Font Size: 

An important challenge for vehicle designers is to ensure the greatest possible reduction of energy losses. This specific feature can be accomplished very early, at the stage of design and layout of new products. The objective of this paper is to present innovative, systematic and expanded methodology for research and diminishing of mechanical losses in vehicles. During the implementation of the structure analysis of different design options for new products, we assume main principles, the most important of which are the principles of simplicity and clarity. The improved methodology for decreasing mechanical losses in vehicles includes the following innovative stages: an upgraded design of gearboxes; a new approach for calculating the cardan shaft aiming to diminish its internal dynamic load; a new method for calculating the internal meshing of planetary gear trains with high efficiency. The stages mentioned are based on the research of the authors’ team. A considerable advantage of this methodology is its structure. The application of the methodology improved by the authors’ team enriches the procedures for multivariate design, for analysis and evaluation of conceptual design solutions and makes them more precise.