TMM4155 PuMa8

Suspension Definitions & Terminology

Terminology
Roll Center
Roll Center is the point around which the body of a car is rotating when cornering. The rear suspension has its own roll center and the front suspension has its own roll center A line drawn between these two points determines the roll axis.

Terminology (Contd)
Understeer
Understeer is one of the two basic reactions of a vehicle when steering forces direct a car off its straight heading Understeer is a resistance to any steering wheel angle being added to stay on the radius path of the turn Understeer is pushing or plowing of the front end of vehicle

Terminology (Contd)
Oversteer
Oversteer is the other basic reaction of a vehicle to steering. This means that the rear end of the vehicle is loose, requiring less and less steering angle to keep the vehicle on the radius path of the turn Oversteer is an unstable condition, and almost always undesirable

Terminology (Contd)
Understeer/oversteer
The two most important factors that influence understeer and oversteer are weight distribution of the vehicle and roll resistance (accomplished through selective spring rates) Ps: Understeer is when the driver is scared, Oversteer is when the passenger is scared ....!

Terminology (contd)
Slip Angle
Slip Angle is the difference between the line the tires are steered on and the line they actually follow A front heavy vehicle will oversteer because the outside tire on the front heavy vehicle, will require a larger slip angle to handle the heavier weight loading

Terminology (Contd)
Slip Angle (contd)
When the roll center is raised on one end of a vehicle, it will increase the load transfer and thus the slip angle at that end of the car Varying tire pressure will vary the slip angle. Lowering the inflation will lower the load carrying capacity of a tire, so slip angle will be increased

Terminology (Contd)
Cornering
Entering the corner the outside front wheel will be the most heavily loaded, the outside rear the next, with the inside front third and inside rear the least heavily loaded The deceleration pitch starts to dismiss and centrifugal force is the greatest as the apex of the turn approaches and is passed The accelerated exit. This causes the outside rear tire to be the heaviest loaded, followed by the outside front, the inside rear and then inside front

Terminology (Contd)
Roll Couple Distributionis is a controlling factor of understeer and oversteer
Increasing roll stiffness at one end of a car will produce a greater tire slip angle of the outside tire. To control a car that is oversteering you would increase the roll stiffness at the front end of the vehicle Roll couple is adjusted with spring and anti-roll bar rates. The stiffer end of a vehicle will lose traction first

Terminology (Contd)
Center Of Gravity Height (CGH)
The lower the CGH, the better the cornering ability of the vehicle Production vehicles have a CGH from 18 to 25 inches above the ground When components are rearranged and the total vehicle lowered, the stock cars racers CGH can be 14.5 to 17 inches

Terminology (Contd)
Roll Centers
Every vehicle has a front roll center and rear roll center The roll center is a theoretical point determined by the pivot point location and angles of the suspension linkages, about which the particular end of the vehicle rolls The greater distance between the CGH and the roll axis, the greater the body roll angle with a given lateral acceleration

Terminology (Contd)
Spring Rate
Spring Rate is the stiffness of a spring as expressed in pounds per inch To obtain this rating, force or weight is applied straight down on the spring to compress it one inch

Terminology (Contd)
Ride Rate
Ride Rate is how the vertical dynamic loads which the wheels encounter are carried to the passenger of the vehicle Soft springs as used to control deflections which are fed into the frame and structure to assure a soft ride.

Terminology (Contd)
Wheel Rate
Wheel Rate is the effective spring rate of the spring at the center of the wheel The further the spring from the wheel, the softer the wheel rate (leverage effect)

Terminology (Contd)
Ackerman
Ackerman is the difference that one wheel turns in respect to the other

Terminology (Contd)
Stabilizer Bars
The front sway-bar and the rear sway-bar have to work together with each other Simply installing a larger front bar with no rear bar will make the car understeer worse Adding a larger rear bar with no front upgrade will make the car potentially oversteer

Terminology (Contd)
Caster angle
Caster angle settings have a tremendous effect on "wandering" and "road feel" The more positive the caster settings, the more the car has a tendency to straighten the wheels by itself after a turn

Terminology (Contd)
Lumped mass
For example, under braking, the entire vehicle slows down as a unit; thus it can be represented as one lumped mass located at its center of gravity (CG) In that case the lumped mass representing the body is the "sprung mass," and the wheels are denoted as "unsprung masses

Terminology (Contd)
Vehicle-fixed axes systems (SAE)
Vehicle-fixed axes systems originates at the CG and travels with the vehicle
x -Forward and on the longitudinal plane of symmetry y -Lateral out the right side of the vehicle z -Downward with respect to the vehicle p -Roll velocity about the x axis q -Pitch velocity about the y axis r -Yaw velocity about the z axis

Terminology (Contd)

Terminology (Contd)
Motion variables
Vehicle motion is usually described by the velocities (forward, lateral, vertical, roll, pitch and yaw) with respect to the vehicle fixed coordinate system

Terminology (Contd)
Euler angles
The relationship of the vehicle fixed coordinate system to the earth fixed coordinate system is defined by Euler angles First rotated in yaw (around the z axis), then in pitch (around the y axis), and then in roll (around the x axis) It is necessary to adhere strictly to the defined sequence of rotations, because the resultant attitude will vary with the order of rotations.

