INTRODUCTION

Retarder
A retarder is a device used to augment or replace some of the functions of primary friction-
based braking systems, usually on heavy vehicles.

Retarders serve to slow vehicles, or maintain a steady speed while traveling down a hill, and help
prevent the vehicle from "running away" by accelerating down the hill. They are not usually
capable of bringing vehicles to a standstill, as their effectiveness diminishes as vehicle speed
lowers. They are usually used as an additional "assistance" to slow vehicles, with the final
braking done by a conventional friction braking system. As the friction brake will be used less,
particularly at higher speeds, their service life is increased, and since in those vehicles the brakes
are air-actuated helps to conserve air pressure too.

Friction-based braking systems are susceptible to "brake fade" when used extensively for
continuous periods, which can be dangerous if braking performance drops below what is
required to stop the vehicle – for instance if a truck or bus is descending a long decline. For this
reason, such heavy vehicles are frequently fitted with a supplementary system that is not friction-
based.
Retarders are not restricted to road motor vehicles, but may also be used in railway systems.
The British prototype Advanced Passenger Train (APT) used hydraulic retarders to allow the
high-speed train to stop in the same distance as standard lower speed trains, as a pure friction-
based system was not viable.
Reducing the thermal stress of the working brake mechanisms in order to improve traffic safety
on long or steep descents and at high speeds can be achieved with the help of a brake- retarder.
The retarder serves to slow down and maintain the necessary speed of the car by absorbing part
of its kinetic energy.
When braking with a decelerator, the wheels are less likely to lock, which reduces the possibility
of lateral sliding, thereby increasing the lateral stability of the car on slippery roads. In addition
to improving the safety of the brake, the retarder helps to reduce the wear of friction pairs of
wheel, brakes, and the use of transmission brakes leads to an increase in the durability of engine
parts.
Electromagnetic and hydrodynamic brakes are the most effective at present. The main
disadvantages of electrodynamic brakes are large weight and size, high cost, loss of efficiency
when heated.
Hydrodynamic brakes are devoid of the disadvantages of electromagnetic brakes and have a
number of advantages, which has led to their widespread use in vehicles. However, there is low
efficiency in reducing the angular velocity of the rotor.
Since the value of the brake torque of hydrodynamic retarder depends mainly on its geometric
parameters (the active diameter of the cavity shape, the diameter of flow area, the type of blade
system) and the frequency of rotation of the rotor, then the solution of the problem should be
sought in the selection of these parameters.

Mechanical Retarder
Engine brake
Diesel engines regulate power output purely by the volume and timing of fuel injected into
the combustion chambers. The engine braking generated by creating partial vacuum with a
closed throttle at each intake stroke in petrol/gasoline engines does not apply to vehicles
equipped with diesel engines, as such engines are quite "free-running". However Clessie L.
Cummins, founder of Cummins Engine Company, realized that by opening the cylinder exhaust
valves when the piston reached top dead centre, rather than at the end of the power stroke, the
accumulated compressed air in the cylinder could be vented before it could act as a "spring" to
drive the piston back down again. By doing this, the engine acts as an air compressor, with the
energy coming from the transmission used to compress the air, hence slowing the vehicle. The
amount of power extracted from the transmission can be up to 90% of the rated power of the
engine for certain engines.
In a compression release engine braking system for a turbocharged internal combustion engine,
excessive stress associated with opening the exhaust valves of the engine near top dead center of
engine compression strokes when the engine is turning at high speed is prevented by reducing
the intake manifold pressure from what it otherwise would be at that high speed. This is done by
retarding the turbocharger so that its speed is less than it otherwise would be at high engine
speed.

