After all, it is intended to be massive (more precisely, to have a large moment of inertia). But a few years ago, clutch designers decided to “puzzle” him with the damping of torsional vibrations that inevitably arise in the engine-transmission system. So there was a two-mass flywheel (ZR, 2002, No. 6, p. 164), which is used today by many manufacturers (for example, BMW, Volkswagen, Subaru).
However, along with torsional, both axial and bending vibrations occur, in particular, during the operation of the clutch. To combat them, the French company Valeo developed a “flexible” flywheel.
The essence of the invention is simple: the flywheel is divided into two parts - the central (hub), a relatively small size and massive peripheral. They are connected by an elastic plate fixed by bolts (Fig. 1). The plate is made of the same steel as the clutch diaphragm. Thus, the peripheral part of the flywheel can move relative to the central, but only in the axial direction - the torsion of the flywheel remains rigid.
