On the dynamics of a gearshift system in manual transmission

Automotive manufactures constantly strive for enhancements in drive quality. A key element of this noise and vibration reduction within the passenger compartment. This can come from many sources including "combustion" from the engine and "gear whine" from the gear box. Much of this noise is transferred through components that pass from the engine cell to the passenger compartment, one such component being the gear shift transmission cable. The cable shift system is the mechanism, which provides the driver interface to the manual transmission and provides the ability to select the desired gear position. The driver, moving the shift knob to the desired gear, controls the subsystem. This selection of gear position should be accomplished within the acceptable efforts and with a high level of customer pleasure. In the gearshift system an inner cable provides the mechanical movement between the gear shifter and the gear box and an outer conduit houses the cable. A support attaches this conduit to a body of a vehicle. Considering the complexity of the structure and the numerical difficulties associated with dynamic modeling, the goal of this work is to investigate and improve the vibrations transmitted to the shift knob by using numerical and experimental methods.