03-CLUTCHES

Introduction
A clutch is a machine member used to connect a driving shaft to a driven shaft so that the
driven shaft may be started or stopped at will, without stopping the driving shaft. The use of a
clutch is mostly found in automobiles. A little consideration will show that in order to change gears
or to stop the vehicle, it is required that the driven shaft should stop, but the engine should continue
to run. It is, therefore, necessary that the driven shaft should be disengaged from the driving shaft.
The engagement and disengagement of the shafts is obtained by means of a clutch which is
operated by a lever.
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, the students should be able to:
1. Determine the function of clutches.
2. Explain the considerations in designing different types of clutches.
3. Solve design problems on clutches.
Types of Clutches
Following are the two main types of clutches commonly used in engineering practice:
1. Positive clutches, and
2. Friction clutches
Positive Clutches. The positive clutches are used when a positive drive is required. The
simplest type of a positive clutch is a jaw or claw clutch. The jaw clutch permits one shaft to drive
another through a direct contact of interlocking jaws. It consists of two halves, one of which is
permanently fastened to the driving shaft by a sunk key. The other half of the clutch is movable
and it is free to slide axially on the driven shaft, but it is prevented from turning relatively to its
shaft by means of feather key. The jaws of the clutch may be of square type as shown in Figure 1
(a) or of spiral type as shown in Figure 1 (b).
A square jaw type is used where engagement and disengagement in motion and under load
is not necessary. This type of clutch will transmit power in either direction of rotation. The spiral
jaws may be left-hand or right-hand, because power transmitted by them is in one direction only.
This type of clutch is occasionally used where the clutch must be engaged and disengaged while
in motion. The use of jaw clutches is frequently applied to sprocket wheels, gears and pulleys. In
such a case, the non-sliding part is made integral with the hub.
 Figure 1. Jaw clutches.

Friction Clutches. A friction clutch has its principal application in the transmission of
power of shafts and machines which must be started and stopped frequently. Its application is also
found in cases in which power is to be delivered to machines partially or fully loaded. The force
of friction is used to start the driven shaft from rest and gradually brings it up to the proper speed
without excessive slipping of the friction surfaces. In automobiles, friction clutch is used to
connect the engine to the drive shaft. In operating such a clutch, care should be taken so that the
friction surfaces engage easily and gradually bring the driven shaft up to proper speed. The proper
alignment of the bearing must be maintained and it should be located as close to the clutch as
possible. It may be noted that:
1. The contact surfaces should develop a frictional force that may pick up and hold the
load with reasonably low pressure between the contact surfaces.
2. The heat of friction should be rapidly dissipated and tendency to grab should be at a
minimum.
Note: During operation of a clutch, most of the work done against frictional forces opposing the
motion is liberated as heat at the interface. It has been found that at the actual point of contact, the
temperature as high as 1000°C is reached for a very short duration (i.e. for 0.0001 second). Due to this,
the temperature of the contact surfaces will increase and may destroy the clutch.

3. The surfaces should be backed by a material stiff enough to ensure a reasonably uniform
distribution of pressure.
Material for Friction Surfaces. The material used for lining of friction surfaces of a clutch
should have the following characteristics:
1. It should have a high and uniform coefficient of friction.
2. It should not be affected by moisture and oil.
3. It should have the ability to withstand high temperatures caused by slippage.
4. It should have high heat conductivity.
5. It should have high resistance to wear and scoring.
The materials commonly used for lining of friction surfaces and their important properties
are shown in the following table.
 Considerations in Designing a Friction Clutch. The following considerations must be
kept in mind while designing a friction clutch.
1. The suitable material forming the contact surfaces should be selected.
2. The moving parts of the clutch should have low weight in order to minimize the inertia
load, especially in high-speed service.
3. The clutch should not require any external force to maintain contact of the friction
surfaces.
4. The provision for taking up wear of the contact surfaces must be provided.
5. The clutch should have provision for facilitating repairs.
6. The clutch should have provision for carrying away the heat generated at the contact
surfaces.
7. The projecting parts of the clutch should be covered by guard.
Types of Friction Clutches. Though there are many types of friction clutches, yet the
following are important from the subject point of view:
1. Disc or plate clutches (single disc or multiple disc clutch),
2. Cone clutches, and
3. Centrifugal clutches.
Note: The disc and cone clutches are known as axial friction clutches, while the centrifugal
clutch is called radial friction clutch.
 Single Disc or Plate Clutch

Figure 2. Single disc or plate clutch.

