Engineering Expert Witness Blog

Published by Philip J. O'Keefe, PE, MLE

Blog Home Website Contact Us About

Posts Tagged ‘centrifugal clutch’

« Older Entries

See How a Centrifugal Clutch Works With Animation

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Ever wondered if a running horse lifts all four of its feet off the ground at the
same time? Leland Stanford, an industrialist and horseman of the late 19th Century
did, and he hired photographer Eadweard Muybridge to find out. Muybridge’s
series of 24 photographs of Stanford’s horse, Sallie Gardner, came to be known as
Sallie Gardner at a Gallop and is regarded to be an early example of silent film.

The Muybridge photos were viewed at increased speed on a zoopraxiscope, a

device he invented in 1879. A precursor to modern movie projectors, it projected a
series of independent photographs as a moving image through the use of multiple
cameras shooting the subject at different points in time. In this way it was
disclosed that yes, indeed, there were moments when all four of a galloping horse’s
feet hover in mid air. Today’s moving images are displayed at between 24 and 300
fps, depending on the application.

Muybridge’s experiment proved that not only are moving images more
engaging than static ones, they are also more explicit, able to convey information
still images are not. Take for example this series of stills of a centrifugal clutch
assembly.

Are you able to tell by looking at these two-dimensional images how a clutch
works? How as the engine speeds up the spinning shoes move out and make
contact with the clutch housing, this pressure causing the entire assembly to spin?
Unless you’re familiar with clutches, probably not.

Now here’s the same clutch brought to life through animation:

Centrifugal Clutch Animation

from EngineeringExpert.net, LLC

00:47

In today’s fast paced, internet-laden society, people’s attention spans are shorter
than ever, and their demands to be visually engaged are high. It’s been proven that
holding a modern day viewer’s attention for more than three seconds is a difficult
task. This truth is evident in the courtroom as well, where trial attorneys are
obliged to increase the production value of evidence presented in order to win over
juries, and animation is becoming their tool of choice.

What held true more than 100 years ago still holds true today: Nothing tells a
story like a moving image.
 Next time we’ll switch gears, quite literally, to understand how a series of gears
work together to power machinery.

________________________________________

Note: If you are viewing this blog article in an email and the animation video does
not appear, then click on this link to view the article with your web browser.

________________________________________

Tags: 3D animations, animation, centrifugal clutch, clutch, courtroom demonstratives, cutter head, engine, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer, grass trimmer, hand held grass trimmer
Posted in Courtroom Visual Aids, Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability | Comments Off on See How a Centrifugal Clutch Works
With Animation

Mechanical Power Transmission – Centrifugal Clutch Shoe Wear

Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

My first car was a used 1963 Dodge 880. It was reliable for the most part, but
one day when I stepped on the brake in a supermarket parking lot, nothing
happened. I began to roll down an incline, and I struggled to steer around the maze
of parked cars in the lot. After what seemed to be an eternity I managed to navigate
my way out of the lot into an adjacent cornfield. The soft ground and corn stalks
finally brought me to a stop. I later discovered that the reason my brakes failed is
because their linings had completely worn away.

Like the brakes in cars, centrifugal clutch shoes also have linings as shown in
Figure 1. Brake linings are typically made of a rough, high friction materials, such
as ceramic compounds. These materials are bonded to the brake shoes, or in the
case of clutches, to the clutch shoes. When centrifugal force comes into play,
pressing the clutch shoes against the inside wall of the clutch housing, the
roughness of the linings provides a good grip, preventing slippage between the
shoes and the housing.

Figure 1

As we learned in previous articles, slip between the clutch shoes and clutch
housings can create problems. In our grass trimmer for example, we learned that
slippage reduces the amount of power the engine can effectively transmit to the
cutter head. It also tends to produce a lot of heat. This heat can adversely effect
the clutch springs and cause clutch failure.

Although the high friction lining of the clutch shoes prevents most slippage, it
can still occur, as when the throttle is depressed and engine speed increases beyond
idle. There is some slipping as the clutch shoes first engage with the clutch
housing, and it will continue until the engine speed increases to the point where
centrifugal force causes the clutch shoes to firmly press into the clutch housing.

