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As part of the development of its new powertrain consisting of two electric motors, a combustion engine and a gearbox, Renault SAS followed an original approach to achieve an assembly with an optimized, robust, and reliable link between the main electric motor and the gearbox. The running operation optimization as well as the high reliability is achieved by processing the following topics: filtration of vibrations and operating jolts; solving of tribological problems specific to splined connections, such as fretting corrosion and abrasive tooth wear; avoidance of potential seizure of elements with cyclic relative slippage under load; and eventually, control of wear and tear on the sealing and damping O-rings, which must accept oscillating translational movements at the same time as torque transfer. The aim of this article is to retrace the main steps taken to achieve the desired reliability and performance targets for this type of product.

For many years, bearing suppliers have been using the specific pressure to evaluate the fatigue risk of conrod bearings. However, modern engines have made the bearing more sensitive to various phenomena such as the thermal expansion or the elasticity of the conrod housing. These effects modify the stresses in the bearing layers and consequently fatigue risk. In this paper, we propose a new way to determine the bearing fatigue resistance. To achieve that, we analyze the elastic and plastic behavior of the bearing along the engine life. We detail and provide the analytical relationships which determine stresses in the overlay and in the substrate of the bearing in order to analyze their fatigue resistance. Various physical loads are taken into account such as the thermal load, the hydrodynamic pressure field, the fitting load, the free spread load. A good knowledge of the relationships between those physical phenomena helps to understand the mechanical behavior of the bearing.