第1页共13页编号：时间：2021年x月x日书山有路勤为径，学海无涯苦作舟页码：第1页共13页TheEffectofaViscousCouplingUsedasaFront-WheelDriveLimited-SlipDifferentialonVehicleTractionandHandling1ABCTRACTTheviscouscouplingisknownmainlyasadrivelinecomponentinfourwheeldrivevehicles.Developmentsinrecentyears,however,pointtowardtheprobabilitythatthisdevicewillbecomeamajorplayerinmainstreamfront-wheeldriveapplication.ProductionapplicationinEuropeanandJapanesefront-wheeldrivecarshavedemonstratedthatviscouscouplingsprovidesubstantialimprovementsnotonlyintractiononslipperysurfacesbutalsoinhandingandstabilityevenundernormaldrivingconditions.Thispaperpresentsaseriousofprovinggroundtestswhichinvestigatetheeffectsofaviscouscouplinginafront-wheeldrivevehicleontractionandhanding.Testingdemonstratessubstantialtractionimprovementswhileonlyslightlyinfluencingsteeringtorque.Factorsaffectingthissteeringtorqueinfront-wheeldrivevehiclesduringstraightlinedrivingaredescribed.Keyvehicledesignparametersareidentifiedwhichgreatlyinfluencethecompatibilityoflimited-slipdifferentialsinfront-wheeldrivevehicles.Corneringtestsshowtheinfluenceoftheviscouscouplingontheselfsteeringbehaviorofafront-wheeldrivevehicle.Furthertestingdemonstratesthatavehiclewithaviscouslimited-slipdifferentialexhibitsanimprovedstabilityunderaccelerationandthrottle-offmaneuversduringcornering.2THEVISCOUSCOUPLINGTheviscouscouplingisawellknowncomponentindrivetrains.Inthispaperonlyashortsummaryofitsbasicfunctionandprincipleshallbegiven.Theviscouscouplingoperatesaccordingtotheprincipleoffluidfriction,andisthusdependentonspeeddifference.AsshowninFigure1theviscouscouplinghasslipcontrollingpropertiesincontrasttotorquesensingsystems.Thismeansthatthedrivetorquewhichistransmittedtothefrontwheelsisautomaticallycontrolledinthesenseofanoptimizedtorquedistribution.Inafront-wheeldrivevehicletheviscouscouplingcanbeinstalledinsidethedifferentialorexternallyonanintermediateshaft.TheexternalsolutionisshowninFigure2.Thislayouthassomesignificantadvantagesovertheinternalsolution.First,thereisusuallyenoughspaceavailableintheareaoftheintermediateshafttoprovidetherequiredviscouscharacteristic.Thisisincontrasttothelimitedspaceleftintoday’sfront-axledifferentials.Further,onlyminimalmodificationtothedifferentialcarrierandtransmissioncaseisrequired.In-houseproductionofdifferentialsisthusonlyslightlyaffected.Introductionasanoptioncanbemadeeasilyespeciallywhentheshaftandtheviscousunitissuppliedasacompleteunit.Finally,theintermediateshaftmakesitpossibletoprovideforsideshaftsofequallengthwithtransverselyinstalledengineswhichisimportanttoreducetorquesteer(shownlaterinsection4).Thisspecialdesignalsogivesagoodpossibilityforsignificantweightandcostreductionsoftheviscousunit.GKNViscodriveisdevelopingalowweightandcostviscouscoupling.Byusingonlytwostandardizedouterdiameters,standardizedplates,plastichubsandextrudedmaterialforthehousingwhichcaneasilybecuttodifferentlengths,itispossibletoutilizeawiderangeofviscouscharacteristics.AnexampleofthisdevelopmentisshowninFigure3.3TRACTIONEFFECTSAsatorquebalancingdevice,anopendifferentialprovidesequaltractiveefforttobothdrivingwheels.Itallowseachwheeltorotateatdifferentspeedsduringcorneringwithouttorsionalwind-up.Thesecharacteristics,however,canbedisadvantageouswhenadhesionvariationsbetweentheleftandrightsidesoftheroadsurface(split-μ)li...