A single disc or plate clutch, as shown in Figure 2, consists of a clutch plate whose both
sides are faced with a frictional material (usually of Ferrodo). It is mounted on the hub which is
free to move axially along the splines of the driven shaft. The pressure plate is mounted inside the
clutch body which is bolted to the flywheel. Both the pressure plate and the flywheel rotate with
the engine crankshaft or the driving shaft. The pressure plate pushes the clutch plate towards the
flywheel by a set of strong springs which are arranged radially inside the body. The three levers
(also known as release levers or fingers) are carried on pivots suspended from the case of the body.
These are arranged in such a manner so that the pressure plate moves away from the flywheel by
the inward movement of a thrust bearing. The bearing is mounted upon a forked shaft and moves
forward when the clutch pedal is pressed.
When the clutch pedal is pressed down, its linkage forces the thrust release bearing to move
in towards the flywheel and pressing the longer ends of the levers inward. The levers are forced to
turn on their suspended pivot and the pressure plate moves away from the flywheel by the knife
edges, thereby compressing the clutch springs. This action removes the pressure from the clutch
plate and thus moves back from the flywheel and the driven shaft becomes stationary. On the other
hand, when the foot is taken off from the clutch pedal, the thrust bearing moves back by the levers.
This allows the springs to extend and thus the pressure plate pushes the clutch plate back towards
the flywheel.
The axial pressure exerted by the spring provides a frictional force in the circumferential
direction when the relative motion between the driving and driven members tends to take place. If
the torque due to this frictional force exceeds the torque to be transmitted, then no slipping takes
place and the power is transmitted from the driving shaft to the driven shaft.
Design of a Disc or Plate Clutch. Consider two friction surfaces maintained in contact by
an axial thrust (W) as shown in Figure 3 (a).

Figure 3. Forces on a disc clutch.

We shall now consider the following two cases:

1. When there is a uniform pressure, and
2. When there is a uniform axial wear.
1. Considering uniform pressure. When the pressure is uniformly distributed over the entire
area of the friction face as shown in Figure 3 (a), then the intensity of pressure,
 2. Considering uniform axial wear. The basic principle in designing machine parts that are
subjected to wear due to sliding friction is that the normal wear is proportional to the work of
friction. The work of friction is proportional to the product of normal pressure (p) and the sliding
velocity (V). Therefore,
Normal wear ∝ Work of friction ∝ p.V or p.V = K (a constant) or p = K/V

It may be noted that when the friction surface is new, there is a uniform pressure
distribution over the entire contact surface. This pressure will wear most rapidly where the sliding
velocity is maximum and this will reduce the pressure between the friction surfaces. This wearing-
in process continues until the product p.V is constant over the entire surface. After this, the wear
will be uniform as shown in Figure 4.
 Figure 4. Uniform axial wear

Let p be the normal intensity of pressure at a distance r from the axis of the clutch. Since
the intensity of pressure varies inversely with the distance, therefore
p.r = C (a constant) or p = C/r
and the normal force on the ring,
 Multiple Disc Clutch. A multiple disc clutch, as shown in Figure 5, may be used when a
large torque is to be transmitted. The inside discs (usually of steel) are fastened to the driven shaft
to permit axial motion (except for the last disc). The outside discs (usually of bronze) are held by
bolts and are fastened to the housing which is keyed to the driving shaft. The multiple disc clutches
are extensively used in motor cars, machine tools etc.
 Figure 5. Multiple disc clutch.

Example 1.0
Determine the maximum, minimum and average pressure in a plate clutch when the axial
force is 4 kN. The inside radius of the contact surface is 50 mm and the outside radius is 100 mm.
Assume uniform wear.
Example 2.0
A plate clutch having a single driving plate with contact surfaces on each side is
required to transmit 110 kW at 1250 r.p.m. The outer diameter of the contact surfaces is to
be 300 mm. The coefficient of friction is 0.4. (a) Assuming a uniform pressure of 0.17
N/mm2; determine the inner diameter of the friction surfaces. (b) Assuming the same
dimensions and the same total axial thrust, determine the maximum torque that can be
transmitted and the maximum intensity of pressure when uniform wear conditions have
been reached.
Example 3.0
A single plate clutch, effective on both sides, is required to transmit 25 kW at 3000 r.p.m.
Determine the outer and inner diameters of frictional surface if the coefficient of friction is 0.255,
ratio of diameters is 1.25 and the maximum pressure is not to exceed 0.1 N/mm2. Also, determine
the axial thrust to be provided by springs. Assume the theory of uniform wear.
 Cone Clutch A cone clutch, as shown in Figure 6, was extensively used in automobiles,
but now-a-days it has been replaced completely by the disc clutch. It consists of one pair of friction
surface only. In a cone clutch, the driver is keyed to the driving shaft by a sunk key and has an
inside conical surface or face which exactly fits into the outside conical surface of the driven. The
driven member resting on the feather key in the driven shaft, may be shifted along the shaft by a
forked lever provided at B, in order to engage the clutch by bringing the two conical surfaces in
contact. Due to the frictional resistance set up at this contact surface, the torque is transmitted from
one shaft to another. In some cases, a spring is placed around the driven shaft in contact with the
hub of the driven. This spring holds the clutch faces in contact and maintains the pressure between
them, and the forked lever is used only for disengagement of the clutch. The contact surfaces of
the clutch may be metal to metal contact, but more often the driven member is lined with some
material like wood, leather, cork or asbestos etc. The material of the clutch faces (i.e. contact
surfaces) depends upon the allowable normal pressure and the coefficient of friction.

