PARALLEL DISK CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION (PDCVT):PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE TESTING

In this paper, a typical Parallel Disk Continuously Variable Transmission System (PDCVT) is developed in the spirit and approach of Kazerounian and Furu-Szekely. In situations where a speed ratio is required to be changed frequently, continuously variable transmission is one of the desirable solutions. The PDCVT system is one such solution which offers the advantages such as high power to weight ratio and reliability in operation. First of all, the development and manufacturing details of the developed PDCVT system are discussed and experimental and theoretical values of transmission ratios have been determined with different ball diameters and materials. Also, the theoretical and experimental evaluation of transmission torque has been carried out. Experiments have been carried out to determine the system parameters: the stiffness of the spring for preloading mechanism of the system and the area of contact between the balls and rotating disks to determine the coefficient of friction.