MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC

TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

Y Song, A Tylee-Birdsall, E Roeloffzen

Romax Technology Ltd, Rutherford House, Highfield Science Park,

Nottingham NG7 2PZ, UK

SUMMARY

A new approach for 3D modelling and analysis of a modern automatic

transmission system is presented in this paper. The gear pairs, planetary gear
system, bearings, shafts and clutches are represented as analysis objects and the
planetary carriers and housing are represented as stiffness quality finite element
components. They are all combined together into one whole hyperstatic system
in RomaxDesigner. The complex planetary gear carriers and gearbox housing
are modelled by means of reduced stiffness matrices created in a finite element
analysis package Nastran. A 6-speed automatic gearbox was modelled in
RomaxDesigner based on above method and the full operating duty cycle of
the transmission has been input and used for the analysis. This method allows
to dramatically reduce the size of the model and can thus be carried out to a
time scale that enables quick concept designs as well as responsive problem
solving in existing gearboxes.

1: CURRENT ISSUES OF MODELLING TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

An automatic transmission gearbox is a very complex mechanical system

which includes planetary gear train, shafts, bearings, clutches, shifting
mechanism and gearbox housing [1,2]. All these components are connecting
with each other through gear meshing, bearing mounting and other
connections. The different gears are selected by switching on or off a
combination of different clutches on the planetary gear trains. The housing is
normally mounted on the engine or chassis or both. All those components are
interacting with each other and hence when changing certain parameters in any
component will inevitably affect other components. In the process of
transmission design, it is important to optimise it considering the changes in
these parameters but at the same time to maintain or not to compromise the
performance of the transmission’s internal components. It is difficult to achieve
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

those targets using conventional transmission analysis methods in which the

gears and the housing are analysed separately and the influence of housing
flexibility on gear mesh misalignment is obtained by making a series of
approximations. These approximations, e.g. linear bearings, rigid housings,
result in a considerable reduction in accuracy.

An alternative would be to use a full finite element (FE) model of the whole
transmission system. However, even the most sophisticated FE model, which
requires great expertise and involves immense time and solving cost, there is
no guarantee that the results can be relied upon [3,4]. For a full model to be
realistic, it requires extensive model correlation for all components. At present
it is a requirement to correlate individual transmission component in isolation
with experimented modal analysis techniques. This has several disadvantages,
for example, a prototype is required for each component, and when the
correlated components are connected, assumptions are made about their
boundary conditions. This can result in a model which is not analogous to
reality and would require a large amount of ‘model correlation’ to yield
acceptable results.

To simulate the loaded FE contact analysis of a set of gears using surface-to-

surface contact elements in current FE technology will require a great deal of
effort. In order to achieve an acceptable accuracy, the elements used in
defining the tooth surface should be small enough to capture the gear meshing
characteristics. Thus it requires a considerable size model and a great deal of
computer resource to solve the nonlinear tooth contact analysis. Imagine half a
dozen of gear pairs in simultaneous meshing in a modern automatic
transmission, the modelling effort and the solution expense are really a big
challenge, not to mention the complex gearbox housing, different types of
nonlinear bearings and clutch components.

In this paper, a new approach to 3D modelling and analysis of a modern

automatic gearbox using specialised transmission software RomaxDesigner, a
commercial software developed by Romax Technology Ltd, is presented.
RomaxDesigner allows modelling and analysis of a complete automatic
transmission in which gears, planetary gear system, bearings and shafts are
modelled as analysis objects with correlation to validated tests.
RomaxDesigner can calculate all the gear meshing points, forces, load
distribution and take into account all the boundary connections. The planetary
carriers and housing are meshed in a commercial finite element package
Visual/Nastran. The housing finite element model is condensed to a reduced
stiffness matrix and coupled with the internal transmission through the bearing
nodes. The transmission system model built by this approach is very compact
compared to conventional finite element models. Since the gears, shafts,
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

bearings and clutches are all defined as objects in RomaxDesigner, it is much

easier and faster to obtain these 3D components by just keying in the design
parameters and editing their attributes. The modelling time for those
components and assemblies are significantly reduced and any possible
mistakes, which may inevitably happen in a conventional modelling process,
can be avoided.

The above modelling method is illustrated by a case study. A 6-speed

modern automatic transmission is modelled in RomaxDesigner (See Figure 1)
and a full duty cycle in a series of different gear selections is analysed. Figure 2
shows a graphical representation of the gearbox system deflection under load.
The case study was modelled to determine the bearing and gear life in a
modern automatic gearbox.

Figure 1: A modern 6-speed automatic transmission

Figure 2: Shaft deflections of the automatic transmission

 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

2: MODELLING THE SHAFTS

The gear shafts are modelled as beam elements; the outer diameter and bore
of the shaft and its position are the only input parameters required for the
modelling. The loading is applied to the shaft by specifying its position,
direction and magnitude. The gears and bearings and other components are
mounted on the shaft in the shaft assembly window. The connection and
interaction of the shaft with other shafts is realised through the meshing of the
mounted gears and through interconnecting bearings. The positioning of the
shaft in a gearbox is done by editing its properties. The shaft can be rotated in
RomaxDesigner relative to a global co-ordinate system and can be repositioned
in a later stage if necessary. Figure 3 shows the input shaft modelled in
RomaxDesigner.