Slippage also occurs when gasoline powered tools are subjected to operating
stress. Figure 2 shows two views of a chainsaw. The first view is complete, the
second shows the chain and clutch housing in isolation.

Figure 2
 With the engine housing removed, we see that the saw chain is connected to a
sprocket located on the centrifugal clutch housing. This sprocket is similar to those
that engage the chains on bicycle wheels.

Now suppose someone decides to use the chainsaw to cut a green, sap-filled
log. To make matters worse, let’s suppose the chainsaw has a dull saw chain. If
you’ve ever tried doing this, you know that the sticky, sappy wood will eventually
gum up the chain and stop it from moving. Since the chain is connected to the
clutch housing, it stops as well. However the clutch shoes, which are driven by the
engine, keep trying to move the gummed-up clutch housing, because the engine’s
power is enough to overcome some of the friction. The result is that the shoes slip
uselessly inside the housing.

Over time, continued slippage will cause the clutch shoes’ high friction lining to
wear away. Once the lining is gone the clutch shoes will slip excessively, even
when the gasoline powered tool is being employed to perform the lightest task.
That’s because slipping prevents a good portion of the engine’s power from being
transmitted to the cutting head.

That’s it for our series on centrifugal clutches. Next we’ll be discussing

transistors, how they’re used in electronic controls to switch things on and off and
perform other functions.

____________________________________________

Tags: brakes, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal force, chainsaw, clutch, clutch failure, clutch housing, clutch shoe, clutch shoe lining, clutch slip, clutch spring, cutter head, engine, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer,
friction, gasoline engine, gasoline powered tools, grass trimmer, power transmission, saw chain, sprocket, throttle trigger, wear
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission – Centrifugal Clutch Shoe
Wear

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch Feels The Heat

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

Ever get out of bed on a cold winter morning and feel as stiff as a ladder?
Summer’s heat doesn’t have the same effect on aging joints as winter’s chill, and
many retirees have been motivated to move into warmer climates because of it.

Heat can change the properties of metals like steel, too. By properties, I mean
qualities such as hardness and stiffness–where hardness relates to steel’s ability to
resist wear and denting, while stiffness relates to its ability to resist a force that is
trying to bend it.

Obviously, if things get hot enough, say in the thousands of degrees Fahrenheit,
steel will soften and eventually melt into a blob of glowing liquid. At lower
temperatures the change will be less dramatic, but its atomic structure will be
undergoing change nonetheless. Varying temperatures cause atoms to become
energized, causing them to move around within their atomic structure. Depending
on how quickly things cool back down, the iron and carbon atoms that make up the
steel can end up in different locations, causing a permanent change. The steel could
end up softer or harder. For example, slow cooling hot steel in air makes it softer,
while rapid cooling, such as when you submerge hot steel quickly into cold oil,
makes it harder.

How does heat play a part in the ongoing discussion of the centrifugal clutch in
a grass trimmer? Well, friction between the shoes and housing generates heat as a
result of centrifugal force. Clutch springs are made of steel, which is hard and
resistant to bending. But during operation they may heat up to hundreds of degrees,
then slowly cool down again when the grass trimmer is shut off. Without getting
into a complex explanation of metallurgy, this slow cooling makes the steel in the
springs softer, and with time they will lose their stiffness and weaken.

Over time the springs become so weak they are unable to overcome the
centrifugal force acting on the clutch shoes, causing the clutch to fail at its task of
disengaging the cutter head from the engine at idle speed. In other words, as soon
as the engine is started, the cutter head will rapidly begin to spin. With these
conditions in place, the cutter head poses a threat to anything or anyone making
contact with it.

Next time we’ll look at another cause of centrifugal clutch failure, that is,
component wear due to friction between the clutch shoes and clutch housing.

