Customer-focused modular test procedure for driveline components

Content of this paper is the description of the development process of a new test procedure for torque transfer durability. It is developed for product validation of major manual transmission programs at GM replacing various regional test standards and procedures. The development of the new test procedure is based on specific customer load spectra for dedicated vehicles and drivers. For exemplary chosen manual transmissions, the torque transferring parts, i.e. gears, shafts, bearings, etc. are modelled and analyzed by means of a (local) damage accumulation regarding different failure mechanisms. This detailed study allows identifying the critical failure mechanisms as well as the critical driveline components and operating conditions for real customer usage and hence makes the derivation of a customer- focused, module-based test procedure possible. The developed test procedure is validated for defined customer target percentiles by comparison with formerly used test procedures and is scripted for global usage in all major transmission test facilities within GM.