Friction clutches are used in motor vehicles to enable smooth engagement and release between the engine shaft and the driveline. A friction plate (clutch disc in Figure 1) is usually placed between the flywheel and the pressure plate(clutch cover in Figure 1). Using an actuating mechanism (release control system in Figure 1), friction plate will be pressed to the surfaces in contact and starts rotating. In a hybrid power-train the engine shaft can be disengaged from drive-shaft each time the vehicle is solely running in electric mode. This enables an alternative clutch with a combined friction and electromagnetic design. [1],[2] In this paper an analytical comparison is accomplished to investigate the performance of each design. For an electromagnetic clutch a 2D finite element model has been employed and results are included. It demonstrates the merit of the design neatly.

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