____________________________________________

Tags: carbon, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal force, clutch housing, clutch mechanism, clutch shotes, clutch springs, cutter head, engineering expert witness, failure, force, forensic engineer, gasoline engine, grass trimmer, hard
steel, hardness, heat, iron, metallurgy, properties of metal, safety hazard, soft steel, steel, steel springs, stiffness, temperture affects metal, weak springs
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Professional Malpractice | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission –
The Centrifugal Clutch Feels The Heat

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch and Friction

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

I got my first 10-speed bike when I was in high school. It was nice, except for
one nasty hangup, the brakes were always going out of adjustment. Once it did this
at the worst of times, when I was going down a steep hill. I squeezed hard on the
brake handles, and nothing happened. The bike started to go out of control in its
ascent down the hill, and in desperation I took my feet off the pedals and pressed
the soles of my shoes as hard as I could into the road surface. To my relief my
emergency measure was effective. The harder I pressed into the pavement, the less
my shoes slipped, and the more the bike slowed down. I had good rubber treads on
the sneakers I was wearing that day, and the friction between the soles of my shoes
and the surface of the pavement was strong enough to stop my runaway descent.
Something very similar occurs during the operation of a centrifugal clutch.

If you recall from previous articles in this series, when the clutch mechanism
spins faster than engine idle speed, the centrifugal force acting upon the clutch
shoes overcomes the tension in the springs. This causes the clutch shoes to make
contact with the clutch housing. But although there is contact, the clutch shoes will
initially slip somewhat. That is, the clutch housing and cutter head won’t spin at
exactly the same speed when a faster spin is first employed, although the slip
between the clutch shoes and housing decreases as engine speed increases.

Faster speed means there’s more centrifugal force at play, forcing the shoes
harder against the drum of the clutch housing. The increase in centrifugal force
makes the shoes move tighter and tighter against the housing, and this causes an
increase in friction. Eventually the engine speed will increase to full throttle, the
point where the shoes are pressed into the housing so hard there is no more slip.
The cutter head will then turn at the same rate as the engine, and the engine’s power
will be fully transmitted to the cutter head, allowing you to trim grass effectively.

Friction is a double edged sword. On the one hand it reduces slip between the
clutch shoes and clutch housing. On the other, the friction between the slipping
shoes and clutch housing generates a lot of heat, particularly if the grass trimmer is
cutting thick grass. We’ll see how that heat impacts the clutch mechanism
components next week.

____________________________________________

Tags: centrifugal clutch, centrifugal force, clutch housing, clutch mechanism, clutch shoe, clutch slip, clutch spring, cutter head, engine, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer, friction, frictional heat, full throttle, grass
trimmer, heat, power transmission
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch
and Friction

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch and Metal Fatigue

Sunday, May 13th, 2012

When I’m under a lot of stress I sometimes have the nervous habit of grabbing a
paper clip, straightening out the bends, then repetitively bending it back and forth.
Eventually the wire reaches a point where it just breaks apart.

My paper clip broke due to metal fatigue. Metal parts are said to become
fatigued when they’re subjected to forces of a repetitive nature such as occur due to
twisting and bending. The metal cracks, then eventually breaks due to the stress.

So what’s happening when metal becomes fatigued? Figure 1 shows the

simplified atomic structure of a sample metal.

Figure 1
 When the metal is deformed, such as during bending, its rows of atoms are
forced to move with respect to each other as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

The movement of rows of atoms leads to an alteration in structure, breaking

bonds between atoms. This results in small cracks forming along the metal’s
surface, cracks which eventually migrate deeper inside the metal with
each subsequent bend. With time the metal will become so compromised by the
cracks that breakage occurs.

Metal fatigue can occur in centrifugal clutch mechanisms as well. Power tools
such as grass trimmers typically operate between idle and working speeds many
times during a day’s usage. As we learned in previous articles, when the engine
runs at idle speed, the springs in the centrifugal clutch mechanism stay retracted.
As the engine speeds up, the centrifugal force acting on the clutch shoes extends
the springs. Successive extensions and retractions cause the metal in the springs to
bend, and over time they, like my paper clip, will become fatigued and metal
springs will break.

Next time we’ll continue talking about centrifugal clutch failures and learn how
the springs of a clutch mechanism can fail without its metal being brought to the
breaking point.

