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Advancements of Automatic Gear Transmission Systems
Advancements of Automatic Gear Transmission Systems
E-mail: kavinduumayangac@gmail.com
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Abstract
Transmission system is the main unit that transfer the power from the clutch to
differential through a shaft. Transmission system is need for provide various torque at various
speeds, allow to engine to run at its sufficient and efficient RPM range and disable the power
transmission when the wheels are not moving. Without any transmission system engine run
with only one gear and therefore the engine quickly wears out. As engine supply constant high
In automobile industry, early days there were only manual transmission vehicles which
should be driven with concentration to the clutch paddle, accelerator paddle and the brake
paddle by the driver. If the driver not mastered the clutch balance or which is the perfect time
to shift up or shift down, vehicle may stop. As a solution to this problems engineers designed
automatic transmission system which is control by the transmission control unit and the ECU.
For smooth shifting and the convenience of the driver and the comfort of the passenger’s
automatic transmission system revolutionized the automobile industry. In these days, most
common vehicle type is the automated transmission vehicles. Not only the customers but also
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Keywords
o Automatic transmission system
o Torque convertor
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1. Introduction
In the automobile industry for the past 25 years, automotive transmissions have evolved
to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. Automotive transmissions for the internal
combustion engine are generally categorized into manual transmission, automated manual
transmission.
acceleration paddle when changing the gear. Knowing the right time/speed to change the gear
is important. Otherwise, the engine may stop or damage and also it affects to the fuel
consumption.
With the advancement of the automobile industry, manual gear transmission systems
have been being getting less attention. Because the automatic gear transmission systems have
revolutionary taking over the automobile industry. For easy and reliable driving, automatic
transmission systems are the popular option in nowadays. Driver does not need to concentrate
on the speed for changing the gear and simply needs to keep the foot on the accelerator paddle
because ECU and the transmission computer change the gear. And instead of pressing a clutch
plate here hydraulic converter takes the place and do operation automatically.
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In the automatic transmission also has the multiple modes. Those are engage in different
o N (Neutral) - All the gears are disengaging with the power transmission line
transmission.
In generally, there are three main components in the automatic transmission gear system
o Torque convertor
o Multiple clutch
Torque convertor is a fluid coupling between engine and the transmission. It has
several main functions. It increases the torque from the engine to the transmission
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when the vehicle is moving. When driving off, the torque is increase utmost it operates
the oil pump in the gear box. It helps neutralize fluctuations and vibrations from the
The transmission oil enters the torque convertor through openings at certain
points on the different shafts of the gear box. It has three main functions. It participates
in the hydraulic control of the torque convertor by pressure regulated from the
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In here, the connection between the transmission and the engine is made by the
pressure of the fluid flow. The crank shaft of the engine transmits the rotational
motion to the torque convertor. Driven by inertial forces, the fluid flow is directed
to the outer part of the pump. From the shape of the housing and position of the
blades, the fluid is accelerated and guided into the turbine which makes spin.
From there, fluid passes through the stator changing its direction from the
optimum angle to the pump blades, and accelerates for subsequence cycles. At
lower speeds, when the fluid passes through the stator, it causes pressure at in front
of the blades and forces the stator to move backward to the pump and the turbine.
To prevent this movement, one-way bearing is used. The one-way bearing does
not allow rotation in backward direction. As the speed increases, the fluid velocity
press the blades in the rear, forcing the stator to rotate in the direction of the
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rotation of torque converter. Then bearing releases the lockup and the stator start
increase of the torque of the torque convertor. The maximum speed that the turbine
can reach compare to the pump at the high rpms in torque convertor modes is up
to 90%.
Upon a reaching the speed and the acceleration, the lock-up mode of the torque
the lock and the unlock. Thus, establishing a firm connection, in between the
engine and the transmission. In this mode, all components of the torque convertor
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1.2. Multiple clutch
to a shaft and steel discs. The friction discs have friction surfaces to increase the co-
efficient of friction. Steel discs can be found between the friction discs. The steel discs
sit in lock within the drum/clutch basket. The set of clutch discs, is called as clutch
packs. Friction and steel discs are forced together by pressure. That is a rotation of
friction discs will result the rotation of friction discs. When the discs are no longer
engaged with pressure, the friction and steel discs can rotate freely without any impact
on each other. Generally, the discs are engaged the pressure through a set of coil
springs. These springs apply pressure on the pressure plate that apply pressure to the
clutch pack. Applying pressure through the pressure plate and the coil springs from the
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1.3. Planetary gear set
Automatic transmission work based on planetary gear set. Planetary gear sets
have two inputs and one output. The output rotation is drawn from the planet carrier.
Two inputs are connected to the ring and the sun gear. When considering the
mechanism of the planetary gear set, when different speeds to the input are applied,
different rotation speeds in to the ring and sun gears. This speed variation can be
direct connection between the input and the output shafts, rather there is an
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intermediate shaft between the two. In addition, two clutch packs are used for
transmitting power.
If the ring gear is stationery and rotation is given exclusive to the sun gear, this
will cause the carrier to spin in order to achieve the first gear.
