SAE TECHNICAL PAPER SERIES

2003-01-0248

A Five-Speed Starting Clutch Automatic Transmission Vehicle

Chi-Kuan Kao, Anthony L. Smith and Patrick B. Usoro
General Motors Corp.

Reprinted From: Transmission & Driveline Systems Symposium 2003 (SP-1760)

2003 SAE World Congress Detroit, Michigan March 3-6, 2003

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2003-01-0248

A Five-Speed Starting Clutch Automatic Transmission Vehicle

Chi-Kuan Kao, Anthony L. Smith and Patrick B. Usoro
General Motors Corp.
Copyright 2003 SAE International

ABSTRACT
A wet multi-plate clutch, designated as the starting clutch, is used to replace the torque converter in the automatic transmission in order to improve vehicle fuel economy. The transmission ratio spread must be increased to compensate for the torque multiplication of the torque converter and avoid p enalizing the 0 -60 mph acceleration performance. The main challenge of this concept is the control of the starting clutch to ensure acceptable vehicle drivability. This paper describes the system of a five-speed starting clutch automatic transmission vehicle and shows vehicle test results. Vehicle test data show that (i) the fuel economy benefit of the starting clutch is significant, and (ii) a starting clutch transmission can be designed to equal or better the 0-60 mph acceleration performance of a torque converter transmission by proper selection of the gear ratios.

The concept of using a starting clutch in automatic transmissions is not new [2]. Borg-Warner used a starting clutch for a 3-speed automatic transmission in 1949 [4]. In the 1980s they put the starting clutch at the output of a continuously variable transmission (CVT) as a start-up and protective device [5]. The Borg-Warner starting clutch with CVT design was successfully used in Suzukis production vehicles with 1000cc and 1300cc engines [6]. Honda introduced a mass production starting clutch CVT called Multi-Matic transmission for 1500cc engines [7]. Although there is currently no production discrete-step transmission with a starting clutch, prospects for such a transmission are not far fetched if wide-ratio-spread five(or more-) speed automatic transmission can be designed and torque-converter type of vibration-free drivability can be achieved with intelligent starting clutch slip control as explained below. To improve vehicle fuel economy without sacrificing vehicle acceleration performance and drivability when replacing the torque converter with a starting clutch, the following two issues must be addressed. First, the overall gear ratio spread must be increased to provide a deep underdrive to emulate the torque multiplication of a torque converter during launch and an overdrive to maintain fuel economy in highway driving. Since the overall gear ratio has to be increased, to maintain small ratio steps for shift quality, it is necessary to add an extra speed ratio to the transmission; consequently, a 5-speed automatic transmission is typically required. Second, the starting clutch slip needs to be effectively controlled to achieve smooth vehicle launch, good engine torsional isolation, and fuel economy improvement. Thus, a well-synthesized starting clutch control system is essential to the success of the system. In this paper, a GM passenger car equipped with a V6 3300 engine and a wide-ratio spread (6:1) experimental 5speed automatic transmission was used to evaluate vehicle drivability and fuel economy improvement. General issues such as cost, integration challenges, and customer acceptance were outside the scope of this work.

INTRODUCTION
A torque converter is a hydro-mechanical device that connects the engine with the transmission in an automatic transmission. The function of the torque converter is to provide fast and smooth vehicle launch through its torque multiplication and driveline torsional damping capabilities. One major drawback of the torque converter is its relatively lower efficiency over the operating cycle. The torque converter efficiency can be improved by controlling the torque converter slip with a torque converter clutch (TCC) [1]. Further efficiency improvement can be achieved by replacing the torque converter with a wet clutch [2], designated as the starting clutch. The torsional damper spring is retained for its primary function of filtering engine-firing pulses when the clutch is locked. A viscous converter clutch (VCC) [3] is also used in some passenger cars to lockup torque converter clutch early with viscous damping to improve fuel economy without sacrificing drivability. A viscous converter clutch is a torque converter clutch with a viscous damper located between the torque converter clutch and turbine to improve drivability by damping engine torque fluctuation when early lockup the torque converter clutch [3]. Its drawback is that it adds additional cost and it maintains a small slip even when the torque converter clutch is locked.

STARTING CLUTCH CONTROL ALGORITHM

The schematic of a starting clutch vehicle is shown in Fig. 1. The torque generated by the engine is transmitted through the wet multi-plate starting clutch, the damper spring, the transmission gearset, and the axle to the vehicle. A damper spring is placed after the starting clutch to provide filtering of engine torque disturbances such as engine firing pulses when the starting clutch is locked. This damper spring is similar to that of a production torque converter clutch.

