MAS-10 Steering System and Wheel Alignment PDF

PEMP
AEL2501
Wheel Alignment, Steering Systems and

Steering Control
Lecture delivered by:

Prof. Ashok C.Meti
MSRSAS--Bangalore
MSRSAS
1
M.S Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies - Bangalore
PEMP
AEL2501
Session Objectives
To study various wheel alignment related issues
To understand the steering system in an
automobile
To study the components of steering systems and
their configurations
To identify the need for the electronic control in
power steering and its importance.
To
T studyd working
ki off Hydraulic
H d li power steering i andd
EPS
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Topics
Wheel alignment
Steering systems
Power assisted steering systems
Hydraulic Power Assisted Steering
EPS
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Wheel alignment
At todays increased driving speeds, it most important to
have swift and positive response from the steering system.
To accomplish this, the wheels must be in alignment.
It allows the wheels to roll without scuffing, dragging, or
slipping on different types of road conditions.
Proper alignment in both front and rear wheels ensures-
Greater safety in driving
Easier steering
Longer
g tire life
Reduction in fuel consumption
Less strain on steering system and suspension components
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The alignment geometry

The proper alignment f a
suspension/ steering system
depends on the accuracy of the
following:
Caster
Camber
Toe
Thrust line alignment
Steering Axle Inclination
(SAI)
Turning radius
Tracking
There are host of gauges and
electronic equipment to check
and adjust these parameters.
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Caster
Is the angle of the
steeringg axis of a wheel
from the vertical, as
viewed from the side
of the vehicle
It designed to provide
steering stability
Caster is not related to
tire wear
Camber AND Castor Gauge

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Camber
It is the angle represented
by thetilt of either the
front or rear wheels
inward outward from the
vertical as viewed from
the front of the car
It is designed to
compensate for road
crown,
crown passenger weight,
weight
and vehicle weight
Camber and Castor Gauge

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Toe
It is the distance
comparison between the
leading edge and trailing
edge of the front tires
If the leading edge distance
is less, then there is toe-in
If greater, it is toe-out
Toe is critical as a tire
wearing angle
Wheels that do not track
straight ahead have to drag
as they travel forward
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Thrust Line Alignment

The vehicle must run
straight down the road with
the rear tires tracking
directly behind the front
tires when steering wheel is
in the straight-ahead
position
The geometric centerline of
the vehicle should parallel
the road direction
If not, the vehicle tends to
travel in the direction of the
thrust line, rather than
straight ahead
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Steering Axle Inclination

