DON'T SUBSCRIBE | Clutch, How does it work?

Have you, ever wondered what is happening inside a car, when you press the clutch pedal

Or, why, do you need, to press the clutch pedal before you shift gears in a manual transmission car

This, video gives you, logical answers to these questions

At the end of the video we will, also understand the crucial role played, by the clutch in an uphill start

To, understand the need for a Clutch let's first understand the anatomy of an internal combustion engine car

Internal combustion engines have a very limited torque band

and

Due to this reason in order to efficiently vary the speed of the drive wheels

internal combustion engine cars need a transmission system

The use of this transmission makes sure that the engine is working within its optimum rpm range and by changing gear

According to the driving conditions the transmission helps to control the drive wheel speeds

In a manual transmission car making these gear changes is not an easy task to have a smooth gear change with a

Manual transmission the engine power flow to the transmission has to be discontinued

However it is not practical to turn off the engine just for this gear change

The clutch is used for this purpose

in short the clutch is a mechanism to disconnect the flow of power to the transmission without turning the engine off

Let's understand how it works

The main part of the clutch consists of a disc coated with high friction material on both sides a

simplified clutch disc is shown here this disc sits on the flywheel if

An external force presses against the clutch disc the clutch disc also will turn with the flywheel due to the frictional force

The input shaft of the transmission is connected to the disc

So that when an external force is applied to the disc the engine power will get transmitted to the transmission system

This external force is provided by a Pressure plate spring system

Cover of this system is attached firmly to the flywheel

So the pressure plate will firmly press onto the friction clutch disc and the engine power will be transmitted to the transmission system

But this is the case in normal driving so how is the power disengagement done with the clutch

For the disengagement purpose a special kind of spring is introduced in the pressure plate

Assembly, this spring is known as a diaphragm spring

To understand this diaphragm spring better, assume that the diaphragm spring motion is fixed around

This circle in this case if you press the center portion of the spring as shown

the outer portion should move in the opposite direction

The diaphragm spring sits between the pressure plate and the cover

To understand this configuration better let's take a cross-section of the assembly

the outer portion of the diaphragm spring is connected to the pressure disc

This means if you press the inner portion as shown the pressure disc will move away from the friction disk

thus the power flow will discontinue to the transmission

This is exactly what happens when you press the clutch pedal

A hydraulic system transfers the clutch motion to the center of the diaphragm spring

When the diaphragm spring is pressed the power flow is discontinued?