests are conducted on a wet clutch comprehensive test bench. The results simulations and tests show that, as the contact ratio reduces the surface temperature of friction pair increases obviously, and the local friction coefficient and total friction coefficient increase dramatically, so that the local friction torque grows significantly. In addition, the vibration of the output torque becomes more severe when the contact ratio reduces. Therefore, the non-uniform contact after thermal buckling severely deteriorates the friction properties of the friction pairs, and accelerates the failure of the wet clutches.