Abstract
The world is moving towards refined vehicle systems, and it has become an important aspect of a customer’s choice. A refined driveline plays a major role in reducing noise and vibration and improving the overall vehicle refinement. For commercial vehicles, tackling driveline induced noise and vibration is complex and requires a proper strategy as cost and durability play an important role. In a heavy-duty vehicle engine, high torque at lower RPM is required to give correct traction at the wheel end. To meet engine power and torque characteristics in commercial vehicle, most of the manufacturers opt for a diesel engine which by its very nature, carries a drawback of high fluctuation. Diesel engine coupled with a manual transmission and multiplejoint propeller shaft results in a resonance and lead to high in-cab noise and tactile vibration in the low-frequency region. Flywheel inertia, clutch stiffness and hysteresis, side-shaft stiffness and inertia, propeller-shaft inertia and U-joint angle are the basic parameters that are needed to be tuned to reduce in-cab noise and tactile vibration. Clutch stiffness and hysteresis are commercially controlled factors. They can be iterated without affecting the overall cost of the vehicle. Simulation plays a key role in reducing the overall cost associated with tuning of these parameters. With proper simulation techniques like 1D or MBD, we can find an optimized solution for the product and can bring the in-cab noise and tactile vibration within target limits. In this paper, methodology for frontloading the simulation of clutch parameters viz. inertia, stiffness and hysteresis using multibody dynamic simulation has been discussed and optimization for the given driveline is suggested. Effect of simulation is also validated by test-based measurement.