Powertrain
Encyclopedia
In a motor vehicle
, the term powertrain or powerplant refers to the group of components that generate power and deliver it to the road surface, water, or air. This includes the engine
, transmission
, drive shafts, differential
s, and the final drive (drive wheel
s, continuous track like with tanks or Caterpillar tractors, propeller
, etc.). Sometimes "powertrain" is used to refer to simply the engine and transmission, including the other components only if they are integral to the transmission. In a carriage
or wagon
, running gear designates the wheels and axles in distinction from the body.
A motor vehicle's driveline consists of the parts of the powertrain excluding the engine and transmission. It is the portion of a vehicle, after the transmission, that changes depending on whether a vehicle is front-wheel
, rear-wheel, or four-wheel drive
, or less-common six-wheel
or eight-wheel drive
.
In a wider sense, the power-train includes all of its components used to transform stored (chemical, solar, nuclear, kinetic, potential, etc.) energy into kinetic energy for propulsion purposes. This includes the utilization of multiple power sources and non–wheel-based vehicles.
s involves the following trends: modular injection,
electronic valve control, exhaust gas recirculation
(EGR), and advanced combustion. Spark ignition engine development trends include: Fuel injection
, and more recently, Gasoline direct injection
, and improving Volumetric efficiency
by using 4 valves per cylinder
, Variable valve timing
, Variable length intake manifold
s, and turbocharging
. Attention to new fuel qualities (no sulphur and aromates) allow new combustion concepts. These promise to combine clean combustion with high efficiency. So-called "combined combustion systems" (CCV) (Volkswagen
, 2003) or "diesotto" cycles (Mercedes-Benz
) are based on synthetic fuels (synthetic diesel, biomass to liquid
(BTL) or gas to liquid (GTL)).
, waviness
, roughness, and porosity
. Quality control
over these parameters is achieved through metrology
technology applied to all of the steps in powertrain manufacturing processes.
plus the "running gear" (powertrain) makes the chassis
.
Later, a body (sometimes referred to as "coachwork
"), which is usually not necessary for integrity of the structure, is built on the chassis to complete the vehicle
. Commercial vehicle manufacturers may have "chassis only" and "cowl and chassis" versions that can be outfitted with specialized bodies. These include bus
es, motor homes, fire engines, ambulance
s, etc.
The frame plus the body makes a glider
(a vehicle without a drivetrain).
Motor vehicle
A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...
, the term powertrain or powerplant refers to the group of components that generate power and deliver it to the road surface, water, or air. This includes the engine
Internal combustion engine
The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer in a combustion chamber. In an internal combustion engine, the expansion of the high-temperature and high -pressure gases produced by combustion apply direct force to some component of the engine...
, transmission
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
, drive shafts, differential
Differential (mechanics)
A differential is a device, usually, but not necessarily, employing gears, capable of transmitting torque and rotation through three shafts, almost always used in one of two ways: in one way, it receives one input and provides two outputs—this is found in most automobiles—and in the other way, it...
s, and the final drive (drive wheel
Drive wheel
A drive wheel is a roadwheel in an automotive vehicle that receives torque from the powertrain, and provides the final driving force for a vehicle. A two-wheel drive vehicle has two driven wheels, and a four-wheel drive has four, and so-on....
s, continuous track like with tanks or Caterpillar tractors, propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
, etc.). Sometimes "powertrain" is used to refer to simply the engine and transmission, including the other components only if they are integral to the transmission. In a carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
or wagon
Wagon
A wagon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals; it was formerly often called a wain, and if low and sideless may be called a dray, trolley or float....
, running gear designates the wheels and axles in distinction from the body.
A motor vehicle's driveline consists of the parts of the powertrain excluding the engine and transmission. It is the portion of a vehicle, after the transmission, that changes depending on whether a vehicle is front-wheel
Front-wheel drive
Front-wheel drive is a form of engine/transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel drive and...
, rear-wheel, or four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
, or less-common six-wheel
Six-wheel drive
Six-wheel drive, 6WD or 6x6 is a drivetrain configuration of six wheels, all of which are driven simultaneously by the vehicle's engine. Unlike four-wheel drive drivetrains, the configuration is largely confined to off-road and military vehicles, particularly heavy-duty ones...
or eight-wheel drive
Eight-wheel drive
Eight-wheel drive, 8WD, or 8x8 is an eight-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all eight wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously.Some severe/extreme duty semi tractors may have this configuration...
.
In a wider sense, the power-train includes all of its components used to transform stored (chemical, solar, nuclear, kinetic, potential, etc.) energy into kinetic energy for propulsion purposes. This includes the utilization of multiple power sources and non–wheel-based vehicles.
Developments
Powertrain development for diesel engineDiesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s involves the following trends: modular injection,
electronic valve control, exhaust gas recirculation
Exhaust gas recirculation
In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation is a nitrogen oxide emissions reduction technique used in petrol/gasoline and diesel engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders. In a gasoline engine, this inert exhaust...
(EGR), and advanced combustion. Spark ignition engine development trends include: Fuel injection
Fuel injection
Fuel injection is a system for admitting fuel into an internal combustion engine. It has become the primary fuel delivery system used in automotive petrol engines, having almost completely replaced carburetors in the late 1980s....
