Abstract: In order to investigate the influence of circlip constraint on the contact stress distributions of multi-disc clutch, a 3D finite element model is developed by Abaqus software. The contact stress distribution is obtained by the 3D finite element model, and the temperature distribution is obtained through numerical simulation. The simulated and experimental results show that the concentrated load of circlip results in the uneven distribution of radial contact stress of friction pairs during the clutch engagement process. The closer the friction surface is to the circlip, the larger the contact stress of outer radius of friction surface is, and the more obvious the difference of the radial contact stress is; when the friction pair is away from the circlip, the contact stress gets closer and closer to the piston pressure, and the difference of radial contact stress tends to be ease. The concentrated load of circlip leads to the increase in the radial temperature difference. The temperature in outer radius rises significantly, while the temperature in inner radius increases slowly. Moreover, the temperature fields of friction components in different axial directions are inconsistent, and the friction component near the circlip is more prone to be buckled. The proposed temperature field model is verified effectively by long time, low speed sliding experiments, which can better reflect the actual temperature rise characteristics of the multi-disc clutch.Key

Key words: multi-discclutch, circlip, contactstress, temperaturefield