Wet clutch friction characteristics obtained from simplified pin on disc test

Abstract The frictional behavior of wet clutches in vehicle drivetrains is critical for their overall behavior. During the development of new wet clutch systems there is a need to know this friction behavior. The transferred torque is normally investigated in test rigs where the friction in a sliding interface between a friction disc and separator disc is investigated. These test rigs can be designed differently, depending on the working conditions of the investigated clutch. However, it is possible today to simulate the clutch behavior and not limit ourselves to only using measurements from test rigs for the design of the wet clutch. The torque transferred by the clutch during engagement can be roughly divided into full film torque and boundary lubrication torque. The full film regime is possible to simulate quite well, whereas the friction in the boundary regime is much more difficult to simulate due to its strong additive dependency. To obtain a good prediction of the total engagement, friction measurements in the boundary lubrication regime are still needed. These measurements should be easy to perform and fast tests are preferable. Friction coefficients for the whole range of sliding speed, interface temperature and nominal surface pressure should be measured. To use these measurements in simulations and get a better understanding of the friction behavior, it is also preferable to conduct these measurements on a small test sample, for which the temperature and sliding speed can be regarded as constant. Here, the friction of a small sample of a wet clutch friction disc is investigated in a pin on disc test and the temperature is measured in the sample during the tests. Measurements are compared with measurements from a test rig for whole friction discs. A good correspondence between the frictional behaviors of the different measurement methods is achieved.