Driveline gearboxes

All of the transmissions available for sale today has grown exponentially in the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The effect is that we are now dealing with a varied quantity of transmitting types including manual, conventional automatic, automatic manual, dual clutch, consistently adjustable, split power and pure EV.
Until very recently, automotive vehicle manufacturers largely had two types of transmission to select from: planetary automatic with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, however, the volume of options avaiable demonstrates the adjustments seen over the industry.

That is also illustrated by the many various kinds of vehicles now being produced for the marketplace. And not simply conventional vehicles, but also all electric and hybrid automobiles, with each type requiring different driveline architectures.

The traditional advancement process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and the rest of the powertrain and vehicle. Nevertheless, this is changing, with the limitations and complications of the method becoming more more popular, and the constant drive among manufacturers and designers to deliver optimal efficiency at reduced weight and cost.

New powertrains feature close integration of components like the prime mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and also rely on highly sophisticated control systems. This is to assure that the very best amount of efficiency and efficiency is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under improved pressure to create powertrains that are brand new, different from and better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more complex by the need to integrate brand components, differentiate within the marketplace and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering teams are on deadline, and the development process needs to be more efficient and fast-paced than ever before.
Until now, the use of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most common way to develop drivelines. This technique involves components and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the business that lean toward verified component-level analysis tools. While these are highly advanced equipment that enable users to extract extremely reliable and accurate data, they remain presenting data that’s collected without thought of the complete system.

While this can produce components that work nicely individually, putting them collectively without prior thought of the entire program can create designs that don’t work, resulting in Driveline gearboxes issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to correct.