Effect of Visco-Elastic Property on Friction Characteristics of Paper-Based Friction Materials for Oil Immersed Clutches

The friction characteristic of paper-based friction materials is one of the most important factors that influence the shifting performance of oil immersed clutches in automobile automatic transmissions. Visco-elasticity and porosity of the material are considered to be important properties that may control the friction characteristics of the material. In this study, the relationship between the friction characteristics and the visco-elasticity of a paper-based friction material is discussed. In order to vary the visco-elasticity while retaining the ingredients almost constant in a paper-based friction material, the formulation of the sample materials required changing the compression rate during the clutch plate bonding process and changing the volume percentage of resin. The properties of the sample materials such as porosity (pore diameter, pore diameter distribution, porosity percentage), and visco-elastic deformation in the compressive and the shearing directions, etc. were measured. In order to clarify the relationship between the friction and visco-elasticity of friction material, friction characteristics were measured. Friction characteristics of the sample materials were evaluated by a breaking-away test and continuous slip tests with a newly designed friction testing machine. From the experimental results, which showed that the lower the longitudinal modulus of the friction material, the higher the friction coefficient, it was found that friction characteristics of oil immersed paper-based friction materials are influenced by the visco-elasticity.