Voith, a specialist in intelligent drive solutions, continues its thrust on product and service competency with a line-up of products, namely, the recently-awarded VIAB Turbo Retarder Clutch, the multiple prize-winning Aquatarder secondary water retarder (SWR) braking system and the DIWA.6 automatic transmission for city and long-distance buses. All these products were showcased at the IAA show in Hanover.
The VIAB Turbo Retarder Clutch is one of the most prominent Voith products at this year’s IAA. It combines turbo coupling and retarder in one hydrodynamic circuit and thus ensures wear-free starting and braking. This allows highly sensitive manoeuvring and starting of the vehicle even with particularly heavy loads and on difficult terrain. The system is more compact, lighter and more efficient than conventional torque converter clutches and does not overheat even during intensive manoeuvring, on uneven ground, or starting on extreme inclines while the vehicle is fully laden. Efficiency, sustainability and fuel economy were to the fore during development of this cutting-edge system, which is now also available for the Mercedes-Benz Arocs construction truck. The readers of the trade magazine Logistra recently voted the VIAB as the “Best Practice Innovation 2014“.
Braking with water – the Aquatarder SWR
At the center of the Voith booth were also the Aquatarder SWR and the Voith DIWA.6 automatic transmission. Both products are energy-efficient, resource-sparing components for buses, coaches and trucks. The Voith Aquatarder SWR is the first secondary retarder to brake with water, using the cooling agent of the engine for the process. This means that it does not need an additional operating medium and is able to perform up to 90 per cent of all vehicle braking operations wear-free. In addition, it requires only half the installation space compared with its predecessor and is 35 kg lighter.
The braking system has already made a name for itself on several occasions. In 2013 the Aquatarder SWR was awarded the ECW Innovation Label at Busworld in Kortrijk, Belgium. In 2012, the publishing house Huss Verlag in Munich presented the Aquatarder SWR with the European Transport Prize for Sustainability for outstanding achievements in the commercial vehicle industry.
DIWA.6, the best choice for city and long-distance buses
The new DIWA.6 automatic transmission is Voith’s response to the rising demand for clean and fuel-efficient vehicles, especially in the context of the Euro-6 requirements. Specifically developed for citybuses, DIWA automatic transmissions are the best prerequisite for economical operations. Compared with its predecessor model, the DIWA.6 can save almost another five percent fuel. Apart from utilizing the topography-dependent gear-shifting program SensoTop, this is made possible by the need-based reduction of the operating pressure and an intelligent start-up management that avoids starting against the active service brake.
With the optimized Automatic Neutral Shift (ANS) function, the transmission can stay decoupled from the engine for a longer period, saving fuel. Several bus operators in Europe rely on the transmission in demanding inner-city traffic. Among the customers of the DIWA.6 automatic transmission are, for example, Wiener Linien and the three Belgian operators Maatschappij voor het Intercommunaal Vervoer te Brussel (MIVB/STIB), VVM-De Lijn and Société Régionale Wallonne du Transport (SRWT).