If the first clutch pack is applied the input shaft will connect to the intermediate
shaft. On the other hand, second clutch pack is applied, the ring gear will connect to
the case, which will make the gear become stationary. In order to achieve first gear,
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If the ring gear is also rotating, rotation speed of the output is also increase. To
achieve that,
To achieve additional gear ratio, another planetary gear set and clutch set are
applied. Second planet carrier is permanently linked to the ring gear of the first set.
When the 1st clutch set and the 3rd clutch set are applied together, the ring gear of the
output set will turn. Hence the ring gear of is also rotating, speed of the output planet
If the sun and the ring gears rotate at the same speed, the whole mechanism
moves as a single unit. Planet carrier is also fitted with a hollow shaft. The shaft can
be directly connected to the input shaft with the help of a rotating clutch module (4th
clutch module). In order to get the direct drive, the ring and the sun gears of the output
set should rotate at the speed of input shaft. If the 1st clutch pack and 4th clutch pack
are applied, the sun and ring gears will be directly connected to the input shaft.
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If the ring gear speed is further increased, the output speed further increases. In
order to achieve much higher gear ratio, packs are added and 1st clutch pack is removed.
Hence, at the 2nd planetary gear set, the input rotation is given to the carrier and the ring
gear is stationary. This combination gives a ring gear very high rotational speed to the
sun gear. Thus, a high over drive ratio at the output can be achieved.
applied to achieve 6 gear transmission. And also, another clutch pack is applied. This
Turning the sun gear in the opposite direction will result in a reverse gear. In
order to go in reverse, 2nd and 5th clutch packs are added. This will eventually lead to
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In this whole process, when to apply which clutch packs is decided by the
transmission control unit. Torque convertor is also controlling the rotation of the shaft
Because the convenience of the automatic gear transmission, people tend to use
more automatic gear transmission vehicles. With the past 25 year of developing in this
field, engineers have developed many important features. Eight, Nine, ten speed
shift gear box (DSG) or Dual clutch transmission are some of main novel inventions.
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2. Novel trends in automatic transmission systems
have been able not only to put number of speed but also to minimize the fuel
is made by combining four planetary gear sets and five clutch packs. It increases
the transmission efficiency and minimize the drag loss. It has a new integrated
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With the time, new ZF 9-speed gear transmission has more wider gear
ratio. It has a planetary gear set and 6 clutch packs. These gear sets are nested
to save space. It is the first usage of inter-locking dog clutch in passenger car
power shift transmission. It has more effective torque convertor with excellent
vibration and oscillation isolation for optimal comfort during starting and
shifting. These transmission systems are optimum in front wheel drive vehicles
between Ford and General Motors, although ford had the lead on it. When
overall performances with enhanced acceleration at the low and mid ranges of
the power band. Also, it has optimized wide-span gear spacing coupled with
drag-reduction action plus three over drive gears. It has an electronic control
system which is engineered to help ensure the right gear at the right time
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When comparing to the 6 speed Allison 1000 automatic transmission
shifting gears.
transmission (SMT) and also known as clutch less manual transmission (CMT).
Automated manual transmission system doesn’t have a clutch paddle. Only has brake
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and the accelerator paddles. It allows manual gear shifting when needed. By simply
pushing forward the gear lever for upper shift and pulling it backward for downshift,
driver can change the sift manually. Compare to manual transmission, main advantage
of the automated manual transmission system is its convenience, the driver doesn’t
need to operate the clutch. This transmission system has more fuel-efficiency than
manual transmission.
This transmission system has a complex gear arrangement with a main shaft and
shown below.
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2.3. Direct shift gear box (DSG)
Based on the torque of the engine, direct shift gear system is used and
responsible to very smooth gear shifts which gives more comfort to the passengers.
Also, engineers designed this system to offer more efficiency and low fuel
consumption. Considering the design of the transmission system, these cars are mainly
use either wet clutches or dry clutches. Main advantage of this type of auto gear set is,
if feel the power loss when driving, down shift can be done in a quickly.
This gear boxes are can be found in Kia Seltos, Volkswagen Polo, and Hyundai
Venue.
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3. Summary
In building a new automobile, Speed ratios between the engine and the wheels of in
fluid system which is using to coupling and holding and stopping devices. Combination of
all these make the driver push the accelerator and drive the vehicle smoothly while the
automatic transmission system taking care of the all the complicated hard work.
Transmission control unit and the ECU system are detecting the driving conditions and
shifting the gears at right time. In automatic transmission system, main component is the
torque convertor which control the torque coming from the engine shaft and effectively
give it to the planetary gear sets and clutch packs which are transmit the power to the
differential. Engineers are always trying to increase the fuel efficiency, passenger comfort
and gear ratios. Result of that effort eight, nine, ten speed transmission system, dual clutch
transmission system and automatic manual transmission system are invented. But its not
the end line of this automobile industry because the technology can not be stopped.
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References
Engineering Publications.
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_transmission
6. https://global.toyota/en/powertrain/transmission/
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