Alloy Flywheels

[TEAM78]

You may increase mass but you reduce inertia with a smaller diameter

[johnny yuma]

understood,but if you reduce the effective diameter of the clutch plate/s, the 100%[?] torque transmitted at the flywheel[see my earlier post] becomes a weaker point.??

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by johnny yuma

Would not 100% of the torque always go through the flywheel no matter how many clutchplates then shared the later friction and torque transfer to the gearbox? This being the case I could see an alloy flywheel giving srructural/heat problems on big torque engines.

yeah ok, yes all the torque does go through the flywheel,

which is why normally alloy flywheels need a steel insert for the clutch to run on

BUT with a multi plate clutch not all the torque goes through the clutch face of the flywheel, hense that fact that Als triple plate organic jobbie can get away without the steel insert, that would never work with just a single plate or a sintered clutch though

[Al Weyman]

When you get off the gas on the V8 with the McCloued or the Tilton the engine nigh on stops dead, engine braking is immense and you have to be careful not to lock the rears up, the gear changing especially with the Muncie truck range of gearboxes is improved however. If you are at a CTRCC or even a ModProd meeting next year I will rev it up especially for you :-). Oh Graham on the 10,000 rpm job not only is the flywheel alloy but also the pressure plate!

RobC has threatened to come round my house shortly to purchase some Autogas gear I have so he can give you a good feed back on the fleet :-).

[graham bahr]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

Oh Graham on the 10,000 rpm job not only is the flywheel alloy but also the pressure plate!

:-).

that figures, whats good for the goose is good for the ganda

[dtype38]

It just occured to me that with a high revving engine, there isn't as much torque to deal with at the clutch friction face and mounting ring for a given power output. I would have thought that would make it much easier to get away with an all alloy flywheel, and with a small two/three plate clutch fitted the steel running face could probably be left out as well.

[graham bahr]

i see where your coming from d type, although i would say that even a high reving big V8 still has lots of torque, the thing that allows Al's million rpm (ok i know its not a million before you all start on me) to work is the organic lining

[Goran Malmberg]

Engine Tq is not anything of a problem with an aluminium flywheel. I got a 8,7 litre Hemi motor and ahve been punisching the same flywheel for 10 years. I changed the steel friction surface twice as it become distorted of overheating from slipping clutch. This was a 10" single disc.
I now made my own doubble disc 8 incher and newer had any problem.
I stacked two diaphragm springs on top of each other to get pressure enough. Flywheel is 15 p, not very much concidering the engine size.

Even if aluminium vs steel strengh is close, we got more material thickness with the same weight that support stability. There are a few images om my site with the burnt flywheel. If anyone like some more info
about my clutch buildup just give me a mail.
http://hem.passagen.se/hemipanter/
Goran Malmberg

[graham bahr]

wow, thats quite a car and webpage you've got there goran

[Goran Malmberg]

Originally Posted by graham bahr

wow, thats quite a car and webpage you've got there goran

Thanks!
Goran

[dtype38]

Oh, don't doubt it Graham, Goran's mechanicals are

Interesting point about the stability there Goran. Aly alloy is generally taken to be about 1/2 the strength but 1/3 the weight of steel. That means that if you make the object twice as thick, its just as strong, but still 1/3 lighter. That's a benefit in itself, but if we did torsional and flexure rigidity calculations, the aly would come out ahead. Essentially, in bending, twice the thickness gives eight times the ridgidity, which also means the resonance frequencies will be way higher as well.

Hmm... alloy flywheels are sounding better and better... but I'd still find that fatigue threshold worrying. I'd be much more worried about surface defects, stress concentrations and stress raisers on an alloy flywheel

[Al Weyman]

So why not consider a button clutch and an auto flex plate dType, a jag flex plate must be a dime a dozen.

[dtype38]

If anyone had suggested it before I did my last rebuild I might well have. It's just something I'd never heard of. If and when my latest investment disintegrates, or I win the lottery, I'll look into it in detail.

[johnny yuma]

GORAN your car site looks like it can answer every question I ever had and raise a whole lot of new ones! thanks. yuma,j. ABBA -- gotta lovem too!!

[Barry Pomfret]

The best lightweight flywheels are manufactured by Fidanza, but not sure if they are currently available for your application.

[zefarelly]

top site, and very nice guitars ! :clap:

back on topic, QEP do a lot of Pug stuff, and I've seen some very nice steel faced ally flywheels there, I'm thinking about designing one for my car sometime

[ian.stewart]

Just a thought, everybody seems aware of the potential risk of flywheel explosions, last year, a friend of mine had a Pinto pressure plate shatter and exit thru the bonnet, I dont ever remember seeing anyone advertising a STEEL pressure plate,
Ian

[Al Weyman]

I would say the better quality race ones are steel, the Tilton looks a quality machined piece not a casting and the McCloeud are similiar. Maybe if you use a road type clutch you should use a steel grenade proof bell housing or a scatter blanket like used in Drag Racing..