Performance Optimization of Commercial Vehicle Clutch Actuation System

Sandip Phapale

doi:10.4271/2019-26-0334

Rapid changes in competitive automotive market trends and customer expectations have forced automobile manufacturers to offer better products with more distinctive features and improved comfort, all at a lower cost. Occupant comfort within the cabin compartment and easy operation of peripheral controls are some of the important factors under consideration while choosing the vehicle over its competition.

In the clutch actuation system, the clutch pedal is the first key customer touch point between driver and vehicle transmission hence its performance is most significant to the overall quality perception and customer appeal. The effect of high clutch pedal effort of the clutch actuation system is felt by the driver during heavy traffic conditions, where frequent gear shifts are required, this becomes an annoyance to the driver decreasing his productivity. In order to afford superior comfort and a smooth clutch feel to the driver during day to day driving, there is a need to optimize the clutch actuation system performance

The scope of this paper was to optimize the clutch pedal effort using Taguchi Method in order to meet performance targets and to become superior among benchmark vehicles as well. A Design of Experiments (DOE) analysis has been conducted on the vehicle with respect to selected design variables. Moreover, based on Taguchi technique for single response optimization, the best factor levels are selected for experiment. At the end of these experiments, it has been concluded that the optimal combination of selected variables meets the clutch actuation system performance targets requirement.

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Performance Optimization of Commercial Vehicle Clutch Actuation System 2019-26-0334

SAE MOBILUS