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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LIST OF ABBREVATIONS

TTE: Total Tractive Effort.

RR: Rolling Resistance.
AR: Aerodynamic Resistance.
GR: Gradient Resistance.
GVW: Gross Vehicle Weight.

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ABSTRACT
With growing time, the participation of the students in SAE BAJA is
increasing year by year. The vehicles performance is highly dependent on
the installation and appropriate use of Drivetrain components. Drivetrain
includes powertrain (prime mover i.e. engine/motor) and transmission
components (gearbox, shafts etc). Therefore, Drivetrain is also called as
the driving force of any vehicle. The proper design of Drivetrain is thus a
part and parcel for any vehicle. The lack of literature available for a
optimize design of Drivetrain makes it a hard nut to crack for the students
who dont have any past experience. Thus there is a need for some source
by which the students can learn to design the Drivetrain for SAE BAJA. The
engine vibration is another aspect which is needed to be considered. NVH
consideration is another deciding parameter in BAJA vehicles
performance which if neglected could leads to lethal results. Therefore
proper installation of engine mounts is required according to the need.
Thus, this segment aims at developing the Drivetrain for BAJA vehicles
which can boost up the performance of the vehicle. Properly use of a
power train and transmission components for a vehicle along with the
calculations according to the need will be discussed in detail. This
segment also aims at developing the conceptual understanding of the
performance parameters of a BAJA vehicle among the student which will
be helpful in their academic curriculum as well.

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INTRODUCTION
The vehicles performance is highly dependent on the installation
and appropriate use of Drivetrain components. Drivetrain includes power
train (prime mover i.e. engine/motor) and transmission components
(gearbox, shafts etc). Therefore, Drivetrain is also called as the driving
force of any vehicle. The proper design of Drivetrain is thus a part and
parcel for any vehicle. The power train acts as a power plant for the
vehicle. Its main purpose is to provide the driving torque at the wheels.
This applied torque at the driven wheels causes vehicle to move. The
power source should be chosen such that it should be able to provide high
torque at low rpm and peak power at high rpm. Gearboxes are used for
several purposes such as power transmission, speed increasing or
decreasing and changing the torque. A suitable gearbox can be
determined if the characteristic properties of driven machine are known.
We intend to use a speed reduction gearbox to suit our high torque
requirements. Normally, the highest gear ratio (i.e., ratio of input shaft
speed to output shaft speed) is desired when the vehicle is at low speed
such as in accelerating from a stop. As vehicle speed increases from a
stop, a switching level will be reached at which the next lowest gear ratio
is selected. This switching (gear-changing) threshold is an increasing
function of load. At times (particularly under steady vehicle speed
conditions), the driver demands increasing engine power (e.g., for heavy
acceleration). In this case, the controller shifts to a higher gear ratio,
resulting in higher acceleration than would be possible in the previous
gear setting. This transition is handled by continuous variable
transmission in the ATV.

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LITERATURE SURVEY
Gear reduction box can be designed using various types of gears like spur, helical,
planetary, bevel, or combinations of the previous categories. The design ranges from single
stage gear reductions up to four stage reductions depending on the requirement and space
constraints for a given vehicle. Simulations and experiments done previously conclude that
increasing geometric parameters of gearbox such as module and number of teeth results in
increased rattle noise. Previous research works regarding drive train reduction also suggest
that gear reduction is more efficient when compared to a chain reduction though the former
increases the weight of the vehicle.

Design of a Drivetrain for SAE Baja Racing Off-Road

Vehicle
Rishab Jain & Dr. P.S Ranjit

The main objective of this paper is to provide the in detail knowledge

about the Drivetrain of BAJA vehicle.The first and foremost advantage of
this literature is the availability of design detailing along with the
specification of each and every components of the Drivetrain in one
segment. For the new students, who do not have any past experience it
will provide them the path to select and design their own Drivetrain
depending upon their need. Each and every aspect of Drivetrain design
hasbeen discussed in detail. However, the choice of fewcomponents like
CVT over manual gear box etc. is just tomake referral about the basic
design consideration that may vary from students to students. Second
advantage is the elaboration of various parameters and their effect on
vehicle performance. This will help students in their curriculum as well as
in the designing of any other racing vehicle like formula student. Emphasis
was more given to use the scientific language which will create the
curiosity in the readers mind to discover the further about thetopic. Since
Drivetrain cannot be restricted to 10 pages, only the specific and
necessary detail is discussed. So finally, anyone having no knowledge
about the Drivetrain of the BAJA can now design and tune it by them self
after learning from this segment. All the BAJA, Formula Students and other

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racing competition aspiring students can use this as a handful tool in their
learning and process.

