Enhancing Transmission NVH Performance through Powertrain Control Integration with Active Braking System

This paper explores the potentiality of reducing noise and vibration of a vehicle transmission thanks to powertrain control integration with active braking. Due to external disturbances, coming from the driver, e.g. during tip-in / tip-out maneuvers, or from the road, e.g. crossing a speed bump or driving on a rough road, the torsional backlashes between transmission rotating components (gears, synchronizers, splines, CV joints), may lead to NVH issues known as clonk. This study initially focuses on the positive effect on transmission NVH performance of a concurrent application of a braking torque at the driving wheels and of an engine torque increase during these maneuvers; then a powertrain/brake integrated control strategy is proposed. The braking system is activated in advance with respect to the perturbation and it is deactivated immediately after to minimize losses. The powertrain control compensates for the added resistance and reestablishes the vehicle longitudinal performance according to driver’s commands. The torsional preload created in the driveline is effective in preventing/reducing vibrations and associated noise. It is worth underlining that the proposed methodology can be directly applied to existing ABS/ESC units, composed of digital solenoid valves, and does not require additional hardware components. The effectiveness of this method has been experimentally validated by means of a Hardware In the Loop (HIL) test bench which includes a Dual Clutch (DCT) transmission and a hydraulic brake system with a customized ABS/ESC unit.