Figure 3: Input shaft modelled in RomaxDesigner

3: MODELLING THE BEARINGS

In order to achieve a high accuracy in the prediction of shaft deflection, the

classic “simply supported beam analysis” is not used here. Instead, a non-linear
stiffness of the bearing is calculated based on standard methods [6] which take
into account the applied load, internal geometry and internal clearance as well
as the reaction of the internal geometry to the applied load with respect to the
actual contact angle of the elements. The 6x6 stiffness matrix for each bearing
is obtained by linearizing the nonlinear behaviour of the bearing close to the
operation condition [3,7]. Figure 4 shows an example of bearings modelled in
RomaxDesigner.
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

Figure 4: 3D bearings model and its mounting on the shaft

4: MODELLING HELICAL GEAR SETS

Spur and helical gears are treated as objects in RomaxDesigner. The

modelling of these gears as part of a gear train is done in two stages: stage 1
concept design and stage 2 detailed design.

Stage 1: In the concept design stage, only a few essential inputs are required
such as tooth number, module or diametral pitch, centre distance, pressure
angle and face width in which the centre distance is determined by the position
of the gears. The gears are either defined as gear pair or a gear train. The
meshing of gears in a gear train can be specified interactively.

Stage 2: In the second stage, the concept design is converted into a detailed
design based on a standard rack or a user-modified rack. The modifications of
gear tooth profiles like tooth thickness, tooth tip and edge chamfers and root
fillet radius are easily manipulated in a editing window. In the case study, the
required modifications are input in the detailed gear design window from
which the 3D gear was modelled. Figure 5 shows a helical gear and a helical
gear train created in RomaxDesigner.

The gears are defined with stiffness under contact and a backlash that is
derived from the assembled and deflected conditions. The behaviour of the
gear mesh is nonlinear.
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

Figure 5: Helical gear and helical gear train modelled in RomaxDesigner

5: MODELLING THE PLANETARY GEARS AND CARRIER

A simple planetary gear train normally consists of one sun gear, one ring
gear, and some arbitrary number of planets. The gear ratio changes are
controlled by activating a set of clutches. Depending on the clutch selection,
RomaxDesigner automatically calculates the planetary gear train’s ratios. The
modelling of a planetary gear train is similar to that of a helical gear train
except that the meshing among the planets, sun gear and ring gear has to be set
more carefully. Figure 6 shows a planetary gear train in the automatic
transmission model from the case study.

Figure 6: A planetary gear train modelled in RomaxDesigner

 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

The carrier is an irregular 3D component (see Figure 7(c)). In the case

study, an advanced method, i.e. a reduced stiffness matrix method, was used to
represent the carrier. Reduced stiffness matrices allow a large and complex
geometry to be represented by a relatively small matrix. The planet carrier
interfaces with the rest of system through the planet pins and the planet carrier
support bearings. In the finite element model and RomaxDesigner model, each
support bearing is represented by a single node at its centre at the bearing
position and this node is connected to the carrier surface nodes at the bearing
positions by rigid elements. In static or steady state analysis, the interaction
between carrier, bearing nodes, and planet pins is accurately represented by the
reduced stiffness matrix[5]. The carrier FE mesh is imported into
RomaxDesigner model and then the bearing nodes and planetary gear pins are
connected to it. The connected FE mesh is exported to a standard FE package
(Nastran) to extract the carrier’s stiffness matrix. The stiffness matrix is then
again imported into the RomaxDesigner model to represent the carrier
component.

(a) Planetary gears (b) Planetary gears (c) Planetary gears

and Carrier FE mesh and Carrier 3D model

Figure 7: Illustration of the incorporation of a planetary carrier finite element

component

6: MODELLING THE CLUTCH

The clutch model is simplified to two parts, one inner part and one outer
part (See Figure 8). For a planetary system, the inner part is connected to, for
example, the ring gear while the outer part is connected with the housing. A
rigid connection is used to simulate the connection between the outer part and
the housing.
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

Outer part

Inner part

Figure 8: Typical simplified representation of clutch in RomaxDesigner

7: MODELLING THE GEARBOX HOUSING

Figure 9: Illustration of combining gearbox housing FE component and internal

transmission components

The gearbox housing influences the deflection of the mounted bearings and
therefore affects the meshing of the gear trains. In order to accurately predict
the gear transmission error, the influence of the housing must be considered.
However, the gearbox housing has a very complex geometry and cannot be
modelled as a simple component in RomaxDesigner. The inclusion of the
influence of the housing on system deflection is achieved by condensing the
housing finite element model into a reduced stiffness matrix and incorporating
it into the current system model. The reduced stiffness matrix represents the
interaction between the bearings and the housing. In the case study, the finite
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

element gearbox model is created in Visual/Nastran. After the model is

imported into the RomaxDesign model, the bearing nodes and clutch nodes are
connected to the housing FE mesh. The connected housing model is then
exported to Visual/Nastran. After applying the boundary conditions, which
simulate the mountings of the transmission gearbox to the engine and chassis,
the reduced stiffness matrix is extracted in Visual/Nastran and imported into
the RomaxDesigner model to represent the housing (See Figure 9). By
incorporating the housing stiffness matrix, a fully coupled non-linear algorithm
to analyse the shaft/bearing/gear/housing hyperstatic system is created. Since
only the reduced stiffness matrix is needed, the gearbox housing finite element
mesh can be deleted after the stiffness matrix is imported into the system. This
significantly reduces the model size for a complex gearbox.