Analytical Study on the Performance Analysis of

PowerTrain System of an Electric Vehicle
Chul-Ho Kim Kee-Man Lee
An analytical simulation algorithm is developed to estimate driving
performance of a designed powertrain system of a model vehicle. With
simulation output of analytical algorithm, following results were estimated
Maximum driving speed of a designed vehicle at each gradient
angle of a road.
Climbing ability of a designed vehicle.
Optimum gear ratio of a designed transmission to meet the
required driving performance of a vehicle.

Comprehensive Gearbox Design Using Expert

System Techniques
HudayamBasak&AhmetTaskesen
This paper dealt with design of gears and more importantly the shaft
design. The shaft analysis was done and optimum shaft diameter for
stepped shafts in the gear box was studied in four points of view namely
stress, deflection and rigidity, vibration and manufacturing. Minimum shaft
diameter is calculated in the stress analysis by taking into account the
material fatigue and stress concentration factors. In the rigidity analysis,
the maximum allowed bending due to gear forces and bearing forces is
determined and then the expert system decides which shaft diameter is
accepted. Critical shaft velocity is calculated comparing the resonance
case in the vibration analysis. The roller contact bearings were also
selected as per the requirement. A complete analysis and design of widely
used gearboxes in industry is carried out. For this purpose, a CAD software
which capable of drawing detailed assembly drafting of the gearboxes is
developed. The software is very suitable in the design and analysis of the
gearboxes having spur, helical, conical and worm gear pairs.

Empirical model based optimization to reduce noise

Mehmet Bozka Peter Fietkau

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The paper concluded through simulation that increasing geometric
parameters of the gearbox, such as the module and number of teeth
results in increased rattle noise. In addition, increased axial clearance
results in increased rattle noise until the axial clearance reaches its
maximum value, then the rattle noise decreases. Moreover, increased
backlash causes decreased rattle noise until the backlash reaches its
maximum value, then the rattle noise increases. Changing the helix angle
resulted in different levels of rattlenoise, while changing of the face width
resulted in a constant level of rattle noise. Furthermore, increasing the
gearbox operational parameters, such as the angular acceleration and
excitation frequency, caused increased gearbox rattle noise. Some
geometric design parameters, such as the module, and number of teeth
must satisfy desired safety protocols, and some backlash is necessary to
allow room for an oil film for all conditions of thermal expansion and
contraction. Although, there is no relationship between face width and
rattle noise, face width is necessary to satisfy the desired contact safety
requirement. Therefore, by optimizing geometric parameters of the
gearbox including, the module, number of teeth, axial clearance, and
backlash, it is possible to obtain a light-weight-gearbox structure and
minimize the rattling noise.

Computer-aided design of a two-stage gearbox

V. Ramamurti P. Gautam& A. Kothari
This paper presented a methodology of fixing the leading dimensions
of a two-stage spur gearbox transmitting a specific hp for a given input
speed and reduction. The methodology specifies the shaft dimensions,
gear specifications, bearing selection and overall space occupied and the
self-weight of the gearbox. The methodology also involves comparison of
the design stresses obtained from classical design methodology with
those obtained from the FEM modeling of the problem, along with the
dynamic analysis of the model. The deflections of the shaft under the
action of gear forces are determined using both FEM and classical
methods.

Optimal Design of a Tilling Machine Reduction

Gearbox
Hui-Bo He, Hua-Ying Li,Sung-Ki Lyu, Sung-HoonTak, Sung-Min Moon and Qi
Zhang
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This paper aims at a designing of a Tilling machine. A tillage machine is
a small motorized device used in rice agriculture. This paper describes a
mathematical model of an optimal gearbox design, including the following
factors:
contact
fatigue
strength,
bending
fatigue
strength,
nonintervention and boundary conditions, and lubricant film thickness
ratio.The reduction gearbox of a tillage machine was optimized using a
Mat lab program.The total center diameter of the gearbox was reduced by
about 10%, resulting in a more compact optimized structure.

Design of an SAE Baja Racing Off-Road Vehicle

Powertrain
Dr. Gary B & Pamela S Williams
This paper aimed at designing a four speed sequential synchromesh
gear box. The term sequential implies that the transmission cannot be
shifted out of order, meaning that the gears must progress in the following
fashion: 1-2-3-4-3-2-1-2 and so on. This four speed gearbox was used in
conjunction with a centrifugal clutch on the motor crankshaft to transfer
power from the crank to the gearbox via a chain drive during high revs of
the engine, yet leave the engine de-coupled from the gearbox at its idle
speed. The four-speed sequential synchromesh gearbox, although elegant
in design, proved to be a bit too heavy for a practical racing application. It
also had a bit of trouble during operation due to binding associated to the
centrifugal cam mechanism which changed the gears.