____________________________________________

Tags: atomic bonds, atomic structure, bending force, centrifugal clutch, clutch boss, clutch failure, clutch mechanism, clutch shoe, clutches, crack formation, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer, fracture, gasoline
engine, grass trimmer, mechanical design, metal atoms, metal cracks, metal fatigue, metal parts, power tool, repetitive bending, springs, stress
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Professional Malpractice | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission –
The Centrifugal Clutch and Metal Fatigue

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch Powers Up

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

Energy, or power, requires direct contact to transfer. In most cases. One notable
exception to this rule of physics that I know of is the martial art of Tai Chi. But
when we’re talking golf, for example, if you don’t’ make contact with that ball, it
ain’t gonna fly, no matter how many swings you take.

Last time we looked at a gas powered trimmer’s engine, centrifugal clutch

mechanism, clutch housing, and cutter head and how they’re assembled together.
With the centrifugal clutch assembled into the grass trimmer, let’s refer to Figure 1
to see what it looks like when we start the engine and run it at low, idle speed.
 Figure 1

Figure 1 represents a view from the back of the clutch housing, revealing the
centrifugal clutch housing inside. At idle speed there are only a few millimeters of
space between the blue clutch mechanism shoes and red clutch housing, but the
important point is that they’re not touching the clutch housing. Because they’re
not, the engine’s power can’t be transferred from the engine to the clutch housing,
and it remains stationary, that is, the clutch housing doesn’t spin. Since the grass
trimmer’s cutter head is coupled to the clutch housing, it also remains stationary.

Figure 2 shows what happens from the same viewpoint when we press the
throttle trigger, making the engine spin at operational speed.

Figure 2

With the engine spinning faster the centrifugal force, Fc, acting upon the clutch
shoes overcomes the tension of the clutch mechanism springs, and the shoes move
away from each other along the green boss. They will eventually make contact
with the clutch housing, enabling power from the engine to transfer to the clutch
housing via the centrifugal clutch mechanism. The clutch housing and cutter head
spin along with the engine, and we can now cut grass.

When we let go of the engine’s throttle trigger it again slows to idle speed, the
shoes no longer touch the insides of the clutch housing, and the housing and cutter
head stop spinning, as we saw in Figure 1.

Next time we’ll talk about centrifugal clutch failures, things that can go wrong
with them and keep them from operating properly.

____________________________________________

Tags: boss, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal clutch assembly, centrifugal force, clutch housing, clutch mechanism, clutch shoe, cutter head, engine, engine power transmission, engine throttle trigger, engineering expert witness,
forensic engineer, gas powered trimmer, gasoline engine, grass trimmer, idle speed, power transfer, spring
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch
Powers Up

Mechanical Power Transmission – Putting the Centrifugal Clutch Together

Sunday, April 29th, 2012

I’ve never been one to enjoy table top puzzles, yet I love to examine the way
mechanical things fit together. Manipulating parts to see how they interrelate to
form an operational system is a pastime I very much enjoy. In fact, I spend many
evenings at my work bench doing just this. I often become so engrossed in the
activity I forget what time it is. The result is yet another night without TV. So
sad…

Last week we looked at how a centrifugal clutch mechanism operates when it’s
coupled to a gasoline engine shaft spinning at idle speed, and then we depressed the
engine throttle trigger to speed things up. Let’s now introduce a new component
called the clutch housing to see how it interfaces with the clutch mechanism to
drive the cutter head in a grass trimmer.
 Figure 1

The clutch housing shown in Figure 1 resembles a rather short cup. One end is
open, the other closed.

Figure 2 shows the closed end of the clutch housing connected to the cutter
shaft’s coupling. On the cutter shaft coupling resides a ball bearing which enables
the clutch housing to both spin freely and act as a support for the clutch housing.
The open end of the clutch housing allows the clutch mechanism to fit neatly
inside.

Figure 2

Next time we’ll put the assembly shown in Figure 2 into operation. First we’ll
examine how the centrifugal clutch mechanism and clutch housing operate with the
engine at idle speed, then compare that to the engine operating at actual cutting
speed.

