All of the transmissions available for sale today has grown exponentially within the last 15 years, all while increasing in complexity. The result is certainly that we are now coping with a varied quantity of tranny types including manual, conventional automatic, automatic manual, dual clutch, constantly variable, split power and 100 % pure EV.
Until very recently, automotive vehicle manufacturers Driveline gearboxes largely had two types of transmission to choose from: planetary automated with torque converter or conventional manual. Today, nevertheless, the volume of choices available demonstrates the changes seen over the industry.

That is also illustrated by the many different types of vehicles now being produced for the market. And not merely conventional vehicles, but also all electric and hybrid automobiles, with each type needing different driveline architectures.

The traditional development process involved designing a transmission in isolation from the engine and all of those other powertrain and vehicle. However, this is changing, with the limitations and complications of the method becoming more widely recognized, and the constant drive among producers and designers to provide optimal efficiency at decreased weight and cost.

New powertrains feature close integration of elements like the primary mover, recovery systems and the gearbox, and in addition rely on highly sophisticated control systems. That is to ensure that the best amount of efficiency and overall performance is delivered all the time. Manufacturers are under increased pressure to create powertrains that are brand new, different from and much better than the last version-a proposition that’s made more technical by the need to integrate brand components, differentiate within the marketplace and do everything on a shorter timescale. Engineering groups are on deadline, and the development process needs to be more efficient and fast-paced than ever before.
Until now, the utilization of computer-aided engineering (CAE) has been the most common way to develop drivelines. This process involves elements and subsystems designed in isolation by silos within the organization that lean toward proven component-level analysis tools. While these are highly advanced equipment that enable users to extract extremely reliable and accurate data, they remain presenting data that’s collected without concern of the whole system.

While this may produce components that work nicely individually, putting them together without prior factor of the entire program can create designs that don’t work, resulting in issues in the driveline that are difficult and expensive to correct.