Dual mass flywheel hails 30th anniversary with new app 09 January 2015

OE (original equipment) components manufacturer Schaeffler has produced the 100 millionth LuK dual mass flywheel (DMF) at its clutch plant in Bühl, Germany, 30 years after the technology was introduced.

"The development of the DMF is one of the outstanding innovations in our company`s almost 50-year history and has emerged as a ground-breaking product for the automotive industry," says Matthias Zink, president of Schaeffler's Transmission Systems business division.

The DMF was the brainchild of LuK engineer Dr Wolfgang Reik, and the first unit to be used in mass production was introduced by BMW in 1985 on its 525e.

The earliest designs had arc springs not much bigger than a clutch torsion damper, but with the all important split masses – with one half of the flywheel attached to the crankshaft and the other to the gearbox and driveline through the clutch, so reducing resonant frequency.

It wasn't long before damper capacity was increased five-fold by expanding the size of the arc springs and pushing them out to the larger outer diameter of the DMF.

BMW was followed down the DMF route by Mercedes-Benz, with Vauxhall joining the revolution in 1987 and Porsche following in 1988. The Americans followed, with the Chevrolet Corvette taking a DMF in 1989. By 1994 Audi, Toyota, Ford, Jaguar, Daimler, Land Rover and Lancia all had powertrains featuring the DMF.

Fast forward to 2015 and there are now 22 million DMF-equipped vehicles on UK roads, and with modern, lighter engines producing more torque – and at much lower rpm to improve fuel economy – the future for the DMF is bright.

One major development, in 2008, was a significant improvement in vibration damping via the introduction of a centrifugal pendulum-type absorber (replacing the damper), which added a further speed-adaptive component.

This achieves isolation of more than 90%, meaning engines can be operated at lower speeds yet retain their smooth characteristics – allowing transmission ratio to be longer and hence further improving fuel efficiency, including with dual clutch transmissions.

To celebrate the 30th nniversary of the DMF, Schaeffler has introduced the DMF CheckPoint app for technicians, which provides correct operating tolerances and bolt torque settings for each DMF type and application.

Available to download from iTunes for Apple devices and Google Play Store for Android, DMF CheckPoint is aimed at technicians needing to y check whether DMFs needs replacing due to wear.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Schaeffler Automotive Aftermarket (UK) Ltd

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