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Automatic Transmission System
Automatic Transmission System
1. INTRODUCTION
Automatic transmission system shifts the gears without assistance from
the driver. They start the car moving in first and then shift into higher gears as
the car speed increases and engine load decreases. The shifts are produced
by hydraulic pressure acting through the transmission fluid.
The control system takes into account the engine load and in general
produce changes up when the engine load is light and changes down when
the engine load is heavy.
The main components that make up an automatic transmission include:
The Torque Converter: This acts like a clutch to allow the vehicle to come
to a stop in gear while the engine is still running.
Planetary Gear Sets: They are the mechanical systems that provide the
various forward gear ratios as well as reverse.
2. TORQUE
CONVERTER
2.1 INTRODUCTION:
On
transmissions,
automatic
the torque
2.2 CONSTRUCTION:
A torque converter is a large doughnut shaped device that is mounted
between the engine and the transmission. As shown in the fig.1, there are four
components inside the very strong housing of the torque converter:
The housing of the torque converter is bolted to the flywheel of the engine,
so it turns at whatever speed the engine is running at. The pump of the torque
converter is attached to the housing, so it also turns at the same speed as the
engine. The pump inside the torque converter is a type of centrifugal pump.
The pump has many curved vanes, along with an inner ring, which form
passages for the fluid to flow through. The turbine is inside the housing and is
connected directly to the input shaft of the transmission providing power to
move the vehicle. To get maximum force on the turbine vanes when the
moving fluid strikes them, the vanes are curved to reverse the direction of flow.
The stator is mounted on a one-way clutch so that it can spin freely in one
direction but not in the other.
2.3 WORKING:
As the pump spins, fluid is flung to the outside due to centrifugal force.
As fluid is flung to the outside, a vacuum is created that draws more fluid in at
the center. The fluid then enters the blades of the turbine. Since the blades of
the turbine are curved, the fluid, which enters the turbine from the outside, has
to change direction before it exits the center of the turbine. It is this directional
change that causes the turbine to spin. The fluid exits the turbine moving
opposite the direction that the pump (and engine) is turning. This is shown in
fig. 2. If the fluid were allowed to hit the pump, it would slow the engine down,
wasting power. The stator resides in the very center of the torque converter. Its
job is to redirect the fluid returning from the turbine before it hits the pump
again. The stator has a very aggressive blade design that almost completely
reverses the direction of the fluid. Because of the one-way clutch, the stator
cannot spin with the fluid (it can spin only in the opposite direction), forcing the
fluid to change direction as it hits the stator blades.
2.4 FLUID COUPLING PHASE:
As the speed of the turbine catches up with the pump, the fluid exit the
turbine in the same direction as the pump is turning, so the stator is not
needed. At these speeds, the fluid actually strikes the back sides of the stator
blades, causing the stator to freewheel on its one-way clutch so it doesn't
hinder the fluid moving through it. All three now elements begin to turn at
approximately the same speed.
2.5 TORQUE CONVERTER EFFICIENCY:
It is seen that the efficiency of the torque converter is reasonably good
at only narrow range of turbine speeds. The fall-off of efficiency at low speed
end of the range can be tolerated because those speeds are used for short
periods. But the fall-off of efficiency at high speeds cannot be tolerated and
must be circumvented. The efficiency can be increased, by substituting a
direct drive for the torque converter at higher speeds.
fig. 3
The basic planetary gear set as shown in fig. 3 consists of a sun gear, a
ring gear and two or more planet gears, all remaining in constant mesh. The
planet gears are connected to each other through a common carrier. Each of
these three components can be the input, the output or can be held stationary.
Choosing which piece plays which role determines the gear ratio for the gear
set. Following table shows the different gear ratios possible:
Input
Output
Stationary
Gear Ratio
Sun (S)
Ring (R)
1 + R/S
Ring (R)
Sun (S)
1 / (1 + S/R)
Sun (S)
Ring (R)
-R/S
Table 1
4.1 INTRODUCTION:
The compound planetary gear set looks like a simple planetary gear set
but actually behaves like two planetary gear sets combined. It has one ring
gear that is always the output of the transmission, but it has two sun gears and
two sets of planets.
4.2 CONSTRUCTION:
Fig. 4 shows the exploded view of the compound planetary gear set.
The fig. 5 shows the planets in the planet carrier. The planet on the right sits
lower than the planet on the left. The planet on the right does not engage the
ring gear, it engages the other planet. Only the planet on the left engages the
ring gear. The shorter gears are engaged only by the smaller sun gear. The
longer planets are engaged by the bigger sun gear and by the smaller planets.
In such gear sets, the sum of number of teeth on sun gear and ring
gear divided by the number of planets must be a whole number. Otherwise
certain combination of tooth numbers cannot be assembled because of need
of equal spacing on the planets.
Second Gear:
This acts like two planetary gear sets connected to each other with a
common planet carrier. The first stage of the planet carrier actually uses the
larger sun gear as the ring gear. So the first stage consists of the sun (the
smaller sun gear), the planet carrier, and the ring (the larger sun gear). The
input is the small sun gear; the ring gear (large sun gear) is held stationary by
the band, and the output is the planet carrier. For this stage, with the sun as
input, planet carrier as output, and the ring gear fixed, referring to table 1 the
gear ratio is:
1 + R/S = 1 + 36/30 = 2.2:1
The planet carrier turns 2.2 times for each rotation of the sun gear. At
the second stage, the planet carrier acts as the input for the second planetary
gear set, the larger sun gear (which is held stationary) acts as the sun, and the
ring gear acts as the output, so referring to table 1, the gear ratio is:
1 / (1 + S/R) = 1 / (1 + 36/72) = 0.67:1
To get the overall reduction for second gear, we multiply the first stage
by the second, 2.2 x 0.67, to get a 1.47:1 reduction.
