I had always wondered why "puck" clutches exist. I would figure that you'd want as much surface area as possible to grab and hold power. The gaps in between the pucks don't make sense to me.

 

At a guess, I'm going to say because a solid clutch with the same friction material would stick too hard. You want less grab, use fewer and smaller pucks and a weaker pressure plate.



Stack a half-dozen of these together, with just enough slits to allow for heat expansion, and you've got a few passes down the track with your 7000 horsepower nitro car

 

I've never understood multi layer clutches. How does adding more clutch discs add to the total friction/grip?





Reality shows that this is wrong, but in my mind, adding more clutch discs just adds more points for potential slippage. If you have a clutch that can hold 200 hp, and stack it on top of a clutch that can hold 150 hp, wouldn't the whole system just slip at 150 hp?

 

you dont stack a clutch on top of a clutch



you layer different types of metal between em,each disk helps share the load instead of 1 disk having to do all the work

 

Are the metal bits of the club sandwich attached to the flywheel then?







I swear that I know how to tie my shoes together. I've just never taken one of these apart.

 

If you look at the flywheel you will see the riser things that the pressure plate bolts too. Those additional metal plates slide on them. The extra metal bits would then turn with the Flywheel/pressure plate assembly and the clutch discs would turn with the input shaft of the transmission.

 

The clutch plates act in parallel. There is only one flywheel turning, and only one shaft to turn. If you have one clutch disc, it takes ALL the load. If you have two disks, they each take half the load. Yes?

 

Ah, that makes sense now. Thanks lads!