WPI SAE Baja Vehicle

Christopher Boyle & Raymond Casola

The first design goal set to improve upon the previous design is to
lower the engine in order to lower the overall center of gravity of the
vehicle, which will improve handling and reduce the chance of rollover.
This will be accomplished by mounting the engine flatly on the bottom
frame rails, rather than on an inclined plate.

Calculations for design for powertrain

James Tauby& Jesse Taylor

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This paper gives different approaches to solve drivetrain design
problems by laying out calculation modules to be followed under different
conditions.

Designing and building a gear reduction system

Erin Ebsch, Jenna Kudla, Calvin OBrien, and Bridget Quick
The paper aims to switch their drivetrain reduction from a chain to a
gear reduction in order to improve efficiency. The paper discusses about
reduction using various types of gears and its configurations which include
planetary gears, spur gears, helical gears, bevel and spur gears, forward
and reverse gear etc. The authors recognize that a gear reduction will
increase the weight of the vehicle, but they would like the weight increase
to be minimized so that the drivetrain weight does not increase the weight
of the vehicle by more than 10%. It also discusses about various methods
that can be employed for gear housing like metal mesh, metal with cut
outs, metal with composites or plastic and solid metal. The options
available to use the type of gears and methods to be used for gear
housing are evaluated by using the Pugh matrix and the best alternative is
chosen.

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SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW

SI
No
.
1

Author &
Year

Title

Name of Journal

Comments

Rishabh
Jain, Dr. P S
Ranjit.
July- 2015

Design of a
Drivetrain for
SAE Baja
Racing OffRoad
Vehicle

International
Journal of
Advanced
Engineering,
Management and
Science
(IJAEMS)

The main objective of this paper

is to provide the in detail
knowledge about the Drivetrain
of BAJA vehicle.

Chul-Ho
Kim KeeMan Lee
2009

Analytical Study
on the
Performance
Analysis of
Power Train
System of an
Electric Vehicle

World Electric
Vehicle Journal
Vol. 3

An analytical simulation
algorithm is developed to
estimate driving performance of
a designed power train system of
a model vehicle.

HudayamBa
sak&Ahmet
Taskesen
June
2006

Comprehensive
Gearbox Design
Using Expert
System
Techniques

Wiley
Periodicals Inc.

A complete analysis and design

of widely used gearboxes in
industry is carried out using
efficient CAD software.

Mehmet
Bozka
Peter
Fietkau
2009
V.
Ramamurti
P. Gautam&
A. Kothari
27 April
1995
Hui-Bo He,
Hua-Ying
Li,Sung-Ki
Lyu, SungHoonTak,
Sung-Min

Empirical model
based
optimisation to
reduce noise

Elsevier Science
Limited

Provides empirical model based

optimization of noise caused due
to the increased number of gear
teeth and axial clearance.

Computer-aided
design of a two
speed gear box

Elsevier Science
Limited

A Computer-Aided design
methodology for two-speed
gearboxes is presented in this
paper.

Optimal Design
of a Tilling
Machine
Reduction
Gearbox

International
Journal Of
Precision
Engineering And
Manufacturing

The reduction gearbox of a

tillage machine was optimized
using a Mat lab program, hence
improving the design efficiency.

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Moon and
Qi Zhang
7

Dr. Gary B
&
Pamela S
Williams

Design of an
SAE Baja
Racing Off-Road
Vehicle
Powertrain

Honors research
projects

Provides a methodology of fixing

the leading dimensions of a twostage spur gearbox with all the
necessary dimensions and
calculations.

Christopher
Boyle &
Raymond
Casola
2012
James
Tauby&
Jesse
Taylor
Erin Ebsch,
Jenna
Kudla,
Calvin
OBrien,
and Bridget
Quick
2012

WPI SAE Baja

Vehicle

saejournals.org

Improvisation over the previous

years Baja vehicle by lowering
the overall center of gravity.

Calculations for
design for
powertrain

saejournals.org

Provides calculation modules to

solve drive train problems.

Designing and
building a gear
reduction system

saejournals.org

Design of a gear reduction

system, with minimal increase in
weight of the vehicle.

