Effect of clutches' structural parameters on thermalelastic instability

During the synchronizing process of clutch, the reason and the rule of development of the inhomogeneous temperature field were investigated using Thermalelastic Instability (TEI) theory. A three dimensional finite element model was developed and the growth rates of the perturbation corresponding to different frequencies were calculated. The results show that the thermalelastic stability can be improved by the decrease in the clutch radius and the increase in the thickness of the friction disk. When the ratio between the inner and outer radii of the clutch is less than 0.6, as the ratio decreases the stability can be enhanced. When the thickness of the mating disk is less than 2 mm, the decrease in this thickness can also improve the stability.