This type of retarder is known as compression release engine brake or "Jake brake". A
disadvantage of this system is that it becomes very noisy in operation, particularly if the exhaust
muffler is faulty; its use is, therefore, banned in some locales.
Exhaust brake
Exhaust brakes are simpler in operation than an engine brake. Essentially, the exhaust
pipe of the vehicle is restricted by a valve. This raises the pressure in the exhaust system, forcing
the engine to work harder on the exhaust stroke of its cylinders, so again the engine is acting as
an air compressor, with the power required to compress the air being withheld from the exhaust
pipe, retarding the vehicle. Turbocharger retarders that restrict the flow of exhaust gas can also
help in increasing the exhaust pressure to achieve the same objective.

An exhaust brake is a valve which essentially creates a back-pressure in the exhaust

system, which applies enough force onto the engine's pistons to slow the engine. In most cases,
an exhaust brake is so effective that it can slow a heavily-loaded vehicle on a downgrade without
ever applying the vehicle’s service brakes. Under these conditions, the exhaust flow from the
cylinders is bottlenecked and rapidly builds pressure in the exhaust system upstream from the
exhaust brake. Depending on engine speed, this pressure can easily reach up to 60 PSI maximum
working pressure. Maximum working pressure is limited as part of the design of an exhaust
brake. In this example, that same 60 PSI also remains in the cylinder for the entire exhaust stroke
(exhaust valve open) and exerts 60 PSI on the piston top to resist its upward movement. This
produces a negative torque, slowing the engine for a braking effect. Thus, simply restricting the
exhaust flow can generate substantial braking.
An exhaust brake is a device that essentially creates a major restriction in the exhaust system,
and creates substantial exhaust back pressure to retard engine speed and offer some supplemental
braking. In most cases, an exhaust brake is so effective that it can slow a heavily loaded vehicle
on a downgrade without ever applying the vehicle's service brakes. Exhaust brakes are
manufactured by many companies. The brakes vary in design, but essentially operate as
described above. More advanced exhaust brakes have exhaust pressure modulation (EPM) that
controls the back pressure which in turn improves the braking performance across a range of
engine speeds.

Hydraulic retarder
Hydraulic retarders use the viscous drag forces between dynamic and static vanes in a fluid-filled
chamber to achieve retardation. There are several different types which can use standard
transmission fluid (gear oil), a separate oil supply, water, or a mix of oil and magnetic
retardation.Magnetic retarders are similar to the electric retarder discussed below.

A simple retarder uses vanes attached to a transmission driveshaft between the clutch and road

wheels. They can also be driven separately via gears off a driveshaft. The vanes are enclosed in a
static chamber with small clearances to the chamber's walls (which will also be vaned), as in an
automatic transmission. When retardation is required, fluid (oil or water) is pumped into the
chamber, and the viscous drag induced will slow the vehicle. The working fluid will heat, and is
usually circulated through a cooling system. The degree of retardation can be varied by adjusting
the fill level of the chamber.

Hydraulic retarders are extremely quiet, often inaudible over the sound of a running engine, and
are especially quiet in operation compared to engine brakes.

Main parts of hydraulic retarders

Structurally, the hydrodynamic retarder brake is a hydraulic clutch, one of the wheels of which is
connected to the rotating element of the transmission, and the second is connectedto the fixed
body. When the rotor rotates on the shaft, a braking torque is created due to the hydrodynamic
resistance to the rotation of the rotor blades.

The installation location of the rotating fluid coupling element depends on the type of
transmission. For mechanical transmissions, the installation of the rotor fluid coupling is carried
out: on the shaft of the internal combustion engine; on the shaft of the gearbox; on the main
transmission shaft; on the intermediate shaft of the cardan transmission. For hydro- mechanical
transmission, the rotor is most often installed: on the turbine shaft of the torque Converter; on the
primary shaft of the hydro-mechanical transmission (GMT); on the output shaft of the GMT; on
the intermediate shaft of the GMT.

Depending on the shape of the working space hydraulic brakes-retarders can be open or closed
rotor blades, with a symmetrical or asymmetric working cavity, and can also be made in the form
of single or double fluid coupling.

