MODELING OF THE STEEL PUSHING V-BELT CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION

The steel pushing V-belt continuously variable transmission (CVT) is n ow commercially available in the automobiles of a number of manufactur ers but to date it has not led to a significant reduction in fuel cons umption. To develop its full potential it is necessary to have a good mathematical model of the system. A number of models have been describ ed in recent years but all make use of a Coulomb friction model for th e shear connection between the belt and the pulleys. This paper propos es a friction model based on elastohydrodynamic theory. It is shown th at there is good agreement between measured and calculated slip values for the transmission which justifies use of the model.