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Peer-Review Record

Finite Element Simulation and Parametric Analysis of Load–Displacement Characteristics of Diaphragm Springs in Commercial Vehicle Clutches

Symmetry 2025, 17(9), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym17091378 (registering DOI)
by Ming Cheng 1,2, Zhen Shi 2,3, Jianhui Zhang 2,3 and Pingxiang Ming 1,*
Reviewer 1: Anonymous
Reviewer 2: Anonymous
Reviewer 3: Anonymous
Symmetry 2025, 17(9), 1378; https://doi.org/10.3390/sym17091378 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 25 July 2025 / Revised: 14 August 2025 / Accepted: 15 August 2025 / Published: 23 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Engineering and Materials)

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors
  1. The Introduction cites previous studies without summarizing their key findings or limitations. A brief discussion of past work, a concluding literature review summary, and a clear statement of the present study's novelty should be included.
  2. The A-L formula is presented without citing a reference. Please include the appropriate citation to support its usage.
  3. The justification for applying a 6 mm displacement is not justified in the manuscript.
  4. The manuscript does not justify selecting the 1.9 mm mesh size. It is unclear whether a mesh convergence study was performed to verify that this mesh size yields accurate and stable results across all parametric variations.
  5. Figures 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 13 should incorporate coordinate systems for better visualization of the models, and their captions should be updated to reflect the descriptions given in the text.
  6. The contact stiffness is arbitrarily set to 0.1 without any justification. Clarify the basis for selecting this value.
  7. The article notes that FE results closely follow the A-L formula but does not quantify the deviation. What is the percentage error between FE results and the A-L formula?
  8. The findings are presented descriptively without in-depth analysis and lack sufficient literature references to justify methods or findings. Sections 3 and 4 should be revised.
  9. A consistent space should be maintained between numerical values and units throughout the manuscript, following standard scientific conventions. Grammatical errors and typos should be corrected. Additionally, the usage of “Fig.” and “Figure” should be standardized for consistency across the text.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper presents a thorough investigation into analysis of the mechanical properties of
diaphragm springs for commercial vehicles using finite element analysis, which is both timely
and relevant to the field. The study offers useful insights into the influence of separation fingers
structural parameters such as size, shape, number, and length on large-end load-displacement
characteristics. However, before this manuscript can be considered for publication, I
recommend some revisions to address the following concerns:
Section Specific Comments:
1. Introduction:
a. Missing References: Several statements throughout the Introduction section’s
first paragraph appear to be factual or assertive in nature but are not supported
by appropriate references (lines 26-33). Kindly provide references for every
statement/sentence.
b. Lack of Flow and Contextual Framing: While the authors have made an effort
to include relevant prior work, each paragraph (paragraphs 2-5) lists several
studies sequentially without providing a coherent narrative. I recommend
including opening and concluding sentences in each paragraph to help readers
understand why these studies were mentioned and how they relate to the
knowledge gap or motivation of the present study.
2. Establishment of Finite Element Model:
a. Section 2.1: The resolution of Figure 1 is currently inadequate and should be
improved for clarity.
b. Section 2.2: While the authors report the mesh size used, it is unclear whether
a mesh sensitivity or convergence analysis was performed. This step is essential
in FEA-based studies to ensure numerical reliability of the results. If it was
conducted, please present and discuss the findings. If not, I recommend
including this analysis in the revised manuscript.
3. Effect of Separation Finger Root Characteristics on Disc Spring:
a. Section 3.1-3.5: Throughout Section 3, the authors discuss performance trends
and make qualitative claims, but do not provide specific numerical values or
percentage differences compared to baseline (e.g., A-L formula). Including this
information in tabular form after each subsection (e.g., Section 3.1, 3.2, etc.)
would greatly improve clarity and allow readers to make direct comparisons.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The main question of the research is the improvement of the design and performance of diaphragm springs for commercial vehicles.

The authors consider diaphragm springs which are axisymmetric mechanical structures. They study the influence of the shape and size at the root of the fingers of a diaphragm. Also, they investigate the importance of the number of holes and the length of the fingers. The standard methodology for calculating the relationship between the axial stroke of the diaphragm and the force uses an analytical function. It does not allow a detailed description of the geometry of the diaphragm. The authors creatively use the finite element method to obtain more precise results for the A-L function. They use the analytical function known in the literature to validate the results they obtain through the numerical method.

The authors provide recommendations for improving the design of diaphragm springs. These guidelines concern the shape, size, and number of fingers in the diaphragm.

Depending on the power of the computing equipment they use for the computational process, in their subsequent developments regarding the consideration of the nonlinear properties of the material, they could use an axisymmetric finite element model.

The conclusions are a direct consequence of the results obtained. They concern the shape, dimensions and number of fingers in the diaphragm of the clutch. They clearly highlight the research carried out and the validity of the results obtained and provide a perspective on further research.

The cited literature is related to the presented study. No self-citations or off-topic citations were found.

In Figure 4, add X, Y, and Z axes.

Of interest is a convergence check.

The title of Table 1 should be on the same page as the table.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

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