Terminology (Contd)
Earth-fixed axes systems (SAE)
X - Forward travel Y - Travel to the right Z - Vertical travel (positive downward) - Heading angle (angle between x and X in the ground plane) - Course angle (angle between the vehicle's velocity vector and X axis) - Sideslip angle (angle between x axis and the vehicle velocity vector)

Terminology (Contd)

Suspension systems and components

Chassis Overview
Limit our discussion to the suspension and steering

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Coil Springs

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Leaf Springs

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Torsion Bar

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Pneumatic Springs

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Suspension System Operation
Suspension system springs must jounce (compress) and rebound (extend) with bumps and holes in the road surface They support the weight of the vehicle while still allowing suspension travel (movement)

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Shock Absorbers
Shock absorbers are used to return the suspension to its natural position quickly and smoothly Not only do shock absorbers control the compression of the spring, but the expansion (or rebound) as well Shock absorbers dampen the movement of springs by using fluid or gas forced through holes in the shock absorbers piston

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Shock Absorbers (Contd)

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Non-Independent Versus Independent
On non-independent suspension systems, both right and left wheels are attached to one solid axle. When one tire hits a bump in the road, its upward movement causes a slight upward tilt of the other wheel On independent suspension systems, each wheel is attached to its own suspension unit

Suspension systems and components (Contd)

Front Suspension
Functions
Supporting the weight of the vehicle and passengers Providing a smooth, comfortable ride by cushioning bumps and holes in the road Maintaining traction between the tires and the road during braking and steering maneuvers Holding the wheels in alignment

Front Suspension (Contd)

Major Components
Steering knuckles - provide spindle or bearing support for mounting wheel hub, bearings, brake assembly, and wheel assembly Control arms - movable levers that fasten steering knuckle to the car frame Ball joints - swivel joints that allow control arms and steering knuckle to rotate, move up and down, and move from side to side

Front Suspension (Contd)

Major Components (Contd)
Springs - support the weight of the car; flex to permit control arm and wheel to move up and down Shock absorbers - keep suspension from continuing to bounce up and down after springs compress and extend Stabilizer bars - metal rods that run between lower control arms to provide additional stability and a more level ride Bearings - eliminate friction between rotating shafts and stationary parts

Front Suspension (Contd)

Front Suspension Types

MacPherson strut

Unequal length control arm (SLA)

MacPherson Strut

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Strut Damper or MacPherson Strut
The rod and tubes are large and strong The strut supports the cars weight The strut provides damping The bracket on the bottom attaches directly to the knuckle The rod attaches to a special strut mount designed to isolate noise but take the greater loads

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Strut Construction
A strut is basically a piston operating inside a cylinder One end of the strut is attached to the vehicle body or frame The other end is attached to a moving suspension part such as the knuckle

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Strut Operation
Movement of the spring causes the strut to lengthen and shorten As this happens, the piston in the strut moves up and down through the fluid This causes the fluid to flow through small holes or "orifices" in the piston. The resulting fluid friction limits spring movement.

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Gas-Charged Struts
Basic hydraulic struts contain air above the fluid in the cylinder During spring action, the fluid between the chambers can mix with the air causing the fluid to foam or aerate The gas further helps the damping action as it compresses and expands

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Design considerations
The advantages of the MacPherson strut include its simple design of fewer components, widely spaced anchor points that reduce loads, and efficient packaging From a designer's viewpoint, its disadvantages include a relatively high overall height which tends encourage a higher hood and fender line, and its relatively limited camber change during jounce

MacPherson Strut (Contd)

Design considerations (Contd)
A disadvantage on the consumer level is the comparatively high cost of servicing the shock absorber A small camber change during jounce and rebound is characteristic of the strut design

SLA

SLA (Contd)
SLA (Unequal Length Control Arm)
This system is sometimes referred to as a "double A-arm," which is derived from the shape of the two control arms on each side of the vehicle that connect the steering knuckle to the frame and body This design is also referred to as a "shortarm/long arm (SLA)" or "double-wishbone" system

SLA (Contd)
The SLA suspension has been the predominate system of personal cars for nearly half a century Early versions had two parallel A-arms of equal length which resulted in wheels that leaned outboard in turns The design also caused excessive tire scrubbing because of the large variation in tread-width as the wheel moved off the neural position

SLA (Contd)
The unequal length, non-parallel A-arm system (SLA) allows the designer to place the reaction point of the wheel at virtually any point in space A line projected from the bottom of the wheel to the virtual reaction point establishes the vehicle roll center at the point of intersection with the vertical centerline of the vehicle

SLA (Contd)

SLA (Contd)
Anti dive feature

Multi-link suspension (MLS)

Any independent suspensions having 3 control arms or more are multi-link BMW's multi-link looks like a letter "Z", thus gave its name "Z-axle" Audi A4's Quadralink front suspension has four links. It looks alike double wishbones but eliminates torque steer

Other front suspensions

Twin I-Beam Axles Straight Axle Active suspension systems