Numerical analysis of thermal problem in dry friction clutches based on the interactive design approach

During the engagement, the thermo-elastic behavior of the friction clutches over specific sliding periods was taken into consideration as an essential factor to obtain a successful design based on interactive approach for automotive engineers that voided premature failure. It is worth mentioning that the finite element technique was adopted in the current study to investigate and analyze the angular sliding speed influence on the generated heat due to friction among the elements of friction clutch at the initial period of engagement. The distributions of the heat generated during the complete sliding periods were achieved via coupling between the thermal and the elastic models analyses to obtain the solution that required by automotive designers. Results in the form of the distributions of generated heat due to friction, temperatures of surface, and contact pressure are presented for different values of sliding speed. Obviously, the results showed that the frictional heat generated was increased dramatically when the sliding speed increased too. Also, it was proved that the proposed interactive design approach succeeded to detect the status of the friction clutch system if it’s stable or not.