In turn, the wheels of the brake-retarder can have straight, curved, as well as straight or curved
inclined blades.

Adjustment of the braking torque can be carried out by changing the level of the working fluid
in the cavity, by turning the blades of the fixed wheel, as well as by means of special damper-
type dampers, partially covering the working cavity of the hydraulic retarder.

As the prototype was considered a wheeled chassis 8к8 with CMT. In order to reduce the load of
frictions and gears of the gearbox, to exclude the operation of the engine in brake mode, the
retarder is installed on the output shaft of the GMT. However, in this case, the retarder should be
more efficient than the one installed inside the gearbox. In this regard, to obtain the desired
efficiency, the retarder should have a greater energy intensity. The purpose of the work is to
select the parameters that provide a high level of power consumption of the hydraulic brake-
retarder.

According to the results of the analysis of literature sources [2-3], it was found that the
mechanism in the form of a double fluid coupling has the greatest efficiency. Therefore, as an
initial version of the hydrodynamic brake-retarder mechanism was adopted in the form of a dual
fluid coupling.

Figure below shows a three-dimensional model of the hydrodynamic retarder brake, made in
CAD program Solid Edge ST9.

Increasing the energy consumption of the brake-retarder is possible by changing its design
parameters and increasing the speed. In this paper, we investigate the dependence of the energy
intensity of the hydrodynamic brake-retarder on the type of its blade system, with constant other
design parameters. The study was conducted using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) of
software product Flow Vision [4].

CFD is a computational method to simulate the dynamics and flows of liquids and gases. In
addition, this method can be used to calculate heat and mass transfer, phase changes, chemical
reactions, mechanical motion, stress and deformation of solid materials.

The arguments in favor of the calculation using the QFD methodology are:

• advanced analysis tools- for a large number of projects it is difficult and expensive to create an
appropriate experimental model; in addition, CFD analysis allows to obtain data, which
measurement in a physical experiment is impossible;

• the possibility of multivariate analysis - allows you to test a large number of project variants in
a short time;

• increase productivity, design quality and reduce costs - CFD is a tool that ultimately contributes
to the rapid appearance of the product on the market. Three types of open blade systems were
selected for comparative analysis:

• straight radial blades (basic version); • circular blades; • inclined blades (450).
Operating Principles Hydraulic retarder
Hydraulic retarder is composed of stator; rotor, enclosure and controlled valve. Stator is
connected and synchronously spinning with the output shaft of transmission through splines.
Stator, rotor and enclosure have integral blades so that the rotor could spin in the stationary stator
and enclosure. After the enclosure is filled with hydraulic oil, the retarder starts to work and the
compressed hydraulic oil blocks and reduces the speed of rotor, output shaft and automobile. The
hydraulic oil of the retarder camber is firstly filled with an external oil tank. When the retarder is
out of operation, the hydraulic oil is discharged into the oil tank from the retarder.

Electric retarder
Electric retarders use electromagnetic induction to provide a retardation force. An electric
retardation unit can be placed on an axle, transmission, or driveline and consists of a rotor
attached to the axle, transmission, or driveline—and a stator securely attached to the
vehicle chassis. There are no contact surfaces between the rotor and stator, and no working fluid.
When retardation is required, the electrical windings in the stator receive power from the vehicle
battery, producing a magnetic field through which the rotor moves. This induces eddy currents in
the rotor, which produces an opposing magnetic field to the stator. The opposing magnetic fields
slows the rotor, and hence the axle, transmission or driveshaft to which it is attached. The rotor
incorporates internal vanes (like a ventilated brake disk) to provide its own air cooling, so no
load is placed on the vehicle's engine cooling system. The operation of the system is extremely
quiet.A hybrid vehicle drivetrain uses electrical retardation to assist the mechanical brakes, while
recycling the energy. The electric traction motor acts as a generator to charge the battery. The
power stored in the battery is available to help the vehicle accelerate.
Regenerative braking and eddy current braking are separate types of electric braking.
Regenerative braking might not be classified as a retarder as it uses no extra physical hardware in
addition to the existing rotor/stator pair of the motor. It effectuates braking by using the electric
field created by the rotational inertia in the rotor/stator that is delivered into the rotor by the
momentum of the vehicle(wheels). Additional circuitry in the controller is used to manage this
current flow from the stator windings into the battery, some of which dissipates as heat within
the circuitry of the controller.

