Abstract: | The aim of this research is the optimisation of full-toroidal continuously variable transmission (CVT) in conjunction with the fixed ratio (FR) mechanism, while the optimisation objective is to minimise fuel consumption (FC) of the vehicle in the new European driving cycle. After the dynamic analysis of the power train, a computer model is developed to simulate contact between CVT elements and consequently calculate its efficiency. Then an algorithm is presented to calculate FC of the vehicle in the driving cycle. Then, an optimisation using particle swarm optimisation on the CVT geometry and FR mechanism (which is embedded between CVT and final drive) is carried out to minimise FC. It is found that by utilisation of the optimised CVT; FC will be about 11% and 8% lower, compared with the application of a five-speed manual transmission and conventional CVT, respectively. Finally, effects of the roller tilt angle and oil temperature on the FC are investigated. |