Characterisation of a carbon/carbon multi-plate clutch for a high energy, race car application Online publication date: Tue, 23-Aug-2016
by Ranvir S. Kalare; Peter C. Brooks; David C. Barton
International Journal of Vehicle Performance (IJVP), Vol. 2, No. 3, 2016
Abstract: The torque output of a carbon/carbon multi-plate Formula One clutch during race starts has proved to be both unstable and inconsistent. A specially designed single clutch-plate interface dynamometer (SCID) showed the formation of narrow (~2 mm), high-temperature (1300-1650°C) hot bands during tests replicating race start conditions, suggesting that less than 15% of the full friction surface areas were in contact. A thermomechanically coupled finite element analysis (TCFEA) was developed to simulate the thermomechanical behaviour of the clutch plates during SCID testing. With allowance for wear, the TCFEA closely replicated the SCID results. Both the SCID and TCFEA demonstrated no radial movement of the hot bands during single engagements indicating that torque instability is due to surface morphology effects alone. The hot band migration observed between successive SCID engagements indicated that torque inconsistency is due to both surface morphology and hot band migration effects.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Vehicle Performance (IJVP):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook