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Technical Paper

AWD Disconnect Solutions “ZF ECOnnect”

2013-04-08
2013-01-0362
Under the name “ZF ECOnnect”, ZF has recently developed a variety of AWD driveline solutions with an available AWD disconnect function. The ZF AWD disconnect systems are mainly designed for FWD-based AWD architectures and greatly help to solve the conflict between AWD performance the additional fuel consumption caused by AWD in comparison to FWD. AWD disconnect means that when no AWD function is required, there will be no torque transfer to the secondary axle. Therefore, the speed-dependent losses due to friction and oil churning are avoided by bringing the normally rotating elements to a standstill, while the vehicle is still driving. Compared to a conventional hang-on AWD system, the disconnect system therefore reduces the friction losses in the AWD driveline by up to 90% in the disconnected mode. This is achieved by the overall design of the units including special features and optimized coupling elements resulting in very low drag torque.
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