Figure 6. Cone Clutch.

Design of a Cone Clutch. Consider a pair of friction surfaces of a cone clutch as shown in
Figure 7. A little consideration will show that the area of contact of a pair of friction surface is a
frustrum of a cone.
 Consider a small ring of radius r and thickness dr as shown in Figure 7. Let dl is
the length of ring of the friction surface, such that, dl = dr cosec α
∴ Area of ring = 2π r. dl = 2π r.dr cosec α
We shall now consider the following two cases:
1. When there is a uniform pressure, and
2. When there is a uniform wear.
Example 4.0
The contact surfaces in a cone clutch have an effective diameter of 80 mm. The semi-angle
of the cone is 15° and coefficient of friction is 0.3. Find the torque required to produce slipping of
the clutch, if the axial force applied is 200 N. The clutch is employed to connect an electric motor,
running uniformly at 900 r.p.m. with a flywheel which is initially stationary. The flywheel has a
mass of 14 kg and its radius of gyration is 160 mm. Calculate the time required for the flywheel to
attain full-speed and also the energy lost in slipping of the clutch.
Example 5.0
An engine developing 45 kW at 1000 r.p.m. is fitted with a cone clutch built inside the
flywheel. The cone has a face angle of 12.5° and a maximum mean diameter of 500 mm. The
coefficient of friction is 0.2. The normal pressure on the clutch face is not to exceed 0.1 N/mm2.
Determine: 1. the face width required, and 2. the axial spring force necessary to engage the clutch.
 Centrifugal Clutch. The centrifugal clutches are usually incorporated into the motor
pulleys. It consists of a number of shoes on the inside of a rim of the pulley, as shown in Figure 9.
The outer surface of the shoes is covered with a friction material. These shoes, which can move
radially in guides, are held against the boss (or spider) on the driving shaft by means of springs.
The springs exert a radially inward force which is assumed constant. The weight of the shoe, when
revolving causes it to exert a radially outward force (i.e. centrifugal force). The magnitude of this
centrifugal force depends upon the speed at which the shoe is revolving. A little consideration will
show that when the centrifugal force is less than the spring force, the shoe remains in the same
position as when the driving shaft was stationary, but when the centrifugal force is equal to the
spring force, the shoe is just floating. When the centrifugal force exceeds the spring force, the shoe
moves outward and comes into contact with the driven member and presses against it. The force
with which the shoe presses against the driven member is the difference of the centrifugal force
and the spring force. The increase of speed causes the shoe to press harder and enables more torque
to be transmitted.
 Figure 9. Centrifugal Clutch

Design of a Centrifugal Clutch. In designing a centrifugal clutch, it is required to

determine the weight of the shoe, size of the shoe and dimensions of the spring. The following
procedure may be adopted for the design of a centrifugal clutch.

Figure 10. Forces on a shoe of a centrifugal clutch.

Example 6.0
A centrifugal clutch is to be designed to transmit 15 kW at 900 r.p.m. The shoes are four
in number. The speed at which the engagement begins is 3/4th of the running speed. The inside
radius of the pulley rim is 150 mm. The shoes are lined with Ferrodo for which the coefficient of
friction may be taken as 0.25. Determine: 1. mass of the shoes, and 2. size of the shoes.
References
1. A Textbook of Machine Design by R.S. Khurmi & J.K. Gupta, 2005
2. Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design (McGraw-Hill Series in Mechanical
Engineering) 10th Edition by Richard Budynas, Keith Nisbett, 2015.
3. Machine Design 5th Edition by Robert Norton, 2018.