Numerical and Experimental Study of the Characteristic Parameters of Clutch Drive System

This paper describes the experimental analysis conducted on certain automotive clutch drive systems and the subsequent development of a numerical code (to be used in design phase) which simulates their behaviour. The clutch drive systems examined were the mechanical drives mounted on the Fiat Punto and Bravo/a m.y. 1998 and the hydraulic drive used for the Alfa Romeo GTV/Spider m.y. 1998. All the systems were tested in order to evaluate the drive characteristics (experimental analysis) i.e. a graph of the drive pedal run versus the force acting on the pedal was plotted; the elasticity of all system and of each single component were calculated. To this purpose a test bench was set up so the various drive systems could be studied and all the parameters which characterise their functioning measured in the same trial. In particular the behaviour of the mechanical drive system with bowden cable was studied in order to evaluate the significance of each individual geometric parameter on over-all drive system performance. Consequently the experimental data were used to create a numerical code which simulates the behaviour of the clutch drive systems and that can be useful in design phase. Infact this software allows to evaluate the effect of each geometrical and physical parameter on the system drive. The simulation code has been devised for use in both the design phase, to choose the most suitable configuration, and in the validation phase, to compare the various solutions.