×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Contact US

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

(OP)
Mazda, and a lot of other makes, have a large. and unused as far as I can tell, area at the top of their bell housings.

What's it for?

I wouldn't think it's needed for MOI, which is already enormous.

And why the double walls at certain points around the periphery?

RE: Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

To feed "beaming" loads higher up on the engine block?

Consider that the bottom of the engine block is not far from the crankshaft CL (even coincident on older designs).

je suis charlie

RE: Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

(OP)
Could be.

A guy on a Miata forum who seems knowledgeable said "Bending strength and stiffness of the engine/transmission assembly. The drivetrain is structural in the Miata, there are no transmission mounts."

Surprising if the entire trans is cantilevered from the engine.

RE: Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

(OP)
Ah, thanks for the link.

So while the trans isn't cantilevered, its connection to that frame makes it part of a long beam in bending.

RE: Why is Mazda bell housing designed like this?

Yes, it is a very nice solution to various driveline woes, but it isn't especially light, at first glance. It's great because it eliminates two of the most difficult isolators in the car, the transmission rear mount and the diff nose mount, which always seem to require an awful lot of structure to get reasonable noise sensitivity figures.

Lotus SID was designed to be built in that configuration, as a possibility (every bush in the spine chassis and end subframes and driveline mounts had the same form factor, and we had a kit of parts so we could rebuild it in many different configs) , but I don't think they ever tested that one.

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members! Already a Member? Login


Resources

Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds
Learn methods and guidelines for using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printed molds in the injection molding process to lower costs and lead time. Discover how this hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small batches of thermoplastic parts. Download Now
Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM)
Examine how the principles of DfAM upend many of the long-standing rules around manufacturability - allowing engineers and designers to place a part’s function at the center of their design considerations. Download Now
Taking Control of Engineering Documents
This ebook covers tips for creating and managing workflows, security best practices and protection of intellectual property, Cloud vs. on-premise software solutions, CAD file management, compliance, and more. Download Now

Close Box

Join Eng-Tips® Today!

Join your peers on the Internet's largest technical engineering professional community.
It's easy to join and it's free.

Here's Why Members Love Eng-Tips Forums:

Register now while it's still free!

Already a member? Close this window and log in.

Join Us             Close