10

RESEARCH GAP
Earlier the design was primitive, as it was heavy and not fully
customized. . A simple design was adopted as per ease of availability.
Double V-Belt drive coupled with Mahindra Alfa gearbox. 4 speed
transmission with reverse gear. This year the power transmission had to
be customized to our requirements and minimum weight possible.
Due to lack of literature integrity for the Drivetrain design, one has
to explore different section from different media in order to design even
the single useful component of Drivetrain. This process is time consuming
and extremely difficult to perform. The objective of this project is to design
the power train for SAE BAJA Racing off-road vehicle which should be Light
weight, compact in size and reliable. One of the deciding factors of any
vehicles performance is the comfort level of driver, which comes with the
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less driving fatigue. The noise and vibration is another aspect which
should be worked on, to reduce the unwanted stresses in the frame.
Performance parameters like gradiability, acceleration, top speed,
transmission etc have to be discussed on the basis of their influence over
the vehicle under different conditions and calculations.
This project will include- selection of Transmission and calculation of
reduction ratios and further discuss methodology to be adapted to finally
design and fabricate the gearbox.

OBJECTIVES

Choice of drive
Torque required for propelling the
weight of the vehicle and friction
calculated. A simple design is to
availability. CVtech CVT coupled with
Mounting

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vehicle considering estimated

condition of the terrain was
be adopted as per ease of
reduction gearbox.

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Mounts (engine and transmission box) to be fabricated and welded
on to the chassis are designed and analyzed through CAD.
Calculation and design of gear reduction box. Gear calculation
iterations to be carried out to achieve desired reduction keeping
terms with space constraints.

Coupling
CVT pulleys to be mounted on engine shaft and transmission input
shaft and coupled using double V-Belt. Tension adjusting slots for
moving engine along, provided in the mount.
Drive shaft
Co-axial TIG welding of drive shaft (transmission side) and drive
shaft (wheel side). Drive shafts rest mounted on chassis to prevent
excessive inclination of shaft at the opening of transmission box.
Castle nut and split pin fastening at the wheel.
Pedals, levers & cables
Pedals are mounted in a convenient position to the driver. Clutch
cables, dual cables for manual transmission of gears, reverse gear
cable are mounted in linear arrangement and set to required
tension. Accelerator cables were directly fixed to throttle lever of the
engine. Transmission lever mounted on Chassis to the left of the
driver and reverse lever to the right. Reverse cable is electrically
connected to trigger reverse alarm and reverse light. Gourmets
provided on firewall to compensate for breach by cable.

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METHODOLOGY
The main objective of the transmission is providing to the driver more
than the enough torque to the wheels from engine to the wheels. The
enough torque means the torque required to pull the driving wheels
against the road loads. Road loads include rolling resistance
(RR)resistance, air resistance (AR) and grade resistance (GR). To choose
the transmission capable of producing enough torque to propel the Baja
vehicle, it is necessary to determine the total tractive effort (TTE)
requirement of the vehicle.

TOTAL TRACTIVE EFFORT:

The vehicle performance is mainly dependent on two variables:
Engine power and Maximum adhesive force between the road and tires
(i.e. * load on the driving wheels, TE Max). The maximum pull is required
when the vehicle is moving uphill at a certain gradient. The gradiability of
the vehicle is decided by the amount of torque driving wheels can
transmit without reaching the maximum allowable tractive effort (TE Max).
If the rear wheels have such a torque applied to them that they are on the
point of slipping in the plane of the wheel, then the value of adhesive
force between tire and road surface has been reached. Under these
conditions the engine torque has reached the maximum useful value for
the present set of conditions, as any increase would only result in slip and
lower acceleration. Static friction is higher than kinetic friction.
Total Tractive Effort (TTE) = RR+AR+GR
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AERODYNAMIC RESISTANCE:
A moving vehicle, in displacing the surrounding air has a resultant
resisting force called aerodynamic drag or simply air resistance. It can be
expressed as resistive force opposing the motion of a vehicle through the
air and the work done in overcoming the force is dissipated as energy lost
to the air flow. The following graph clearly shows up how aerodynamic
resistance plays significant role in hindering the performance of the
vehicle.

AR = 0.5* * V2 * A *Cd

GRADE RESISTANCE:
Grade Resistance (GR) is the amount of force necessary to move a
vehicle up a slope or grade. This calculation must be made using the
maximum angle or grade the vehicle will be expected to climb in normal
operation. To convert incline angle, , to grade resistance:

GR = GVW x sin()

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ROLLING RESISTANCE:
Rolling Resistance (RR) is the force necessary to propel a vehicle
over a particular surface. The worst possible surface type to be
encountered by the vehicle should be factored into the equation.

