Abstract
KEYWORDS
planetary mechanism (PM), transmission, planetary gearbox, power circuits, efficiency, vehicle
ABSTRACT
The paper presents a method to determine the efficiency of a planetary gearbox. The continuously increasing number of the vehicles that are equipped with a planetary gearbox asks for the very beginning (in the designing phase) to determine the efficiency of the planetary trains that are involved at a certain moment in driving the power flow. It is well known that the planetary mechanism’s efficiency strictly depends on the power flow circuit. Moreover, considering that it differs from gear to gear and more than one planetary mechanism is involved, the method can provide useful information to the designer. The method starts from determining the efficiency of a single planetary mechanism and developing a method that involves the efficiency determination for planetary trains, according to their driveline when transmitting the power. The method is used for both serial and parallel power flows as well. Moreover, although the power globally flows on a single circuit within the transmission, it may flow on parallel circuits inside the planetary gearbox.