Hello Mr. Tore and All,
I have had several email exchanges with Mr. Tore over the past few weeks and have learned quite a bit about the setup and procedures for starting the Diesel engines and would like to pass-on the knowledge...
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The training manual on the uboatarchive.net website that was provided by me (Don) and translated by Maciek only has only one mention of a flywheel. This is on a page that has a drawing of the drive train... The flywheel is on the back side of the crank shaft near the operating panel and it does not look to be a huge mass???
With your help, I'm beginning to understand that the main clutch is already engaged with the diesel engine during startup. This is a new concept to me, as I was concerned about starting the diesel engine on compressed air and getting the required RPM with the added mass of the clutch and the e-motor armatures during a compressed air starting procedure! This configuration will relieve the main diesel clutch of any undue friction on the clutch cones during startup; the cultch and dual e-motor armatures contribute to the mass as a flywheel to balance out any vibration (virtually a flywheel on both sides of the crankshaft).
1. So, it looks like the main clutch on the diesel engine side will not get the initial friction load like I was considering during startup and coming online with the prop. However, it now looks like the clutch in back of the e-motors will take on that initial friction load when engaging the prop. But, most of the masses on the drive line are already in motion, therefore the smaller mass of the aft drive shaft, the prop, and the water resistance to the prop spinning are not of a great concern (overall a much smaller mass for the e-motor clutch to handle).
2. My take away from our discussions about the main clutch at the diesel engine is that this clutch is engaged before starting the diesel engine and disengaged after stopping the diesel engine. Therefore, the only variation would be a possible emergency manual clutch engagement or disengagement...
Regards,
Don_