REPUBLIC OF YEMEN

UNIVERSITY OF ADEN
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Prepared by:
Shadi Gamal Ali Abdul Galeel 91002 B4M
Wael Hassein Abdul Gabar
B4M

9698

Automatic transmission (also called automatic

gearbox)
Is a type of motor vehicle transmission that can
automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle
moves, freeing the driver from having to shift
gears manually.

Most

automatic

transmissions

have a defined set of gear ranges, often with

aparking pawl feature that locks the output shaft
of the transmission stroke face to keep the vehicle
.from rolling either forward or backward
Similar but larger devices are also used for heavyduty

commercial

and

industrial

vehicles

and

equipment. Some machines with limited speed

ranges

or

fixed

engine

speeds,

such

as

some forklifts and lawn mowers, only use a torque

converter to provide a variable gearing of the
.engine to the wheels
Besides automatics, there are also other types of
automated transmissions such as a continuously
variable

transmission (CVT)

and semi-automatic

transmissions, that free the driver from having to

shift gears manually, by using the transmission's

computer to change gear, if for example the driver

were redlining the
similarity

engine.

Despite

superficial
automatic

to

other

transmissions,

transmissions

differ

significantly

in

internal

operation and driver's feel from semi-automatics

and CVTs. An automatic uses a torque converter
instead of a clutch to manage the connection
between the transmission gearing and the engine.
In contrast, a CVT uses a belt or other torque
transmission scheme to allow an "infinite" number
of gear ratios instead of a fixed number of gear
ratios. A semi-automatic retains a clutch like a
manual transmission, but controls the clutch
.through electrohydraulic means
:Automatic transmissions components
There

are

three

basic

parts

of

automatic

transmission, the torque converter, the gear

.system and hydraulic control system
How an automatic transmission works
Automatic transmissions they're pretty much black magic. The
sheer number of moving parts makes them very difficult to
comprehend. Let's simplify it a bit to get a basic understanding of
how it all works in a traditional, torque converter-based system. Your

engine connects to your transmission at a place called a bell

housing. The bell housing contains a torque converter for automatic
transmission-equipped vehicles as opposed to a clutch on manual
vehicles. The torque converter is a fluid coupling whose job it is to
connect your engine to your transmission and thus to your driven
wheels. The transmission contains planetary gearsets which are in
charge

of

providing

different

gear

ratios.

To

get

good

understanding of how the whole automatic transmission system

works, let's have a look at torque converters and planetary gearsets
as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Automatic transimmision

Torque Converter
First and foremost, your engine's flex plate (basically a flywheel for an
automatic) connects directly to a torque converter. So when the
crankshaft rotates, so does the torque converter housing. The goal of
the torque converter is to provide a means by which to connect and

disconnect the engine's power to the driven load. The torque

converter takes the place of a clutch on a conventional manual
transmission as shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. torque converter

The major components of a torque converter are: the impeller,
the turbine, the stator, and the lock-up clutch. The impeller is part of
the torque converter housing, which is connected to the engine. It
drives the turbine via viscous forces. The turbine is connected to the
transmission input shaft. In essence, the engine turns the impeller
which imparts forces on a fluid, which then rotates the turbine,
sending torque to the transmission.

Figure3. Cross section of torque converter

The hydraulic system:
The transmission fluid flows in a loop between the impeller to the
turbine. The fluid coupling suffers from severe churning losses (and
consequent heat buildup) as the fluid returning from the turbine has a
component of its velocity that opposes the rotation of the impeller.
That is, the fluid returning from the turbine works against the
impeller's rotation and thus against the engine.
The stator sits between the impeller and turbine. Its goal is to
minimize churning losses and to increase torque output by redirecting
the fluid as it returns from the turbine to the impeller. The stator
directs the fluid so that the majority of its velocity is in the direction of
the impeller, helping the impeller move, and thus adding to the torque
produced by the motor. This ability to multiply torque is why we call
them torque converters, not fluid couplings.

