A DYNAMIC MODEL FOR AUTOMOTIVE TORQUE CONVERTERS

An automotive torque converter is a hydrodynamic device used in automatic transmission to transmit engine power to the vehicle. Since this critical element affects fuel economy, vehicle performance and drive quality, an accurate converter model is essential for vehicle development tasks such as powertrain dynamics simulation, energy management and system optimisation. Based on first principles, a dynamic torque converter model has been developed in this work. This model satisfies the energy conservation law and dynamic torque balance for all converter elements. Example results show that converter dynamics has a significant effect on vehicle launch performance and thus city fuel economy. The torque converter model presented here accounts for these dynamic effects better than some previous models.