8: DUTY CYCLE ANALYSIS

When the gearbox model is completed, before running the duty cycle, a
powerflow can be run first to check the various torsional connections between
gears, shafts, bearings, clutches, carriers and housing under different operation
conditions. Once the powerflow is checked, the model can be submitted for
duty cycle analysis. In the case study, the driving input power is 104.7KW and
the input torque is 250NM. Six forward gears driving, 1 reverse gear driving
and 6 forward coasting and 1 reverse coasting gear load cases are analysed in
this duty cycle. The calculating time for the 14 load cases only take about 28
minutes on a Pentium 4 PC with 3GHz CPU and 2G RAM. The bearing
damage, bearing life, shaft stress, shaft fatigue life, gear mesh misalignment,
gear life, gear contact stresses and bending stresses were calculated.

Table 1 shows the bearing life summary for the duty cycle analysis. One
potential bearing failure is identified and the customer has been advised to
consider a different bearing. The bearing contact fatigue life and rolling contact
damage are calculated based on both the ISO standard and the Romax adjusted
life method. In the ISO standard, it is assumed that the bearing is purely radial
loaded, with no clearance, no change in the contact angle and no misalignment.
The RomaxDesigner adjusted life method, however, considers those conditions
and adjusts the bearing life accordingly using a load zone factor.

The accumulated total bearing life damage under a duty cycle for all gear
selections or a specific bearing’s damage under individual load case can be
output (See Figure 10). The gear bending and contact stresses are also
calculated and output as part of a standard duty cycle report (See Figure 11).
The gear meshing misalignment values are important factors in transmission
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

designs. Figure 12 shows one example of the calculated mesh misalignments

for one gear pair under both gears of driving and coasting conditions.

Table 1 Summary of bearing life of calculation

Total accumulated duty cycle damage for A bearing’s duty cycle damage
different bearings under individual load case
Figure 10: Bearing life damage chart
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

Figure 11: Gear bending and contact stresses in all gears

35

30

25
Misalignment (um)

20

15

10

0
1st gear- 1st gear- 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th gear- 4th gear- 5th gear- 5th gear- 6th gear- 6th gear- Reverse Reverse
coast drive gear- gear- gear- gear- coast drive coast drive coast drive gear- gear-
coast drive coast drive coast drive
Operating Gear Conditions

Figure 12: Mesh misalignment of a gear pair under different operating conditions

9: CONCLUSIONS

A new approach for the modelling and analysis of a modern automatic

transmission system with transmission software RomaxDesigner has been
presented. The modelling and analysis of the major components of such a
transmission system like the shafts, gears, bearings, clutches, planetary gear,
planetary carriers and gearbox housing were covered and illustrated by a case
study of a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The housing’s interaction with the
engine and chassis through the transmission mountings are also included. The
 MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF A MODERN AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSION GEARBOX

planetary carriers and gearbox housing are incorporated into the internal
transmission system by means of a reduced stiffness matrix which is extracted
using a commercial finite element package.

This new approach makes the model very compact and significantly reduces
the modelling and analysis time of a complex automatic transmission system.
The model can predict the shaft, gear and bearing life much faster than a
conventional finite element analysis model without compromising the
accuracy. By taking the advantage of modelling the gearbox system as a whole,
the model can predict the gear mesh misalignment accurately, allowing
transmission designers to efficiently modify the gear tooth micro-geometry to
compensate for the effect of misalignment prior to the prototyping.

REFERENCES

1. Design Practices: Passenger Car Automatic Transmissions, third edition,

AE-18, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc., USA, 1994

2. Design Manual for Enclosed Epicyclic Metric Module Gear Drives,

ANSI/AGMA 6123-A88, October 1988

3. HARRIS, J, JAMES, B M AND WOOLLEY, A M, -Predicting the Effects

of Housing Flexibility and Bearing Stiffness on Gear Misalignment and
Transmission Noise using a Fully Coupled Non-Linear Hyperstatic
Analysis, Proceedings, Institution of Mechanical Engineers,
C577/005/2000, May 2000.

4. POON, S, Y, -A New Approach to Transmission Design, Romax Internal

Document, 2004

5. Visual/Nastran 2002 User Manual, MSC Software Corporation, Santa Ana,

USA, 2002

6. ALLAN, R K, -Rolling Bearings, Sir Issac Pitman & Sons, Ltd, London,
1954

7. RomaxDesigner User Manual, Romax Technology Ltd, Nottingham, UK,

2003