Influence of oxidation of automatic transmission fluids (ATFs) and sliding distance on friction coefficients of a wet clutch in the running-in stage

In this paper,the influence of oxidation of automatic transmission fluids(ATFs)and sliding distance on the friction coefficients of a wet clutch in approached running-in conditions was investigated.The ATFs were oxidized by a laboratory process approaching oxidation occurred in actual ATFs.Oxidation was evaluated by means of increase in carbonyl compounds and depletion of zinc dialkyldithiophosphates(ZDDPs)additives.Also,the changes in kinematic viscosity and viscosity index were evaluated.Pin-ondisk tests were conducted to replicate the actual sliding contact in a wet clutch.The pin specimens were cut from friction material composite plates and the disks were actual steel separators both from an automotive wet clutch.Friction coefficient, μ,was measured at progressive sliding velocity,ν,to obtain μ–νcurves at 26 and 100°C.Three μ–νtests were consecutively run using the same pair of specimens and oil.The cumulative sliding distance for each μ–νtest generated surface flattening using the oils.The friction coefficients of the wet clutch increased due to the ATFs oxidation meanwhile the dm/dv values decreased in most cases.It suggests that ATF oxidation can enhance torque capacity of the wet clutch,but it could reduce anti-shudder property.Progressive sliding distance improved the slopes in the μ–νresults using fresh ATFs meanwhile it generated a slope decrease by using aged ATFs.