CAR DIFFERENTIAL

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

AUTHOR: Ali Pearlman

E-MAIL: alip@MIT.EDU
COURSE: 2
CLASS/YEAR: 3

MAIN FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENT(s): Distribute power from car transmission

shaft to a pair of Left-Right wheels (1ST FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENT) while allowing wheels to
rotate at different speeds (SECOND FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENT).

DESIGN PARAMETER: Differential

HISTORY: The differential was first invented in China, in the third century, A.D.

GEOMETRY/STRUCTURE:

Components In A Differential System

Gear Teeth: The crown wheel and drive pinion teeth are helical, allowing for up-and-
down movement in rough or uneven road conditions.

EXPLANATION OF HOW IT WORKS/ IS USED:

Why use a Differential?: When a car turns a corner, one wheel is on the "inside" of a
turning arc, and the other wheel is on the "outside." Consequently, the outside wheel has
to turn faster than the inside one in order to cover the greater distance in the same amount
of time. Thus, because the two wheels are not driven with the same speed, a differential is
necessary. A car differential is placed halfway between the driving wheels, on either the
front, rear, or both axes (depending on whether it’s a front-, rear-, or 4-wheel-drive car).
In rear-wheel drive cars, the differential converts rotational motion of the transmission
shaft which lies parallel to the car’s motion to rotational motion of the half-shafts (on the
ends of which are the wheels), which lie perpendicular to the car’s motion.

In Turns, Wheels Are at Different

Location of Differential In Car
Speeds

How it works: Assuming the wheels do no slip and spin out of control, the following two
examples of car motion describe how the differential works when the car is going
forward and when it is turning. (see Limited Slip Differentialsection for wheel slipping).
 Differential When Car Travels In Straight Line (Wheels at Same Speed)

When the car is traveling straight, both wheels travel at the same speed. Thus, the free-
wheeling planet pinions do not spin at all. Instead, as the transmission shaft turns the
crown wheel, the rotary motion is translated directly to the half-shafts, and both wheels
spin with the angular velocity of the crown wheel (they have the same speed).

Differential When Car Turns A Corner (Wheels 2 On Outside of Turn)

When the car is turning, the wheels must move at different speeds. In this situation, the
planet pinions spin with respect to the crown wheel as they turn around the sun gears.
This allows the speed of the crown gear to be delivered unevenly to the two wheels.

DOMINANT PHYSICS:

Variable Description Metric Units English Units

v Velocity at contact point between gears m/sec in/sec

win Angular Velocity of Crown gear rad/sec rev/min

w1 Angular Velocity of one gear/wheel rad/sec rev/min

w2 Angular Velocity of other gear/wheel rad/sec rev/min

 r1 Pitch radius of one gear m in

r2 Pitch radius of other gear m In

Pin Power in, from transmission Watts Horsepower

Pout1 Power out to Left half-shaft Watts Horsepower

Pout2 Power out to Right half-shaft Watts Horsepower

T1 Torque transmitted to Left wheel N-m ft-lb

T2 Torque transmitted to Right wheel N-m ft-lb

N1 Number of teeth on one gear -- --

N2 Number of teeth on other gear -- --

Illustration For Explanation of Gear Ratios

Ratios: The ratio of speeds between gears is dependent upon the ratio of teeth between
the two adjoining gears such that

w1 x N1 = w2 x N2,

where w is the respective angular velocity, and N = the number of teeth on the gear.

Velocity: When two gears are in contact and there is no slipping, v = w1 x r1 = w2 x r2,
where v is the tangential velocity at the point of contact between the gears, and r is the
respective pitch radius of the gear. In a differential, since the speed transmitted by the
crown gear is shared by both of the wheels (not necessarily traveling at the same speed),

win = (w1 + w2) / 2

Power: Typically, each gear mesh will have 1%-2% loss in efficiency, so with three
different meshes from the transmission shaft to each of the half shafts, the system will
actually be 94% to 97% efficient. In order to simplify things, let us assume that the
system is 100% efficient; then

Pin = Pout1 + Pout2, or Pin = (T1 x w1) + (T2 x w2),

where Pin is the power input from the transmission to the differential, and Pout is the
power output from the differential to the wheels. T is the torque supplied to each half-
shaft, respectively.

LIMITING PHYSICS:

Things that might limit or disrupt the behavior of the differential include contact stresses
between the gears, which limits the torque transmission, as well as fatigue and losses due
to friction between the gears.

LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL:

If one of the wheels attached to a differential decides to hit some ice, for example, it slips
and spins with all of the speed the differential has to distribute. Thus, a locking
mechanism, or "limited slip differential" allows one wheel to slip or spin freely while
some torque is delivered to the other wheel (hopefully on dry land!).