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Introduction
To understand the characteristics of the locking differential, it’s necessary first to review the
standard differential, called an open differential.
The Differential
Introduction
A differential is a device, usually but not necessarily employing gears, capable of transmitting torque
and rotation through three shafts. It receives one input and provides two outputs.
Situation
In a car, the engine generates a torque which is transferred to the transmission. The transmission or
gearbox provides speed and torque conversions from the rotating engine power to another shaft
using gear ratios. This shaft is the input of the differential that drives the wheel axels of the car.
The solution for this problem is the differential; it distributes torque equally to both wheels, allowing
each output to spin at a different speed. The differential has three jobs:
Part-time four-wheel-drive systems don't have a differential between the front and rear wheels;
instead, they are locked together so that the front and rear wheels have to turn at the same average
speed. This is why these vehicles are hard to turn on concrete when the four-wheel-drive system is
engaged.
Construction
Torque is supplied from the engine, via the transmission, to a drive shaft, which runs to the final
drive unit that contains the differential. A spiral bevel pinion (fig.1) takes its drive from the end of the
propeller shaft, and is encased within the housing of the final drive unit. This meshes with the large
spiral bevel ring gear, known as the crown wheel. The crown wheel and pinion may mesh in hypoid
orientation. The crown wheel gear is attached to the differential carrier or cage (fig.2), which
contains the 'sun' and 'planet' wheels or gears (fig.3a & 3b), which are a cluster of four opposed
bevel gears in perpendicular plane, so each bevel gear meshes with two neighbours, and rotates
counter to the third, that it faces and does not mesh with. The two sun wheel gears are aligned on
the same axis as the crown wheel gear, and drive the axle half shafts connected to the vehicle's
driven wheels (fig.4). The other two planet gears are aligned on a perpendicular axis which changes
orientation with the ring gear's rotation.
Figure 3a: 'Sun' and 'planet' wheels that are bevel gears
The carrier (green) is held stationary while the sun
gear (yellow) is used as input. The planet gears
(blue) turn in a ratio determined by the number of
teeth in each gear. Here, the ratio is -24/16, or -3/2;
each planet gear turns at 3/2 the rate of the sun
gear, in the opposite direction.
Figure 3a: 'Sun' and 'planet' wheels that are spur gears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Kdj_f6WCQ
Bevel gears are gears where the axes of the two shafts intersect and the tooth-bearing faces of the
gears themselves are conically shaped. Bevel gears are most often mounted on shafts that are 90
degrees apart, but can be designed to work at other angles as well. The pitch surface of bevel gears is
a cone.
Working
When power is applied from the engine, it travels from the driveshaft, into the spiral bevel pinion,
into the carrier via the ring gear. The carrier is the heart of the differential and houses the small
pinion gears (planet gears) that are held in place by a shaft. These gears allow the half shafts to
rotate at different speeds. When one axle rotates slowly, the other will compensate by rotating
faster. When a car is driving straight down the road, both drive wheels are spinning at the same
speed. The input spiral bevel pinion is turning the ring gear and cage, and none of the pinions within
the carrier are rotating(opposite the carrier): both side gears are effectively locked to the cage. (see
figure)
Figure: straight
ω1= ωcw - ω
ω2= ωcw + ω
ωaverage= 0.5 x (ω1 + ω2)= 0.5 (ωcw - ω + ωcw + ω) = 0.5 x
2ωcw = ωcw
As the differential carrier rotates, the changing axis orientation of the planet gears imparts
the motion of the ring gear to the motion of the sun gears by pushing on them rather than
turning against them (that is, the same teeth stay in the same mesh or contact position), but
because the planet gears are not restricted from turning against each other, within that
motion, the sun gears can counter-rotate relative to the ring gear and to each other under
the same force (in which case the same teeth do not stay in contact).
Thus, for example, if the car is making a turn to the right, the main crown wheel may make
10 full rotations. During that time, the left wheel will make more rotations because it has
further to travel, and the right wheel will make fewer rotations as it has less distance to
travel. The sun gears (which drive the axle half-shafts) will rotate in opposite directions
relative to the ring gear by, say, 2 full turns each (4 full turns relative to each other), resulting
in the left wheel making 12 rotations, and the right wheel making 8 rotations.
The rotation of the crown wheel gear is always the average of the rotations of the side sun
gears. This is why, if the driven roadwheels are lifted clear of the ground with the engine off,
and the drive shaft is held (say leaving the transmission 'in gear', preventing the ring gear
from turning inside the differential), manually rotating one driven roadwheel causes the
opposite roadwheel to rotate in the opposite direction by the same amount.
When the vehicle is traveling in a straight line, there will be no differential movement of the
planetary system of gears other than the minute movements necessary to compensate for
slight differences in wheel diameter, undulations in the road (which make for a longer or
shorter wheel path), etc.
A function of the differential was a also to act as the final gear reduction in the vehicle,
slowing the rotational speed of the transmission on final time before it hits the wheels. This
final gear reduction is carried by the bevel pinion and the crown wheel. When the pinion has
8 teeth and the crown wheel 32, there is are speed reduction of 25%.
The drive shaft: The drive shaft is the input shaft of the differential, it serve to transmit
driving torque from the transmission to the differential.
The bevel pinion and the crown wheel: They serve for the final gear reduction and to drive
the carrier that's intersect the driveshaft direction. Most of the time we use a SPIRAL bevel
pinion. This type of pinion can tolerate bigger forces because the contact area is greater.
