Driveline gearboxes

All of the transmissions available for sale today has grown exponentially within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The effect is that we are actually dealing with a varied number of transmission types including manual, standard automatic, automated manual, dual clutch, continually variable, split power and pure EV.
Until very recently, automotive vehicle manufacturers largely had two types of tranny to pick from: planetary automatic with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, nevertheless, the volume of choices available demonstrates the changes seen across the industry.

This is also illustrated by the many various kinds of vehicles now being manufactured for the marketplace. And not simply conventional automobiles, but also all electrical and hybrid automobiles, with each type requiring different driveline architectures.

The traditional advancement process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and all of those other powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the restrictions and complications of this method becoming more widely recognized, and the continuous drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at decreased weight and cost.

New powertrains feature close integration of components like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and in addition rely on highly advanced control systems. That is to guarantee that the best degree of efficiency and functionality is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are completely new, different from and much better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more technical by the need to integrate brand components, differentiate within the marketplace and do it all on a shorter timescale. Engineering teams are on deadline, and the advancement process needs to be more efficient and fast-paced than previously.
Until now, the use of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most typical way to develop drivelines. This technique involves elements and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the business that lean toward verified component-level analysis equipment. While they are highly advanced equipment that enable users to extract extremely reliable and accurate data, they are still presenting data that is collected without thought of the complete system.

While this can produce components that work nicely individually, putting them together without prior account of the entire system can create designs that don’t work, resulting in issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to Driveline gearboxes improve.