Cive 440 / Plan 474

Cive 641 / Plan 678

p. 1

Calculating Tractive Effort for the Internal Combustion Engine

A vehicles power is a function of its revolutions per minute, n. An example of such a curve is
shown here. As the RPMs increase, the power increases (but less rapidly than linearly, an example is
below).
Similarly, a vehicles velocity is a function of its rpms. The equation to compute velocity is:

0.06nD
ujw

Where:
n is rpm;
D is the diameter of the wheel [m]

uj is the gear ratio for gear j (how the transmission reduces the rotational velocity
from the motor);
w is the ratio in the differential (how the differential further reduces the rotational
velocity between the transmission and the wheels)
Finally, the Tractive Effort (TE) of a vehicle at a given velocity is given by:

TE

2650P

Where:

accounts for losses.

Consider this example (Problem 3.4 from the text).

For a given vehicle, the relationship between power and rpm is given by the following table:
n [rpm]
P [hp]
800
80
1200
130
1600
160
2000
180
2400
200
Graphically, this relationship is as follows:

Cive 440 / Plan 474

Cive 641 / Plan 678
p. 2

Power as a function of RPM

250

200

P [hp]

150

100

50

0
800

1200

1600

2000

2400

n [rpm]

The vehicles transmission has the following gear ratios:

Gear
1
2
3
4

Ratio
4.43
2.48
1.49
1.00

The ratio for the differential, w, is 4.7; the diameter of the wheels, D, is 0.90 meters.
To compute velocity at a given RPM, we use the equation above. We calculate velocity for each of the
gear ratios. So, for example, in gear 1, we compute the following:

0.06nD
0.06 n 0.9 3.1415

0.008148 n
u1w
4.43 4.7

For gear 2, the velocity expression is:

0.06nD
0.06 n 0.9 3.1415

0.01455 n
u2 w
2.48 4.7

The same equations are calculated for gears 3 and 4. A plot of velocity as a function of RPM for all gears
is as follows:

Cive 440 / Plan 474

Cive 641 / Plan 678
p. 3
Speed as function of RPM
100.0

80.0

V [km/h]

60.0

40.0

20.0

0.0
800

1200

1600

2000

2400

n [rpm]
1st Gear

2nd Gear

3rd Gear

4th gear

Finally, to plot tractive effort as a function of velocity we take the following steps:
1. Choose a value of n, read from the graph above the corresponding Power output from the motor.
2. For the same value of n, calculate the Velocity that is attained in gear 1;
3. Substitute the Power and Velocity into the tractive effort equation.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for several values of n;
Then, repeat steps 1-4 for gears 2, 3 and 4.
In the example case, the results for power are as follows:
n [rpm]
800
1200
1600
2000
2400

P [hp]
80
130
160
180
200

Cive 440 / Plan 474

Cive 641 / Plan 678
p. 4

The results for velocity are as follows:

800
1200
1600
2000
2400

6.5
9.8
13.0
16.3
19.6

Velocity in Gear:
2
3
11.6
19.4
17.5
29.1
23.3
38.8
29.1
48.4
34.9
58.1

4
28.9
43.3
57.8
72.2
86.6

Now, we compute tractive effort in gear 1 using the equation provided, assuming = 0.88. A sample
calculation is:

2650P

V
in gear 1 at n 800 rpm :
V 6.5 km / h;
P 80 hp
2650 80
TE
0.88 28621.1
6.5
TE

The results for all values of n, P and V for gear 1 are:

n
800
1200
1600
2000
2400

Power
V gear 1
TE
80.0
6.5
28621.1
130.0
9.8
31006.2
160.0
13.0
28621.1
180.0
16.3
25759.0
200.0
19.6
23850.9

And in gear 2:

n
800
1200
1600
2000
2400

Power
V Gear 2 TE
80.0
11.6
16022.7
130.0
17.5
17357.9
160.0
23.3
16022.7
180.0
29.1
14420.4
200.0
34.9
13352.2

And in gear 3:

n
800
1200
1600
2000
2400

Power
V gear 3
TE
80.0
19.4
9626.5
130.0
29.1
10428.7
160.0
38.8
9626.5
180.0
48.4
8663.9
200.0
58.1
8022.1

And finally gear 4:

Power
V gear 4
TE
800
80.0
28.9
6460.7

Cive 440 / Plan 474

Cive 641 / Plan 678
p. 5

1200
1600
2000
2400

130.0
160.0
180.0
200.0

43.3
57.8
72.2
86.6

6999.1
6460.7
5814.7
5384.0

The final plot of TE as a function of V is:

TE as a function of Speed
35000.0

30000.0

TE [N]

25000.0

20000.0

15000.0

10000.0

5000.0

0.0
0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

V [km/h]
1st Gear

2nd Gear

3rd Gear

4th Gear

80.0

90.0

100.0