The carrier: is connected with the planet gear and not with the sungear (half shafts).
The planet gears: connect the crown wheel (indirectly) with the bevel gears of the half shafts
(directly) so the half shafts can rotate at different speeds.
The bevel pinions of the half shafts: connects the half shafts with the planet gears.
The Case: To protect the differential mechanism. Mostly the case is filled with oil so the
friction between the gears is reduced and to improve the cooling.
One undesirable side effect of a open differential is that it can limit traction under less than
ideal conditions. The amount of traction required to propel the vehicle at any given moment
depends on the load at that instant—how heavy the vehicle is, how much drag and friction
there is, the gradient of the road, the vehicle's momentum, and so on.
The torque applied to each driving wheel is a result of the engine, transmission and drive
axles applying a twisting force against the resistance of the traction at that road wheel.
Unless the load is exceptionally high, the drivetrain can usually supply as much torque as
necessary, so the limiting factor is usually the traction under each wheel. It is therefore
convenient to define traction as the amount of torque that can be generated between the
tire and the road surface, before the wheel starts to slip. If the torque applied to drive
wheels does not exceed the threshold of traction, the vehicle will be propelled in the desired
direction; if not, then one or more wheels will simply spin.
To illustrate how a open differential can limit torque applied to the driving wheels, imagine a
simple rear-wheel drive vehicle, with one rear road wheel on asphalt with good grip, and the
other on a patch of slippery ice. With the load, gradient, etc. The vehicle requires a certain
amount of torque applied to the drive wheels to move forward. If the two road wheels were
driven without a differential, each road wheel would be supplied with an equal amount of
torque, and would push against the road surface as hard as possible. The road wheel on ice
would quickly reach the limit of traction, but would be unable to spin because the other road
wheel has good traction. The traction of the asphalt plus the small extra traction from the ice
exceeds the minimum requirement, so the vehicle will be propelled forward.
With an open differential, however, as soon as the "ice wheel" exceeds the threshold of
traction available, it will start to spin; this will further reduce traction at that wheel as the
amount of torque required to spin the wheel against traction lowers after the threshold is
initially broken. Since an open differential limits total torque applied to both drive wheels to
the amount utilized by the lower traction wheel multiplied by a factor of 2, when one wheel
is on a slippery surface, the total torque applied to the driving wheels will be lower than the
minimum torque required for vehicle propulsion. Thus, the vehicle will not be propelled.
Many newer vehicles feature traction control, which partially mitigates the poor traction
characteristics of an open differential by using the anti-lock braking system to limit or stop
the slippage of the low traction wheel, thus transferring more torque to the wheel with good
traction.
A differential lock using differential gears in normal use but using air or electrically controlled
mechanical system, which when locked allow no difference in speed between the two wheels on the
axle. They employ a mechanism for allowing the axles to be locked relative to each other, causing
both wheels to turn at the same speed regardless of which has more traction; this is equivalent to
effectively bypassing the differential gears entirely.
The differential lock = 100% limited slip differential = "Zuivere Sperdifferentieel"
Types
Automatic lockers
Automatic lockers lock and unlock automatically with no direct input from the driver. Some
automatic locking differential designs ensure that engine power is always transmitted to both
wheels, regardless of traction conditions, and will "unlock" only when one wheel is required to spin
faster than the other during cornering. They will never allow either wheel to spin slower than the
differential carrier or axle as a whole. The most common example of this type would be the famous
"Detroit Locker," also known as the "Detroit No-Spin," which replaces the entire differential carrier
assembly. Others, sometimes referred to as "lunchbox lockers," employ the stock differential carrier
and replace only the internal spider gears and shafts with interlocking plates. Both types of
automatic lockers will allow for a degree of differential wheel speed while turning corners in
conditions of equal traction, but will otherwise lock both axle shafts together when traction
conditions demand it.
Pros: Automatic action, no driver interaction necessary, no stopping for (dis-) engagement
necessary
Cons: Intensified tire wear, noticeable impact on driving behaviour (most people often tend
to understeer).
Some other automatic lockers operate as an "open", or unlocked differential until wheelspin is
encountered and then they lockup. This style generally uses an internal governor to sense a
difference in wheel speeds. An example of this would be GM's "Gov-Lok."
Some other automatic lockers operate as an "open," or unlocked differential until high torque is
applied and then they lockup. This style generally uses internal gears systems with very high friction.
An example of this would be ZF "sliding pins and cams" available for use in early VWs.
ARB Air locking differential fitted to a Mitsubishi Delica L400 LWB Diff
Selectable lockers
A "selectable" locker allows the driver to lock and unlock the differential at will from the driver's
seat. This can be accomplished via compressed air (pneumatics) like ARB's "Air Locker" or vacuum,
electronic solenoids (electromagnetics) like Eaton's "ELocker" and Nissan Corporations electric locker
found as optional equipment on the Frontier (Navarra) & Xterra, or some type of cable operated
mechanism as is employed on the "Ox Locker."
Pros: Allows the differential to perform as an "open" differential for improved driveability,
maneuverability, provides full locking capability when it is desirable or needed
Cons: Mechanically complex with more parts to fail. Some lockers require vehicle to stop for
engagement. Needs human interaction and forward-thinking regarding upcoming terrain.
Un-skilled drivers often put massive stress on driveline components when leaving the
differential in locked operation on terrain not requiring a locker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXT2hn7juFE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgXCFw39Gkw&feature=related
turn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBLE0_Sjqw4&feature=related
diff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBm-SzO3ggE&feature=watch_response