The Effect Of Manufacturing Tolerances On The Thermomechanical Load Of Gearbox Synchronizers

Transmission performance is crucial for heavy trucks and connected vehicles in general and for platooning of trucks in particular. Gearbox synchronizers are highly loaded conical friction brakes used during gear shifts. Service life and, thus, the gear shifting reliability, of the synchronizer depend on the local thermomechanical loading of the contact surface. To achieve a robust and cost-efficient system, more knowledge is needed of how manufacturing tolerances affect the local thermomechanical loading and therefore service life and reliability of a synchronizer. The effects from angle deviations between the mating cones and cone out-of-roundness on focal maximum temperature during a synchronization sequence have been studied with transient thermomechanical simulations. It is shown that thermomechanical effects will significantly magnify the nominal effects on synchronization performance caused by shape deviations given by the specified manufacturing tolerances. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 51st CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems.