Power Transmission Characteristics of a Hydro-Mechanical Transmission

Abstract

In this paper, power flow characteristics of a hydromechanical transmission(HMT) are investigated using network analysis. The HMT used in this study consist of a hydrostatic unit(HSU), planetary gear sets, clutches and brakes providing forward 4 speeds and backward 2 speeds. Since the HMT power flows showing a closed loop and the HSU efficiency varies depending on the pressure and speed, a systematic approach is required to analyze the power transmission characteristics of the HMT. In order to analyze the closed loop power flow and the HSU power loss which changes depending on the pressure and speed, network model is constructed fur each speed range. In addition, an algorithm is proposed to calculate an accurate HSU loss corresponding to the experimental results. It is found from the network analysis that the torque and speed of each transmission element including the HSU can be obtained as well as direction of the power flow by the proposed algorithm. It is expected that the network analysis can be used in the design of relatively complicated transmission system such as HMT.