In contrast, eddy current retarder brakes comprise a distinct and purpose-built static armature and
rotor that are explicitly made and added to a vehicle for braking and dissipation of heat and not
for motive power; it is a purpose-built system distinct from the motor.Finally, "dynamic"braking
is the complex use of controller braking where the controller can be used either for regenerative
braking or by switching the circuit to feed the current to resistors. In this latter way "rheostatic"
braking can be achieved. Whereas an eddy brake relies on eddy currents to create magnetic
resistance some of which is incidentally dissipated as heat, rheostatic braking relies on controller
circuitry resistors which directly dissipate current-borne electric energy as heat. Some dynamic
braking vehicles describe the rheostatic braking as "plug" braking. In particular, forklift dynamic
braking has been developed to take advantage of combining this type of braking with controllers
specialized to quickly reverse vehicle direction.

Dynamic and regenerative braking, when used on electric or diesel-electric railroad locomotives,

means that the electric motors which usually are used to drive the road wheels are instead used
as generators being driven by the wheels on a downslope. In regenerative braking, the electric
current created is typically fed back into the power supply (i.e. overhead catenary, third rail), and
can be used by other locomotives or stored for later use. In this way a locomotive will receive
current while on level ground or traveling uphill, but acts as a current supply when braking,
transforming the kinetic energy created from traveling downhill (or less often, converting
forward momentum from travel on level ground) into electricity. In a diesel-electric, rather than
being generated remotely and collected from a power source, the power supply is generated
directly by the onboard prime mover (engine) and transmitted to the motors; there is presently
rarely any way of storing electricity up for later use, so instead, the motors are used as
generators, retarding the wheel rotation, and the generated power is routed through resistors
mounted on the roof of the locomotive, where it is transformed into heat energy (much like
an electric heating element) and dissipated into the atmosphere with large fans. While this has
the drawback of not re-utilizing the energy created while traveling downhill, it does create a
powerful and safe retarding system that is not prone to brake fade or wearing out like mechanical
brakes.

The main features of Electric Retarder

 Electric retarders use electromagnetic induction to provide a retardation force.

 An electric retardation unit can be placed on axle, transmission, or driveline and consists
of a rotor attached to the axle, transmission, or driveline and a stator securely attached to
the vehicle chassis.
 There are no contact surface between the rotor and stator, and no working fluid.
 When retardation is required, the electrical windings in the stator receive power from the
vehicle battery, producing a magnetic field through which the rotor moves.
 This induces eddy currents in the rotor, which produces an opposing magnetic field to the
stator.
 The opposing magnetic fields slow the rotor, and hence the axle, transmission or
driveshaft to which it is attached.
 The rotor incorporates internal vanes (like a ventilated brake disk) to provide its own air
cooling so no load is placed on the vehicle’s engine cooling system.
 The operation of the system is extremely quiet.

Air Retarder
An air retarder or barrier is a material or structural element that inhibits air flow into and out of
a building's envelope or shell. This is a continuous sheet composed of polyethylene,
polypropylene, or extruded polystyrene. The sheet is wrapped around the outside of a house
during construction to reduce air infiltration and exfiltration, yet allow water to easily diffuse
through it.
An air retarder or barrier is a material or structural element that inhibits air flow into and out of a
building's envelope or shell. This is a continuous sheet composed of polyethylene,
polypropylene, or extruded polystyrene.