Third Gear:
Most automatic transmissions have a 1:1 ratio in third gear. All we have
to do is engage the clutches that lock each of the sun gears to the turbine. If
both sun gears turn in the same direction, the planet gears lockup because
they can only spin in opposite directions. This locks the ring gear to the
planets and causes everything to spin as a unit, producing a 1:1 ratio.
Overdrive:
By definition, an overdrive has a faster output speed than input speed.
It's a speed increase. When overdrive is engaged, a shaft that is attached to
the housing of the torque converter (which is bolted to the flywheel of the
engine) is connected by clutch to the planet carrier. The small sun gear
freewheels, and the larger sun gear is held by the overdrive band. Nothing is
connected to the turbine; the only input comes from the converter housing.
With the planet carrier for input, the sun gear fixed and the ring gear for
output, referring to table 1 the gear ratio is:
1 / (1 + S/R) = 1 / (1 + 36/72) = 0.67:1
Reverse:
Reverse is very similar to first gear, except that instead of the small sun
gear being driven by the torque converter turbine, the bigger sun gear is
driven, and the small one freewheels in the opposite direction. The planet
carrier is held by the reverse band to the housing. So, referring to table 1, the
gear ratio is:
-R/S = -72/36 = -2.0:1
So the ratio in reverse is a little less than first gear.
5. HYDRAULIC SYSTEM
5.1 INTRODUCTION:
The hydraulic system provides the pressurized fluid to operate an
automatic transmission.
Major components of the hydraulic system include the bands, clutches
and oil pump. Other major components are the governor, throttle valve,
modulator and the valve body.
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Shift control.
General lubrication
Transmission cooling.
Unlike the engine, which uses oil primarily for lubrication, every aspect of a
transmission's functions is dependant on a constant supply of fluid under
pressure. This is not unlike the human circulatory system where even a few
minutes of operation when there is a lack of pressure can be harmful or even
fatal to the life of the transmission. A typical transmission has an average of
ten litres of fluid between the transmission, torque converter, and cooler tank.
In fact, most of the components of a transmission are constantly submerged in
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fluid including the clutch packs and bands. The friction surfaces on these
parts are designed to operate properly only when they are submerged in oil.
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system receives information from the governor and throttle cable or vacuum
modulator.
6.2 CLUTCHES:
A
clutch
consists
of
6.3 BANDS:
A band is a steel strap with friction
material bonded to the inside surface. Fig. 7
shows the band and its servo. One end of the
band is anchored against the transmission case
while the other end is connected to a servo. At
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the appropriate time hydraulic oil is sent to the servo under pressure to tighten
the band around the drum to stop it from turning, thus locking that part of the
gear train to the casing.
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loads you place on the engine, the longer the transmission will hold a gear
before shifting to the next one.
The throttle valve and modulator serve the purpose of monitoring
engine load. A transmission will use one or the other but generally not both of
these devices. Each works in a different way to monitor engine load.
The Throttle Cable simply monitors the position of the accelerator pedal
through a cable that runs from the gas pedal to the throttle valve in the valve
body. The further the gas pedal is pressed, the more pressure is put on the
throttle valve.
Engine vacuum reacts very accurately to engine load with high vacuum
produced when the engine is under light load and diminishing down to zero
vacuum when the engine is under a heavy load. The vacuum modulator is
attached to the outside of the transmission case and has a shaft which passes
through the case and attaches to the throttle valve in the valve body.
7. VALVE BODY
7.1 INTRODUCTION:
The valve body is the brain of the automatic transmission. It contains a
maze of channels and passages that direct hydraulic fluid to the numerous
valves which then activate the appropriate clutch pack or band servo to
smoothly shift to the appropriate gear for each driving situation. Each of the
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many valves in the valve body has a specific purpose and is named for that
function. For example the 1-2 shift valve activates the 1 st gear to 2nd gear upshift.
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When the car accelerates gently, as car speed increases, the pressure
from the governor builds. This forces the shift valve over until the first gear
circuit is closed, and the second gear circuit opens. Since the car is
accelerating at light throttle, the throttle valve does not apply much pressure
against the shift valve.
When the car accelerates quickly, the throttle valve applies more
pressure against the shift valve. This means that the pressure from the
governor has to be higher (and therefore the vehicle speed has to be faster)
before the shift valve moves over far enough to engage second gear.
Each shift valve responds to a particular pressure range; so when the
car is going faster, the 2-to-3 shift valve will take over, because the pressure
from the governor is high enough to trigger that valve.
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8.1 ADVANTAGES:
1. It minimizes driver fatigue, especially in heavy traffic by eliminating the
need to operate the clutch pedal and gear lever for starting from rest
and changing gear.
2. It contributes to safer driving because the concentration of the driver is
not disturbed by the need to change gear; also, both hands can remain
on the steering wheel.
3. Progress can be smoother under normal driving conditions, because
gear changes will occur at the theoretically correct moment in terms of
road speed and throttle opening.
8.2 DISADVANTAGES:
1. Cars with automatic transmission are costlier than those having manual
transmission.
2. Fuel economy of cars with automatic transmission is not very good.
9. CONCLUSION
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The automatic transmission with its torque converter and planetary gear
set, can successfully replace the clutch and the manual transmission
gear box.
The planetary gear set gives the required gear ratios and the hydraulic
system controls the planetary gear set.
Automatic
transmission
system
shifts
the
gears
automatically,
REFERENCES
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