The stator sits on a one-way clutch. It can rotate in one direction only
when the turbine and impeller are moving at approximately the same
speed (like during highway driving). The stator either rotates with the
impeller or not at all. Stators don't always multiply torque, though.
They provide you with more torque when you're either at stall
(applying the brakes at a stop light, for example) or while accelerating,
but not during highway cruising.
In addition to the one-way clutch in the stator, some torque converters
contain a lock-up clutch whose job it is to lock the turbine with the
torque converter housing so that the turbine and impeller are
mechanically connected. Eliminating the fluid coupling and replacing it
with a mechanical connection ensures that all of the engine's torque is
transmitted to the transmission input shaft.
Planetary Gears

Figure 4. Planetary Gears

So, now that we've figured out how the engine sends power to the
transmission, it's time to figure out how in tarnation it changes gears.
On a conventional transmission, changing gears is the job of a
compound planetary gear set. Understanding how planetary gear sets
work is a bit tricky, so let's have a look at a basic planetary gear set.
A planetary gearset (also known as an epicyclic gear set) consists of a
sun gear in the center, planet gears that rotate around the sun gear, a
planet carrier that connects the planet gears, and a ring gear on the
outside that meshes with the planet gears. The basic idea behind a
planetary gear set is this: using clutches and brakes, you can prevent
certain components from moving. In doing so, you can alter the input

and output of the system and thus change the overall gear ratio. Think
of it this way: a planetary gear set lets you change gear ratios without
having to engage different gears. They're all already engaged. All you
have to do is use clutches and brakes to change which components
rotate and which stay stationary.
The final gear ratio depends on which component is fixed. For
example, if the ring gear is fixed, the gear ratio will be much shorter
than if the sun gear is fixed. Knowing full well the risks associated with
ploppin' an equation on here, I'm gonna put one in anyway. The
following equation will tell you your gear ratios depending on which
component is fixed and which are in motion. R, C, and S represent the
ring gear, carrier, and sun gear. Omega simply represents the angular
speed of the gears, and N is the tooth count.

The way it works is thus: let's say we decided to keep the planet
carrier stationary and make the sun gear our input (thus the ring gear
is our output). The planets are able to rotate, but they cannot move
since the carrier cannot move. Omega_c is zero, so the left side of the
equation above is gone. This means that when we rotate the sun gear,
it sends torque through the planet gears to the ring gear. To figure out
what the gear ratio would be, we simply solve the above equation for
Omega_r/Omega_s. We end up with -N_s/N_R, that is, the gear ratio
when we fix the carrier and make the ring gear our output and the sun

gear our input is simply the ratio of the number of teeth between the
sun gear and ring gear. This is negative, since the ring spins in the
opposite direction of the sun gear. You can also lock the ring gear and
make the sun gear your input and you can lock the sun gear and make
the carrier your input. Depending on what you lock, you'll get different
gear ratios, i.e. you'll get different "gears." To obtain a 1:1 gear ratio,
you simply lock the components together (you only have to lock two to
do this) so that the crankshaft spins at the same speed as the
transmission output shaft.
So how do the brakes and clutches move to change gears? the torque
converter is also in charge of driving the transmission fluid pump. The
fluid pressure is what activates clutches and brakes in the planetary
gearset. The pump is often a geroter type pump (a gear pump)
meaning that a rotor spins in a pump housing and as it spins, it
"meshes" with the housing. This "meshing" creates chambers that
change in volume. When the volume increases, a vacuum is createdthis is the pump inlet. When the volume decreases, the fluid is
compressed or pumped by the meshing of the gears- this is the pump
exit. A hydraulic control unit sends hydraulic signals to change gears
(via band brakes and clutches) and to lock the torque converter.
Note that most modern automatic transmissions use a Ravigneaux
compound planetary gearset. This gearset has two sun gears (a small
and a large), two sets of planets (inner and outer), and one planet
carrier. This is essentially two simple planetary gearsets in one.