The Effect of Thermal Expansion in a Dry Clutch on Launch Control

A dry clutch model with thermal dynamics is added to a driveline model of a heavy-duty truck equipped with an automated manual transmission. The model captures driveline oscillations and can be used to simulate how different clutch-control strategies affect vehicle performance, drivability and comfort. Parameters are estimated to fit a heavy-duty truck and the complete model is validated with respect to shuffle, speed trajectory, clutch torque and clutch lock-up/break-apart behavior. The model shows good agreement with data. Furthermore the model is used to study the effect of thermal expansion in the clutch on launch control. It is shown that the effect of thermal expansion, even for moderate temperatures, is significant in launch control applications.