VEHICLE IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS

The starting clutch control algorithm was implemented in a GM passenger car with a V6 3.3L PFI engine and a fivespeed wide-ratio spread (6:1) experimental transmission. A starting clutch with a damper spring was used to replace the torque converter. The stick diagram of the automatic transmission is shown in Fig.3. The starting clutch and the damper spring fit in the torque converter compartment. A 32-bit microprocessor is used to control the transmission with a 5 msec loop time. The control software was written in MODULA-GM and extensive instrumentation was employed in the vehicle to measure engine, starting clutch, and transmission speeds, axle torque, pressures internal to the transmission, brake signal, gas pedal and throttle positions so that the transmission control system could be debugged, tested and verified. A linear solenoid valve was used to control the starting clutch pressure.
ST. CL. INPUT

Figure 1. Schematic of a Starting Clutch Vehicle The starting clutch controller regulates the hydraulic pressure on the starting clutch to allow smooth torque transmission from the engine to the vehicle, and control the slip between the engine and transmission for torsional vibration isolation and improved fuel economy. The overall transmission control block diagram is shown in Fig. 2.

CB5 CREV C345 CBR

CB24 C123

F1

OUTPUT

Figure 3. Stick Diagram of the Experimental Five-Speed Starting Clutch Automatic Transmission Two different baseline transmissions were available for installation in the same vehicle for comparison. One was the 3T40 three-speed production transmission with torque converter clutch (TCC), and the other was a five-speed 5.5:1 ratio spread experimental transmission equipped with a viscous converter clutch (VCC) [3] to enable early clutch apply. Ratio comparisons for the vehicles equipped with the three transmissions are listed in Table 1.

Figure 2. Transmission Control Block Diagram for the Starting Clutch Vehicle

The gearshift control algorithm can be found in [8, 9]. As shown in Fig. 2, the starting clutch control system uses the engine torque (Te), engine speed ( e ), starting clutch speed (transmission input speed ( t )), throttle position ( ), and brake information to control the starting clutch pressure (P sc). This information can also be used to control engine spark timing and throttle. In this paper, spark control and electronic throttle control were not used to control the starting clutch.

VEHICLE TEST RESULTS The fuel economy, wide-open-throttle (WOT) acceleration performance, and part-throttle launch drivability of the starting clutch vehicle in comparison with torque converter vehicles are discussed in this section.

Table 1. Ratio Comparisons for the Starting Clutch and Torque Converter Vehicles 3-Speed with TCC Gear N/V Ratio 1 2 3 4 5 Chain Ratio 2.84 1.6 1 0.84 95 53 33 5-Speed with 5-Speed with VCC Starting Clutch Gear Ratio 2.667 1.556 1 0.667 0.485 1.53 N/V 162 95 61 41 30 Gear Ratio 2.909 1.636 1 0.667 0.485 1.53 N/V 177 100 61 41 30

N/V (engine speed in rpm over vehicle speed in mph) ratio in first gear (Table 1). The 0 -60 mph time comparison of these vehicles and the 5-speed VCC experimental vehicle is presented in Table 3. This data shows that the starting clutch 0-60 mph performance is better than the production 3T40 transmission vehicle because of the increased ratio spread (Table 1) and slightly worse than the 5-speed VCC experimental transmission vehicle because of the high first gear N/V along with the torque converter. Clearly, a starting clutch transmission can be designed to equal or exceed the 0 -60 mph performance of a torque converter transmission by proper selection of gear ratios.

Table 2. Vehicle Fuel Economy Comparison Fuel economy The fuel economy tests were performed at the GM Powertrain Warren West Emissions Laboratory using the same vehicle, engine, driver, dynamometer, and preparation procedures during a one-week test period to ensure consistent and reliable results. Three transmissions were installed in the same vehicle, one at a time, for the tests. These include (i) a three-speed 3T40 (THM 125C) production transmission, (ii) a five-speed experimental transmission with viscous converter clutch using very aggressive fuel economy shift schedule, with very early viscous converter clutch engagement starting in second gear at 9 mph for zero throttle, and (iii) the starting clutch automatic transmission. The fuel economy improvements of the starting clutch equipped vehicle over the other two baseline vehicles are listed in Table 2. The table lists fuel consumption during the EPA II hot city and highway cycles, and the 55/45 combined cycles. This data shows that the starting clutch transmission provides fuel economy improvements of 11.4% over the threespeed 3T40 production transmission and 7.2% over the 5speed experimental transmission with viscous converter clutch for the combined 55/45 EPA cycles. These results are consistent with simulation predictions and expectations. Launch Performance Figure 4 shows a comparison of the vehicle acceleration versus time traces during a wide-open-throttle (WOT) launch for the starting clutch vehicle and a production 3T40 torque converter vehicle. This data shows that the peak vehicle acceleration for the torque converter vehicle reaches 0.56 g because of the torque multiplication from the torque converter and starts to decrease when the torque converter approaches the coupling mode where there is no torque multiplication. The peak vehicle acceleration for the starting clutch vehicle reaches 0.54 g; this high acceleration is maintained because of the high Vehicle (Avg.) (Avg.) (Avg.) MPG % Impr. % Impr. Base Line

