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An electrorheological clutch (ER clutch) comprises drive and driven members, generally parallel to each other, that can be selectively engaged by the application of a voltage to an electrorheological (ER) fluid. The ER fluid is used as the coupling between the input and the output (drive and driven members). The clutch acts as a power amplifier and the effect is fast (of the order of milliseconds) and reversible.
A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. The clutch acts as a mechanical linkage between the engine and transmission; and briefly disconnects, or separates the engine from the drivetrain, and therefore the drive wheels, whenever the pedal is depressed, allowing the driver to smoothly change gears.
An automatic transmission is a multi-speed transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any driver input to change gears under normal driving conditions. It typically includes a transmission, axle, and differential in one integrated assembly, thus technically becoming a transaxle.
Four-wheel drive, also called 4x4 or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges.
A torque converter is a type of fluid coupling which transfers rotating power from a prime mover, like an internal combustion engine, to a rotating driven load. In a vehicle with an automatic transmission, the torque converter connects the power source to the load. It is usually located between the engine's flexplate and the transmission. The equivalent location in a manual transmission would be the mechanical clutch.
A transmission is a machine in a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of power. Often the term 5-speed transmission refers simply to the gearbox, that uses gears and gear trains to provide speed and torque conversions from a rotating power source to another device.
In mechanical or automotive engineering, a freewheel or overrunning clutch is a device in a transmission that disengages the driveshaft from the driven shaft when the driven shaft rotates faster than the driveshaft. An overdrive is sometimes mistakenly called a freewheel, but is otherwise unrelated.
A fan clutch is a thermostatic engine cooling fan that can freewheel at low temperatures when cooling is not needed, allowing the engine to warm up faster, relieving unnecessary load on the engine. As temperatures increase, the clutch engages so that the fan is driven by engine power and moves air to cool the engine.
A limited-slip differential (LSD) is a type of differential that allows its two output shafts to rotate at different speeds but limits the maximum difference between the two shafts.
A smart fluid is a fluid whose properties can be changed by applying an electric field or a magnetic field.
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft, propeller shaft, or Cardan shaft is a vehicle component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect other components of a drivetrain that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them.
Electrorheological (ER) fluids are suspensions of extremely fine non-conducting but electrically active particles in an electrically insulating fluid. The apparent viscosity of these fluids changes reversibly by an order of up to 100,000 in response to an electric field. For example, a typical ER fluid can go from the consistency of a liquid to that of a gel, and back, with response times on the order of milliseconds. The effect is sometimes called the Winslow effect after its discoverer, the American inventor Willis Winslow, who obtained a US patent on the effect in 1947 and wrote an article published in 1949.
Rheometry generically refers to the experimental techniques used to determine the rheological properties of materials, that is the qualitative and quantitative relationships between stresses and strains and their derivatives. The techniques used are experimental. Rheometry investigates materials in relatively simple flows like steady shear flow, small amplitude oscillatory shear, and extensional flow.
Motor drive, or simply known as drive, describes equipment used to control the speed of machinery. Many industrial processes such as assembly lines must operate at different speeds for different products. Where process conditions demand adjustment of flow from a pump or fan, varying the speed of the drive may save energy compared with other techniques for flow control.
A fluid coupling or hydraulic coupling is a hydrodynamic or 'hydrokinetic' device used to transmit rotating mechanical power. It has been used in automobile transmissions as an alternative to a mechanical clutch. It also has widespread application in marine and industrial machine drives, where variable speed operation and controlled start-up without shock loading of the power transmission system is essential.
ATTESA is a four-wheel drive system used in some automobiles produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan, including some models under its luxury marque Infiniti.
Fluid Drive is the trademarked name that Chrysler Corporation assigned to a transmission driveline combination which replaced the flywheel with a hydraulic coupling and performed the same function as a modern torque converter, only without torque multiplication. A conventional clutch and three- or four-speed manual transmission was installed behind the fluid coupling. Fluid drive was used in many military vehicles produced for the US Armed Forces during the Second World War. It was offered for civilian use from 1939 through 1953 in Chryslers, 1940 through 1953 in DeSotos, and from 1941 through 1954 in Dodge models; a semi-automatic system was optional from Chrysler and Desoto from 1941, and for Dodge from 1949.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to automobiles:
An ERF damper or electrorheological fluid damper, is a type of quick-response active non-linear damper used in high-sensitivity vibration control.
The Plasmakristall-3 Plus laboratory was a joint Russian-German laboratory for the investigation of dusty/complex plasmas on board the International Space Station (ISS), with the principal investigators at the German Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and the Russian Institute for High Energy Densities. It was the successor to the PKE Nefedov experiment with improvements in hardware, diagnostics and software. The laboratory was launched in December 2005 and was operated for the first time in January 2006. It was used in 21 missions until it was deorbited in 2013. It is succeeded by the PK-4 Laboratory.
Mopar branded automatic transmission fluids (ATF) have been available for use in Chrysler fully automatic transmissions since 1953. Other Mopar branded fluids for their Fluid Drive semi-automatic transmissions were available as early as 1938. Chrysler used General Motors (GM) automatic transmission fluid specifications from 1952 through 1966 and marketed them under the Mopar brand name. In 1966, Chrysler began releasing their own automatic transmission fluid specifications. Chrysler licenses their ATF specifications to companies which manufacture the fluid and sell it under their own brand names. Not all Chrysler fluids are licensed for reselling under another brand name. All licensed Chrysler fluids must have a license number on the container. If no license number is found, the fluid may not be Chrysler approved and the fluid cannot be guaranteed to meet Chrysler specifications.