, and more recently, Gasoline direct injection
Gasoline direct injection
In internal combustion engines, gasoline direct injection , also known as petrol direct injection or direct petrol injection, is a variant of fuel injection employed in modern two-stroke and four-stroke gasoline engines...
, and improving Volumetric efficiency
Volumetric efficiency
Volumetric efficiency in internal combustion engine design refers to the efficiency with which the engine can move the charge into and out of the cylinders. More specifically, volumetric efficiency is a ratio of what quantity of fuel and air actually enters the cylinder during induction to the...
by using 4 valves per cylinder
Multi-valve
In automotive engineering a multi-valve or multivalve engine is one where each cylinder has more than two valves. A multi-valve engine has better breathing and can operate at higher revolutions per minute than a two-valve engine, delivering more power.- Multi-valve rationale :A multi-valve design...
, Variable valve timing
Variable valve timing
In internal combustion engines, variable valve timing , also known as Variable valve actuation , is a generalized term used to describe any mechanism or method that can alter the shape or timing of a valve lift event within an internal combustion engine...
, Variable length intake manifold
Variable Length Intake Manifold
In internal combustion engines, a variable length intake manifold , or variable intake manifold is an automobile internal combustion engine manifold technology...
s, and turbocharging
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
. Attention to new fuel qualities (no sulphur and aromates) allow new combustion concepts. These promise to combine clean combustion with high efficiency. So-called "combined combustion systems" (CCV) (Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
, 2003) or "diesotto" cycles (Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
) are based on synthetic fuels (synthetic diesel, biomass to liquid
Biomass to liquid
Biomass to Liquid or BMtL is a multi-step process which produces liquid biofuels from biomass:The process uses the whole plant to improve the carbon dioxide balance and increase yield....
(BTL) or gas to liquid (GTL)).
Manufacturing
The manufacturing of powertrain components and systems is important to industry, including the automotive and other vehicle sectors. Competitiveness drives companies to engineer and produce powertrain systems that over time are more economical to manufacture, higher in product quality and reliability, higher in performance, more fuel efficient, less polluting, and longer in life expectancy. In turn these requirements have led to designs involving higher internal pressures, greater instantaneous forces, and increased complexity of design and mechanical operation. The resulting designs in turn impose significantly more severe requirements on parts shape and dimension; and material surface flatnessFlatness
Flatness may refer to:*Flatness *Flatness *Flatness *Flatness *Flatness , a geometrical tolerance required in certain manufacturing situations*Flatness...
, waviness
Waviness
Waviness is the measure of the more widely spaced component of surface texture. It is a broader view of roughness because it is more strictly defined as "the irregularities whose spacing is greater than the roughness sampling length"...
, roughness, and porosity
Porosity
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0–1, or as a percentage between 0–100%...
. Quality control
Quality control
Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
over these parameters is achieved through metrology
Metrology
Metrology is the science of measurement. Metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement. The word comes from Greek μέτρον , "measure" + "λόγος" , amongst others meaning "speech, oration, discourse, quote, study, calculation, reason"...
technology applied to all of the steps in powertrain manufacturing processes.
Frames and powertrains
In automotive manufacturing, the frameFrame (vehicle)
A frame is the main structure of the chassis of a motor vehicle. All other components fasten to it; a term for this is design is body-on-frame construction.In 1920, every motor vehicle other than a few cars based on motorcycles had a frame...
plus the "running gear" (powertrain) makes the chassis
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
.
Later, a body (sometimes referred to as "coachwork
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...
"), which is usually not necessary for integrity of the structure, is built on the chassis to complete the vehicle
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
. Commercial vehicle manufacturers may have "chassis only" and "cowl and chassis" versions that can be outfitted with specialized bodies. These include bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, motor homes, fire engines, ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...
s, etc.
The frame plus the body makes a glider
Vehicle glider
In automobiles, a glider is a vehicle without a powertrain . It is generally a brand new car, but a second-hand car can also be used...
(a vehicle without a drivetrain).
See also
- Car safetyCar safetyAutomobile safety is the study and practice of vehicle design, construction, and equipment to minimize the occurrence and consequences of automobile accidents. Automobile safety is the study and practice of vehicle design, construction, and equipment to minimize the occurrence and consequences of...
- Electric vehicleElectric vehicleAn electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...
- Electric vehicle conversionElectric vehicle conversionAn electric vehicle conversion is the modification of a conventional internal combustion engine vehicle to electric propulsion, creating an all-electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.-Elements of a conversion:...
- GiuboGiuboA giubo , also known as a flex disc,http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Guibo/E36-Guibo.htm and sometimes misspelled as guibo, is a flexible coupling used to transmit rotational torque between the drive shaft and the companion flange on mechanical devices, such as an automobile engine...
- Gear trainGear trainA gear train is formed by mounting gears on a frame so that the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the pitch circles of engaging gears roll on each other without slipping, this provides a smooth transmission of rotation from one gear to the next.The transmission of...
- Hybrid vehicle drivetrainHybrid vehicle drivetrainHybrid vehicles are vehicles with two or more power sources in the drivetrain. There are many different types of hybrid vehicles, although only the gasoline-electric hybrid is currently commercially available....
External links
- New powertrain technologies conference, 27 and 28- March-2007.
- http://www.caradvice.com.au/105/car-frame-chassis/
- Honda F1 Race Car Frame.
- Drivetrain Quiz
- HIL Test Bench (Delphi Motor) Technical Paper: A Closed-Loop Drive-train Model