3-Speed Hot City MPG 20.24 with TCC Hwy MPG 33.18 Trans. Comb. 55/45 24.55 5-Speed Hot City MPG 21.12 with VCC Hwy MPG 34.21 Trans. Comb. 55/45 25.51

4.3% 3.1% 3.9%

Base Line

5-Speed Hot City MPG 23.00 13.6% Starting Hwy MPG 35.58 Clutch Comb. 55/45 27.35 7.2% Trans. 11.4%

8.9% 4.0% 7.2%

Figure 4. Comparison of Wide Open Throttle Vehicle Launches

Table 3. Vehicle 0 - 60 mph Performance Comparison Transmission 3-Speed (3T40) Production Trans. 5-Speed with VCC 5-Speed Starting Clutch Trans. (Avg.) Seconds 10.54 8.88 9.27

transmissions: (1) 3T40 production 3-speed automatic transmission, (2) experimental 5-speed automatic transmission with a viscous converter clutch, and (3) experimental 5-speed automatic transmission with a starting clutch. The fuel economy, acceleration performance, and drivability of the starting clutch vehicle were compared with that of the two torque converter vehicles. Vehicle tests showed that for the combined FTP cycles, the starting clutch transmission provided a fuel economy improvement of 11.4% over the production 3T40 3-speed transmission and 7.2% over the experimental 5-speed transmission with viscous converter clutch. The viscous converter clutch apply schedule was very aggressive; GM proprietary best fuel economy shift schedule was adopted and the converter clutch apply started in second gear at 9 mph vehicle speed for zero throttle. Vehicle test data showed that the 0-60 mph time for the starting clutch vehicle is shorter than the production 3T40 3-speed transmission vehicle because of the wide ratio spread (6:1 compared to 2.84:1) and slightly longer than the experimental 5 -speed automatic with a torque converter because the torque multiplication of the torque converter was not completely compensated for.

Figure 5 compares the 30% throttle vehicle launch for the starting clutch and the production 3T40 vehicles. The starting clutch vehicle has a very smooth launch, but with a lower peak acceleration than the production vehicle. The higher peak acceleration for the production vehicle is due to the effects of the torque converter. Notice that while the acceleration of the torque converter equipped vehicle decays from the peak value, that of the starting clutch equipped vehicle sustains a steady value. This set of tests shows very good starting clutch vehicle launch drivability achieved with the control strategy developed in this project.

CONCLUSION
Starting clutch control algorithms were developed and successfully implemented in an experimental five-speed automatic transmission vehicle equipped with a starting clutch to replace the torque converter. Vehicle tests showed that a starting clutch transmission could provide significant vehicle fuel economy improvement over a torque converter transmission without penalizing acceleration performance when a wide-ratio-spread fivespeed automatic transmission is used. General issues such as cost, integration challenges, and customer acceptance were not examined.

REFERENCES
1. Figure 5. Comparison of 30% Throttle Vehicle Launches Hiramatsu, T., Akagi, T., and Yoneda, H.,Control Technology of Minimal Slip-Type Torque Converter Clutch, SAE-850460, 1985. Gott, P.G., Changing Gears: The Development of the Automotive Transmission, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., 1991. Tung, S.C. and Linden, J.L., Modeling Torque Converter Clutch Viscous Damper Performance, SAE-850459, 1985. Smirl, R., Transmission, U.S. Patent 2,700,312, January 25, 1949. Schneider, K.F., Hydro-electronic Tension Belt Continuously Variable Transmission for Passenger Cars, SAE-894079. Hirano, S., Miller, A.L., and Schneider, K.F., SCVT A State of the Art Electronically Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission, SAE-910410.

SUMMARY
A starting clutch control algorithm was developed to achieve vehicle drivability that is comparable with that of a torque converter equipped vehicle. The starting clutch control system uses engine speed, starting clutch speed (transmission input speed), throttle position, and brake information to control the starting clutch p ressure. The control system was developed and implemented in a GM passenger car. The vehicle had a 3300 V6 PFI engine and a five-speed electronically controlled wide-ratio spread (6:1) experimental transmission. Fuel economy tests were performed at the GM Powertrain Warren West Emissions Laboratory using the same vehicle with three different

2.

3.

4. 5.

6.

7. 8.

Honda Press Information, Ref. No. 95020, July 5, 1995. Butts, K.R. and Hebbale, K.V., Acceleration-Based Control of Power-On Downshifting in an Automatic Transmission, U.S. Patent No. 5,079,970, 1992.

9.

Butts, K.R., Hebbale, K.V., and Wang, K.-W., Acceleration-Based Control of Power-On Clutch-toClutch Upshifting in an Automatic Transmission, U.S. Patent No. 5,046,383, 1991.