(SAI)
It locates the inside or
outside of the vertical
centerline of the tire
Is the angle between true
vertical and a line drawn
between the steering pivots
as viewed from the front of
the vehicle
The SAI helps the vehicles
steering system return to
straight--ahead after a turn
straight
SAI angles
FWD 12-18 degrees
RWD 6-8 degrees
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Turning Radius
Is the amount of toe-out present in
turns
It is also called toe-out on turns
i angle
or turning l
As the car goes round the corner,
the inside tire must travel in a
smaller radius circle than the
outside tire
This is accomplished by designing
the steering geometry to turn the
inside wheel sharper than the
outside wheel
This toe-out eliminates the tire
scrubbing on the road surface by Turning radius is affected in turns
keeping the tires pointed in the
direction they have to move
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Tracking
All vehicles are built around a geometric centerline that runs
through the center of the chassis from the back to the front
An
A idideall alignment
li has
h allll 4 wheels
h l parallel
ll l to the
h centerline
li
making the thrust line parallel to the centerline (tracking)
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Wheel alignment equipment
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Steering System
The purpose of the steering system is to turn the front
wheels(normally).
The wheels constantly change direction, while switching
l
lanes, rounding
di sharp
h turns,
t andd when
h avoiding
idi roadway
d
obstacles.
The manual steering is consisting of
Steering linkages
Steering gear
Steering column and wheel
Working:
Wo g:
As the steering wheel is turned by the driver, the steering
gear transfers this motion to the steering linkages
linkages.
The steering linkage turns the wheels to control the
vehicles direction.
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Steering Linkage:
It is the system of pivots and connecting parts placed between the
steering gear and the steering arms that are attached to the front or
rear wheels that control the direction of the vehicle travel.
It transfers motion of the steering gear output shaft to the steering
arms, turning the wheels to maneuver the vehicle.
arms
Parallelogram Steering linkage:
Provides good steering and suspension geometry
Used in conjunction with IFS
Can be configured for placing behind or ahead of the front-wheel
suspension
Uses components like-
like
Pitman Arm
Idler Arm
Links (Center, drag, or steering links)
Tie-rods
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Pitman arm
Connects the linkage to the steering column through a steering gear
located at the base of the column
Transmits
i the
h motion
i iti receives
i from
f gear to the
h linkage,
li k causing
i
the linkage to move left or right to turn the wheels
Idler arm
It is normally attached on the opposite side of the center link, from
pitman arm and the car frame, supporting the center link at the
correct height
A ppivot built into the arm or assemblyy permits
p sideways
y movement
of the linkage
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Links
Depending on the design application, can be referred to as
Center link
Drag link
Steering links
Their purpose is to control sideways linkage movement, which
changes the wheel directions
Tie rods
Are usually assemblies that make final connections between the
steering linkage and steering knuckle
They consists of
of-
Inner tie-rod ends, which are connected to the opposite sides of the
center linkage
Outer tie-rods, which are connected to the steering knuckle
They also have provision for varying lengths for correct settings
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Steering Gear box

The purpose of the steering gear is
to change the rotational motion of
the steering wheel to a
reciprocating motion to move
steering linkage.
Different style of steering gear
boxes used-
Recirculating ball steering gear
Worm and roller type steering
gear box
Rack and pinion type
A recirculating ball type is
generally found in large cars.
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Rack and Pinion

It is lighter in weight and has few
components
Rack
Is a toothed bar contained in a metal
housing
The rack is similar to the parallelogram
center link in that its sideways
movement in the housing is what pulls or
pushes the tie-rods to change wheel
directions
Pinion
It is a toothed or worm gear mounted at
the base of the steering column assembly
where it is moved by steering wheel
The pinion gear meshes with the teeth in
the rack so that the rack is propelled
sideways in response to the turning of
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the pinion M.S Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies - Bangalore
PEMP
AEL2501
Steering input is received from the pinion gear

attached to the steering column. This gear
moves a toothed rack that is attached to the tie
tie--
rods.
rods
The movement of the rack pushes or pulls the
tie-rods to change the wheels direction.
The driver gets greater feeling of the road with
rack & pinion as this assembly has less friction
points. (reduced isolation and vibrations
damping)
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Steering wheel and column

The role of the steering wheel and column is to produce
the necessaryy force to turn the steeringg ggear.
The steering wheel is used to produce the turning effort
effort.
Types of steering columns:
Fixed column
Telescopic column
Tilt column, and so on
The steering column is made collapsible that allows the
column to fold into itself , upon impact
impact.
The drivers side Air bag assembly is contained in the
center portion of the steering wheel.
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Power Assisted Steering

It is designed to reduce the amount of effort required to turn the
steering wheel.
It also reduces the driver fatigue on long drives and makes it easier
to steer the vehicle at low road speeds, particularly while parking.
parking.
At higher steering efforts are required at higher speeds to provide
the improved down-to-road feel.
Two design arrangements
arrangements:
Conventional
Hydraulic power is used to assist the driver. Some of the variants:
Integral piston linkage
Power assisted rack and pinion
External piston linkage (older version)
Electronically controlled
An electrical motor and an electronic control are used to provide the
assistance.
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Variable-assist steering
Application of electronic control technology
to vehicle steering system is still in the
d l
development t stage.
t
Several techniques have been suggested by
several designers and implemented on
vehicles by manufacturers.
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Fundamentals of Electronically controlled power

steering:
Electronically controlled steering:
Improves steering feel
Improves power-saving effectiveness
Increases steering performance.
The intent of an electronic control is to-
Reduce the steering effort when driving at low speeds
Supply feedback for the appropriate steering reaction force when
drivingg at high
g speeds.
speeds
p
The vehicle speed sensors are used to sense the vehicle
speed in order to make smooth and continuous changes in
the steering assist rate under conditions ranging from
steering maneuvers at zero speed to those at high speeds.
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Electronically controlled Hydraulic System:

The system consists of
A linear solenoid valve
A vehicle speed sensor
Other electronic devices as part of hydraulic system
Based on the signals from the speed sensor, the flow and
pressure of the hydraulic fluid is controlled by means of
the operation of the solenoid valves.
valves
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Flow Control Method:

Solenoid valve is located
at the pump discharge
port.
Controller regulates the
solenoid valve opening at
high speeds to reduce the
pump discharge volume,
thus increasing the
required steering effort
effort.
Vehicle Speed-responsive pump discharge
flow volume control type
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Cylinder Bypass Control Method:

A solenoid valve and a bypass line are located
between both chambers of the power cylinder.
cylinder
The opening of the valve is extended by electronic
control equipment in accordance with increase in
vehicle speed, thus reducing the hydraulic
pressure in the power cylinder and increasing the
steering
g effort.
effort
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Hybrid System:
Utilize a flow control method in which the hydraulic power
steering pump is driven by an electric motor
motor.
The steering effort is controlled by controlling the rotating
speed of the pump.
pump
The drive efficiency of the generator and motor are low
compared to that of the hydraulic pump, which is driven by
the vehicle engine.
But because any residual flow is not discharged, the power
loss is lower than that of the engine pump when driving at
high speeds.
speeds
There is large degree of freedom in mounting location
selection.
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Driving Mode Response method:

Control system consists of
Vehicle speed sensor
Steering angular velocity sensor
El t i control
Electronic t l unit
it
Motor driven hydraulic pump
Driving conditions are
automatically judged, and the
Driving mode responsive-type hybrid pump flow rates is controlled
power steering
in accordance with this
condition in order to provide
the appropriate steering effort
for the driving conditions.
Driving mode and pump flow rate

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Steering wheel speed responsive Method:

System consists of components such as-
Steering wheel angular velocity sensor
ECU
Motor driven hydraulic pump
The pump flow is controlled in accordance with the angular
velocity of the steering wheel and vehicle speed
The discharge flow volume of the pump is reduced and the
steering response drops when the vehicle is driven at high
speeds
In this system, therefore, the speed of the motor is increased
in accordance with the detected angular velocity of the
steering wheel in order to increase the discharge flow
volume to solve the problem.
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Steering Speed-responsive-type hybrid power steering
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Basic Control
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Electric Power Steering (EPS):

Electric power steering is a fully electric system which
reduces the amount of steering effort by directly applying
the output from an electric motor to the steering system.
system
The system consists of:
A steering sensor (torque, angular velocity)
ECU
Drive unit
Motor
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Structure of EPS System (Rack assist-type ball screw drive)

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The signals outputs from each of the sensors are input to

the ECU where necessary steering assistance is calculated
and applied by the drive unit to control the operation of the
motor.
motor
In this system, setting range for the steering effort is large
and also because it is possible to supply only the amount of
power that is necessary when the steering wheel is turned,
a large reduction in power requirements can be effectively
achieved with no power losses.
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Column shaft drive method
Pinion shaft drive method
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Rack
Rack--and
and--pinion steering mechanisms, the EPS system
applies the motor power to the pinion gear shaft or to the
rack shaft.
shaft
Several reduction gears are employed to increase the
torque of the motor.
motor
The maximum amount of assist, the smoothness of steering
feel and the degree of noise level during steering are the
determined by power transmission systems.
In ggeneral,, it is ppossible to obtain a ggreater amount of assist
from the rack assist method than from pinion assist
method.
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Sensors:
The EPS uses variety of sensors to control the motor.
Torque sensor detects the steering effort
Wheel angular sensor determines angular velocity of the steering
wheel
Battery sensor determines the battery voltage
Current sensor determines the motor current & battery current
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Torque sensors:
Pinion shaft in the rack-and-pinion steering
mechanism is divided into two sections.
sections
Input shaft
Pinion gear
It consists of a torsion bar that connects the two
sections.
A differential transformer is used to to generate an
electrical signal.
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Angular velocity sensor:

It consists of a gear train which is located around
the input shaft and a DC generator
generator, which is
driven at an increased speed by the gear train.
The turning direction and angular velocity of the
steering wheel are detected by the turning
direction and angular velocity of this DC
generator
generator.
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Torque Sensor and Angular

Velocity Sensor
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Torque sensor operation
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Electronic Control Unit:

The ECU consists of an interface circuit that coordinates
the signals from the various sensors, an A/D converter and
a PWM unit it all
ll built
b ilt into
i t one 8-bit
8 bit one
one--chip
hi
microprocessor, a watchdog timer(WDT)
microprocessor timer and a PWM
drive circuit.
circuit
The ECU conducts a search for data according to a table
lookup method based on the signals input from each sensor
and carries out a prescribed calculation using this data to
obtain the assist force.
Trouble diagnosis for the sensors and the microprocessor is
also carried out and when problem is detected, power to
motor is interrupted, an indicator lamp is illuminates, and
the DTC is stored in memory.
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Power unit:
The power unit consists of a power MOSFET bridge
circuit which drives the motor in a forward or reverse
direction.
A drive circuit which controls the respective power
MOSFET of this bridge circuit, a current sensor and a
relay which turns the motor current ON and OFF.
Depending on the magnitude of the current, some systems
are pprovided with an integrated
g ECU and ppower unit,, while
other systems have each section separate.
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ECU and Drive Unit
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Motor Control Methods:

Current control method:
The target value for the motor current,
current which
corresponds to the motor assist torque, is set so that it is
equal to the vehicle speed response type derived from
the signal of the vehicle speed sensor.
Voltage control method:
Both the motor torque and the motor speed can be
controlled by the output from the torque sensor and the
steering wheel angular velocity sensor.
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Trends in R&D
The demands that are continuously increasing:
Faster speeds
Higher quality
Reduced power requirement
In order to respond to these demands, R&D is
happening in application of electronic control systems
with the aim of further improving functions and
performances.
Proposed feature include:
Introduction of fuzzy logic
Adaptive power steering
Active reaction power steering
ESP concepts
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Summary
Various wheel alignment related issues have
been discussed
The steering systems in an automobile have
been discussed
The components of steering system
including power assisted steering systems
and their arrangements have been discussed
Working of EPS has been discussed
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MAS-10 Steering System and Wheel Alignment PDF

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MAS-10 Steering System and Wheel Alignment PDF

Uploaded by

PEMP

Wheel Alignment, Steering Systems and

Lecture delivered by:

The alignment geometry

Camber AND Castor Gauge

Camber and Castor Gauge

Thrust Line Alignment

Steering Axle Inclination

Wheel alignment equipment

Steering Gear box

Rack and Pinion

Steering input is received from the pinion gear

Steering wheel and column

Power Assisted Steering

Fundamentals of Electronically controlled power

Electronically controlled Hydraulic System:

Flow Control Method:

Cylinder Bypass Control Method:

Driving Mode Response method:

Driving mode and pump flow rate

Steering wheel speed responsive Method:

Electric Power Steering (EPS):

Structure of EPS System (Rack assist-type ball screw drive)

The signals outputs from each of the sensors are input to

Column shaft drive method

Pinion shaft drive method

Angular velocity sensor:

Torque Sensor and Angular

Torque sensor operation

Electronic Control Unit:

ECU and Drive Unit

Motor Control Methods:

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