Dynamic diagram of working principle of automobile differential

Speaking of car differentials, I believe that many friends don't know much about it, especially in terms of working principles, which can be said to be half-knowledge. So, in order to make it easier for everyone to think about its principle more directly, let's give a dynamic diagram of the working principle of the car differential as a reference.

The automobile differential is mainly composed of left and right half shaft gears, two planetary gears and a gear carrier. When the car is turning, due to the slipping phenomenon of the outer wheel and the slipping phenomenon of the inner wheel, the two driving wheels will generate two additional forces in opposite directions at this time. However, due to the "minimum energy consumption principle", the rotation speeds of the two wheels are different. At this time, the balance of the three will be destroyed, and reflected on the half shaft gears through the half shafts, forcing the planetary gears to rotate and reducing the speed of the inner half shaft. Slow, the speed of the outer half shaft increases. In this way, the left and right wheels can roll at different speeds (reasonable torque distribution), and the driving wheels on both sides are guaranteed to make pure rolling motion.

Don't underestimate its existence. If there is no differential or an abnormality occurs, the wheels will inevitably slide while rolling due to the inconsistent speed of the left and right wheels. It not only accelerates the wear of the tires, but also increases the stress on the axles. In severe cases, it may even cause mechanical damage. The maintenance cost will be very high at that time. Therefore, when the car is turning and the tire slips off, you should check the differential at the repair shop as soon as possible.

It is worth mentioning that although the differential of some models is maintenance-free for life, the differential oil is mentioned separately. In order to prevent insufficient lubrication of the differential oil, it is generally necessary to replace it during maintenance of 60,000 kilometers or 40,000 kilometers. Of course, it’s best to follow the arrangement of the 4S shop. After all, not all models have the same working conditions, especially for four-wheel drive vehicles, hard-core SUV models or high-performance, fast-speeding models. The lubrication effect of the speed gear oil is definitely higher, otherwise it is easy to cause damage to the differential due to insufficient lubrication.