____________________________________________

Tags: ball bearing, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal force, clutch, clutch housing, clutch mechanism, cutter head, cutter shaft, engine idle speed, engine shaft, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer, gasoline engine, grass
trimmer, mechanical, mechanical power transmission, mechanism, outdoor power equipment, string trimmer, throttle trigger, weed trimmer
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission – Putting the Centrifugal
Clutch Together

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch in Operation

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012
Just the other day I unexpectedly experienced the effects of centrifugal force
while driving home from the grocery store. The checker had packed my entire
order into one bag, making it top heavy. Then en route someone cut me off at an
intersection, and I had to make a sharp turn to avoid a crash. During this maneuver
centrifugal force came into play, forcing my grocery bag out of its centered position
on the front seat next to me. It lurched into the passenger’s door, fell over, and
spilled its contents onto the floor. Fortunately the eggs didn’t get smashed.

In previous articles we identified the component parts of a centrifugal clutch

mechanism and learned how centrifugal force makes objects spinning in a circular
path about a fixed point move outward. We can now explore what happens when
we couple a centrifugal clutch mechanism to the engine of a grass trimmer.

Figure 1 depicts the spinning clutch mechanism of a gas engine when it’s just
been started and is operating at a slow idle speed.
 Figure 1

Like the red ball in my previous article on centrifugal force, the blue centrifugal
clutch shoes each have a mass m. They spin around a fixed point P, situated at the
center of the yellow engine shaft coupling. Point P is located a distance r from the
center of each shoe. The shoes in motion have a tangential velocity V, and in
accordance with Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Centrifugal Force, the force Fc acts
upon each shoe, causing them to want to pull out from the center of the mechanism,
away from the fixed point. Since idle speed is rather slow, however, the centrifugal
force exerted upon the shoes isn’t strong enough to overcome the tension of the two
springs and the coils connecting them remain coiled, holding the shoes tightly in
position on the green boss.

So what happens when we press the throttle trigger on the gas engine and cause
the engine to speed up? See Figure 2.

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows the clutch mechanism spinning at an increased velocity. The

tangential velocity V increases, and according to Newton’s law, the centrifugal force
Fc acting on the clutch shoes increases as well. The force is so strong that it
overcomes the tension in the springs and they extend. The clutch shoes are caused
to move out and away from fixed point P, as well as from each other, traveling
along the ends of the boss.

When we remove our finger from the throttle trigger, the engine will slow down
and return to idle speed. The centrifugal force will decrease and the springs will
pull the shoes back towards fixed point P. The mechanism will return to its
previous state, as shown in Figure 1.

Next time we’ll insert the centrifugal clutch mechanism into the clutch housing
to see how mechanical power is transmitted from the engine to the cutter head in our
grass trimmer.

____________________________________________
Tags: center of mass, centrifugal clutch, centrifugal clutch operation, centrifugal force, clutch, clutch boss, clutch shoe, clutch spring, cutter head, engine coupling, engineering expert witness, forensic engineer, gas engine,
gasoline engine, grass trimmer, idle speed, law of centrifugal force, mechanical power transmission, mechanism, outdoor power equipment, Sir Isaac Newton, spinning object, springs, tangential velocity, tension, throttle trigger
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Professional Malpractice | Comments Off on Mechanical Power Transmission –
The Centrifugal Clutch in Operation

Mechanical Power Transmission – The Centrifugal Clutch Mechanism

Sunday, April 15th, 2012
My journey through engineering school was marked by a cast of colorful
characters from around the world. I remember one Russian professor in particular,
fond of extolling the virtues of Russian engineering by the statement, “In Soviet
Union steel ingots roll in one door, military tanks roll out other door.” During that
period of history in his homeland, it was not uncommon for all components down
to the smallest screw to be manufactured within the same factory.

That professor taught me all about clutch mechanisms, and whether they’re
present in Soviet tanks or grass trimmers they perform the same basic function.
Let’s take a look at one now.

