OPTIMAL CONTROL APPLIED IN AUTOMATIC CLUTCH ENGAGEMENTS OF VEHICLES

Start-up working condition is the key to the research of optimal engagementof automatic clutch for AMT. In order to guarantee an ideal dynamic performance of the clutchengagement, an optimal controller is designed by considering throttle angle, engine speed, gearratio, vehicle acceleration and road condition. The minimum value principle is also introduced toachieve an optimal dynamic performance of the nonlinear system compromised in friction plate wearand vehicle drive quality. The optimal trajectory of the clutch engagement can be described in theform of explicit and analytical expressions and characterized by the deterministic and accuratecontrol strategy in stead of indeterministic and soft control techniques which need thousands ofexperiments. For validation of the controller, test work is carried out for the automated clutchengagements in a commercial car with an traditional mechanical transmission, a hydraulic actuator, agroup of sensors and a portable computer system. It is shown through experiments that dynamicbehaviors of the clutch engagement operated by the optimal control are more effective and efficientthan those by fuzzy control.

Estimating the clutch transmitting torque during HEV mode-switch based on the Kalman filter

A power train dynamics model of a coaxial parallel hybrid electric vehicle （HEV） was built for different clutch operating states. With the state vector constituted by the motor rotation speed and the clutch transmitting torque at two successive time steps, a discrete state space model for estimating the clutch transmitting torque was built, and the Kalman filtering algorithm was used to estimate the clutch transmitting torque. The Matlab/Simulink was employed to simulate the clutch transmitting torque for two mode-switch processes. Estimation errors were analyzed through compa- ring the estimated and simulated values of the clutch torque. Impact of the noise covariance and the sample time on clutch torque estimation errors were explored. The results show that the developed estimation method can be used to estimate the clutch transmitting torque for HEV with good accura- cy. The results are useful for torque direct control of automatic diaphragm clutches.

OPTIMAL TORQUE CONTROL STRATEGY FOR PARALLEL HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE WITH AUTOMATIC MECHANICAL TRANSMISSION

In parallel hybrid electrical vehicle （PHEV） equipped with automatic mechanical transmission （AMT）, the driving smoothness and the clutch abrasion are the primary considerations for powertrain control during gearshift and clutch operation. To improve these performance indexes of PHEV, a coordinated control system is proposed through the analyzing of HEV powertrain dynamic characteristics. Using the method of minimum principle, the input torque of transmission is optimized to improve the driving smoothness of vehicle. Using the methods of fuzzy logic and fuzzy-PID, the engaging speed of clutch and the throttle opening of engine are manipulated to ensure the smoothness of clutch engagement and reduce the abrasion of clutch friction plates. The motor provides the difference between the required input torque of transmission and the torque transmitted through clutch plates. Results of simulation and experiments show that the proposed control strategy performs better than the contrastive control system, the smoothness of driving and the abrasion of clutch can be improved simultaneously.