<p> DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND MATERIALS SCIENCE RICE UNIVERSITY</p><p>MECH 401 – Mechanical Design Applications Semester Project – Spring 2005</p><p>Clutch Design for a V-10 Engine *</p><p>Background This project is typical of working in industry: designing a new product for the customer. Usually, the company or department has an area of specialization, and many of the design problems you may face are not totally original designs, but redesigns of existing products for new applications. Such is the situation for this design case study. You are working for an automotive company in the power train division of their light truck operations. The power train options that will be offered for the new model of pick-up trucks include several different engines and transmission combinations, as well as different rear axle ratios. Your group has been asked to design the clutch for the 5-speed manual transmission that will be offered with the new 8 liter V-10 engine (see Figure 1). As is often the case, you have previous clutch designs to use as starting points for your new design. That is, the concept has been developed in previous design activities, and the new clutch will use the same basic concept, but will be modified to match the performance level of the new engine. The clutch was used in a high torque 6-cylinder engine, which developed about 150 horsepower at 3200 rpm. The clutch you are to design will have the basic components as shown in figure 2. The major parts of the clutch include the flywheel, the pressure plate, and the two-sided clutch disk. There are steel fingers, which act as levers to actuate the clutch, and there are springs that squeeze the clutch plates together. There are also steel springs in the clutch disk; these allow for torsional deflection during clutch engagement and lessen the shock loads from quick clutch releases. The two plates of the clutch are held together with bolts. Figure 2 shows an arrangement of these components.</p><p>Problem Statement Your task is to redesign the clutch from the 6-cylinder application to be appropriate for the V-10. Specifically, you will need to estimate reasonable loads on the clutch and reasonable life specifications. Then you will need to size the friction surfaces, springs, and bolts that hold the plates together. Design constraints for the parts include static loads, fatigue life, and wear life. Thermal effects should also be considered. You do not need to design the shape of the stamped parts that hold the pressure plate or the levers that actuate the clutch. To help you with this problem, information about the power train and vehicle specifications are included. Begin by studying the given information and formulating a plan of attack for determining design loads and life specifications for the clutch.</p><p>Deliverables Consider the deliverables’ dates as guidelines. They are assigned in order to keep you on schedule for timely project completion.</p><p>3/21/05 1 a) From the information given, determine reasonable loads on the clutch and reasonable life specifications. (See the additional project information for guidance on this part.) </p><p>Deliverable due Tuesday, March 22, 2005</p><p> b) Design the size of the friction surfaces, springs, and bolts that hold the plates together. Use a minimum factor of safety of 3. </p><p>Deliverable due Tuesday, April 5, 2005</p><p> c) Determine the design constraints for the clutch. Design constraints for the parts include static loads, fatigue life, and wear life. Thermal effects should also be considered. A minimum factor of safety of 3. </p><p>Deliverable due Tuesday, April 19, 2005</p><p>Turn in a complete report that explains each step of the analysis and design process, with detailed engineering drawings of your clutch). Support all of the design features of your shaft with appropriate calculations. Be sure to include equations, figures, and references as appropriate.</p><p>Report due Friday, April 29, 2005 (5:00 PM)</p><p>* This project design topic by Professor John Starkey was taken from a course at Purdue University: ME452 Machine Design II, 1995 (provided by Marcia Kilchenman).</p><p>3/21/05 2</p>