Ok you guys may have turned me back around. If I read that JUUUUST right, I guess it does say mechanical actuation.
"
... because when torque is applied to the differential gear set, the reaction forces of the bevel gears apply an axial force into the clutch system providing the torque bias."
Many years ago I had the open diff in my Dodge Charger swapped with a Getrag LSD from a Challenger. That was also a clutched type. Independent rear suspension in that car, no solid rear axle, so this was just swapping pumpkins. A direct bolt-on swap. That LSD was unquestionably mechanical only; I seen with my own eyes... no motors, no actuators, no electrical connections.
As it turned out, the only two times I
ever fish-tailed a vehicle was with that LSD. One time very severely, where the rear broke loose and swung around causing all four tires to break loose. My car rotated, slid while rotating, and hopped the center median ending up in the oncoming lanes. This, at only about 40 mph. The other time also about 40 mph the rear again broke loose and came around. I was virtually perpendicular to the direction of traffic but was able to feather the controls and right the car.
I never thought much about that until reading some comments here that explained situations where LSD or locking can actually be a detriment. It was only recently that the light bulb came on and I realized... I experienced exactly what those comments said... that when on the road in low traction situations and a slip occurs, the engagement of the other wheel can cause both to break loose.
So... in my mind, I see benefits of a mechanical-only LSD but also critical flaws. A mechanical-only system can be dangerous but coupled with fairly aggressive traction control may be enough to overcome the situations I described above. Maybe??
Just for fun... I see from
@SpeedyV 's posts "eLocker" is Eaton trademark. In digging around the webs, I found AAM throwing around a similar term: "Elock"
