Investigation of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of clutches using fibre optic sensing technology with high spatial measurement density

Abstract

Non-lubricated clutches are still subject of numerous investigations. Measuring the temperature distribution in the friction contact would deliver a more detailed view of the live friction process. Main restriction remaining to establish this information is the low spatial measurement density of conventional thermal measurement facilities. On this account, fibre optic sensing technology has been used for the first time to measure the temperature distribution with high spatial resolution in a pressure plate of a clutch system. One sensing fibre offers not less than 700 measurement points in the pressure plate. An academic example was carried out to validate the new measuring method. On one hand, the focus of this investigation was the comparison of the measured temperature between fibre and thermocouple. On the other hand, the manner of inserting the fibre, especially the influences on the part by inserting holes, was investigated. The target is minimally changing the friction contact by the measurement instrumentation. By means of this measurement method, it is possible to analyse the thermo-mechanical behaviour of a friction system with a high level of details. This method enables the control of temperature distribution in the counter plate. Currently, an optimization method is in development, which should make it possible to rate design changes, for example of the pressure plate, linked to the temperature distribution.