RR = GVW x fr

GRADIABILITY:
Gradiability is defined as the ability of a vehicle to climb uphill at a
certain angle without the slip occurs. It is an important factor which
decides the maximum pulling force that can be wheels. Generally, the
maximum applied torque is not a deciding factor rather the maximum
force that a tire can transmit is the deciding factor. Maximum gradient
that can be travel is up to when the applied pull is less than or equal to
the adhesive force between the road and tire, beyond this point slip will
occur and there will be a loss in torque. In general automotive application,
gradiability is define in terms of percentage i.e. 30%, 40% etc. The term
X% means that vehicle X m distance in vertical direction while moving
100 m in horizontal direction. For example by term 60% gradiability, it
means that vehicle will cover 60m vertical distance per 100m horizontal
distance. Under such notation, actual angle of in
= tan-1(X/100)
For 60% gradiability, = 30.96 Thus gradiability can be calculated from
the total road loads acting at different speed a maximum Tractive force
i.e. TE Max. Considering the worst case i.e. vehicle moving maximum
allowable speed of 55 surface.

GEAR REDUCTION
Low gear is required while the vehicle is moving on the gradient so that
maximum torque can be achieved.
The in ratios of torque at wheels (Tw) and engine torque (Te) are
calculated to find out the overall reduction required in low gear.
Tw = Te* iglow * transmission
Where
iglow=overall reduction in low gear
transmission is the transmission efficiency
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The transmission efficiency is 92% for manual transmission whereas it is
75% for Continuous variable transmission (CVT). This segment is
considering CVT as it has its own advantage which will be discussed
later on.

TRANSMISSION SELECTION:
The types of transmissions which are very popular among the BAJA
teams are:
Manual Transmission
Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT).
Manual transmission commonly known as gear box can be easily
installed and coupled to engine. Use of manual transmission is easy and
reliable. The top two best suited gear boxes are Mahindra Alpha and Tata
Ace. One of the biggest disadvantages of manual gear box is the ride
comfort. The driver comfort is compromise and the fatigue is one of the
bad results of using manual gearbox. To increase the comfort ability of the
driver which will leads to increase in vehicle performance, it is
recommended to use CVT which will not only provide the infinite gear
ratios between the low and high gear but also helps in reducing the
weight and driver fatigue. Therefore in this segment CVT will b discussed.
However, based on the overall low and high gear ratio calculated in
previous segment, one can select the type of gear box required followed
by the design of final drive ratio.

Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT)

The continuous variable transmission (CVT) is plays a most
important part in the performance of the vehicle. As stated above, the
CVT helps in reducing the driver fatigue as there will b no clutch to press,
no lever to shift while changing the gear ration. Thus, it not only save the
weight of other components but also provide the smooth ride by allowing
driver to shift the infinite number of reductions between the low gear and
high gear. Low gear is same as the first gear and high gear corresponds to
fourth gear of gear box. The selection of CVT is also due to the fact that
the shift in speed and acceleration is continuous with CVT which is in step
with gear box. The CVT also allow the engine to run at peak power which
is very much desirable for the better performance of the vehicle and good
fuel economy of the engine.

CVT SELECTION
There are many manufactures of CVT like Polaris, Yamaha, Comet,
CVTech etc. One can choose from any one of them depending upon the
cost, ease of tuning and drive ratios available. Selection of belt is also an
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important parameter as it is the belt which will be transferring the power.
More or less, the belt material is same in case of all cvt. On the basis of
cost and ease of tuning, it is recommended to use CVTech AAB cvt.
CVTech CVT comes with the sponsorship for the BAJA vehicle and is easily
available worldwide. The driving
ratio of AAB CVT is 6.976, whereas the centre to centre distance of the
belt can be selected as per the space. Minimum c/c is 200mm. As mention
above, the CVT has low gear and high gear as a fixed ratio CVTech CVT
comes with the low ratio of 3 and high ratio of 0.43. According to the need
CVT has to be tuned such that shifting occurs at the peak power of the
engine and engagement occurs before the peak torque of the engine for
the smooth gradual start. Overall reduction required by transmission in
low gear was 30.
Low ratio of CVT is 3. Therefore, final drive ratio should be igfinal This final
drive ratio is fixed all the time and normally comprised of larger first gear
of gear box differential reduction. But in case of CVT low gear ratio is
comparably small and reduction of 10 from CVT to differential is not
attainable, hence intermediate reduction is required such that:
CVT output shaft is coupled to an intermediate shaft of reduction 2.5. At
the end of this intermediate shaft, rest the sprocket which drives the
sprocket of differential by reduction of 4. The net final reduction thus
comes out to be 2.5*4 = 10 (as required).
Therefore net reduction between CVT and Differential is now in two
stages. From CVT to differential via intermediate shaft. This arrangement
not on space but also pack the entire Drivetrain assembly in smaller area
so that the net cg of Drivetrain will lie on the centre line of the vehicle
which is very much required

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