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Types of Gearboxes
Manual Gearbox: Manual gearbox has widely spread into
the market but Europeans still remain faithful to manual gearbox.
The manual gearbox has been as old as the car itself. These
gearboxes use conventional clutch that is activated each time a
gear is selected by an electronically controlled motor. This then
disengages the clutch, the gear is shifted and the clutch engages
once more. It all happens within a second and the system even
allows for the car to come to a stop whilst still in gear. The manual
gearbox is virtually maintenance free except for the checking of
the oil level occasionally
Automatic Gearbox: Several factors have contributed to the
development of automatic gearbox. Firstly, the advent of
electronics in the nineties and secondly, the wish of having more
gear speed. It is used for power transmission and offers automatic
gearshift. Automatic gearboxes are easy and pleasurable to drive.
The only thing to be done after engaging a gear is to press the
accelerator to go and press the brake to stop. The automatic
gearboxes relies on hydraulic fluid pressure to shift the gears up
and down. This fluid needs to be checked regularly.The
monitoring of corrosion precursors, especially the water content of
oil, is critical in maximizing equipment life. The authors have
developed an approach that directly addresses the need for gearbox
corrosion monitoring by: 1) identifying corrosion precursors in the
lubricant using the Smart Oil Sensor™ (SOS) technology
developed by the authors, 2) updating corrosion models based on
oil quality information, and 3) using existing on-board vibration
sensors to obtain vibro-acoustic information that can be related to
gearbox health and, specifically, surface corrosion fatigue.
Diagnostic and prognostic information from each of the methods
can be fused to enhance fault detection and remaining life
predictions. This capability will improve maintenance action and
component (LRU) replacement recommendations, thus increasing
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