Figure 1

Figure l shows my color-enhanced clutch illustration, which makes it easy to

identify the different components of a centrifugal clutch. The main part of the
clutch is colored green and it’s respectfully referred to as the “boss.” I assume it’s
earned the title due to its role in keeping all component parts of the clutch assembly
together.

The blue portion shows two clutch shoes. The boss fits loosely into notches
within the shoes. The curved surfaces on the shoes are composed of a high friction
material, and we’ll see why later. Two springs attached to the shoes cause them to
pull towards each other and keep them from falling off the ends of the boss.

The yellow portion shows the engine shaft coupling. It’s permanently affixed to
the center of the boss. This coupling has a hole in it that enables the clutch
mechanism to be attached onto an engine shaft with a threaded nut or some other
type of mechanical fastener.

Now that we’re familiar with a centrifugal clutch’s parts we can see how they
come into play in a real world application, that of an engine shaft. We’ll explore
that next week.

____________________________________________

Tags: boss, centrifugal clutch, clutch assembly, clutch shoe, engine coupling, engineering expert witness, factory, forensic engineer, gasoline engine, grass trimmer, high friction material, mechanical fastener, mechanism, military
tanks, screw, shaft coulpling, springs, threaded nut, weed trimmer
Posted in Engineering and Science, Expert Witness, Forensic Engineering, Innovation and Intellectual Property, Personal Injury, Product Liability, Professional Malpractice | 1 Comment »

Mechanical Power Transmission – Centrifugal Force and Centrifugal Clutches

Monday, April 9th, 2012
I’m not a big fan of amusement parks. The first time I rode on a Tilt-A-Whirl I
was caught off guard and flung onto my side by the centrifugal force acting upon
my body, the lower half of which was constrained by a seat belt so I wouldn’t be
catapulted out during the ride. To make matters worse, the centrifugal force started
to force the lunch I’d made the mistake of eating just before back up my throat. It
was a very unpleasant experience to say the least.

Centrifugal force is an interesting phenomenon, and its principles are involved

in the operation of a centrifugal clutch, which we’ll see later. For now, let’s get a
basic understanding of what it’s all about, thanks to the discoveries of Sir Isaac
Newton in the late 17th Century.
 Figure 1

Figure 1 shows a red ball, whose mass we’ll notate m, attached to a string, the
other end of which is attached to a fixed point, such as if you held it taught between
your fingers. If you’re in a playful mood, you might enjoy twirling the ball above
your head on its string. The distance between the center of the ball and the fixed
point is labeled r, which stands for the radius of the circular path traveled by the
ball as it twirls around the fixed point. The speed at which the ball travels through
the air is called its straight line velocity, or tangential velocity in scientific-speak,
and it is generally notated as a V. The centrifugal force, or Fc, that is exerted upon
the ball as it whirls around your head is, Sir Isaac tells us, measured by the
equation:

Fc = mV2/r

Centrifugal force in the simplest of terms is an outward-pushing force that pulls

objects in motion away from the point about which they’re rotating. Let’s hold as
fact that if m and r don’t change, then Newton’s equation tells us that the
centrifugal force exerted upon the object in motion increases by the square of the
velocity, or speed, of the ball. In other words, the faster the ball moves as you spin
it around your head on the string, the harder the centrifugal force that acts upon it.
As you spin the ball faster and faster, it will pull outward more and more
strenuously, exerting ever greater resistance upon the string you hold between your
fingers.

Now suppose we replace the string in this example with a spring as shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2

Why a spring? Because that’s what’s used within a centrifugal clutch. Just as
with the string, the ball’s velocity increases as you increase rotation speed around
the fixed point, and the centrifugal force acting upon its mass by the spinning
action increases as well. The spring expands, extending further and further out
from its beginning position of attachment to the fixed point, your fingers. As
velocity decreases, the spring will retract, eventually returning to its original coil
size. This extending and retracting action is the major mechanism at play within a
centrifugal clutch.

Next time we’ll explore a centrifugal clutch mechanism in more depth to

observe its behavior relative to its spring under the influence of centrifugal force.

____________________________________________