TERM PAPER

MEC-302
TOPIC:- Force analysis of steering mechanism of a car

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Mazharul haque Mr.Jaspreet Singh

B.tech (ME)

Roll No:-RB4912A18

Reg.No:-10907347
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to present my votes of thanks to all those guidepost who
really acted as lightening pillars to enlighten our way throughout this project that
has led to successful and satisfactory completion of this study.
We are really grateful to our HOD for providing us with an opportunity to
undertake this project in this university and providing us with all the facilities. We
are highly thankful to Mr.JASPREET SINGH for his active support valuable time
and advice whole hearted guidance sincere cooperation and pains taking
involvement during the study and in completing the assignment of preparing the
said project within the time stipulated.
Lastly We are thankful to all those, particularly the various friends , who have been
instrumental in creating proper, healthy and conductive environment and including
new and fresh innovative ideas for us during the project, their help, it would have
been extremely difficult for us to prepare the project in a time bound framework.

Mazharul haque
Contents

 Introduction
 Fundamental condition for true rolling and correct steering angle
 Component of steering system:
 power steering
 Principles of the Power steering
 There are two kinds power steering currently in use
 speed Sensitive Steering
 Four-wheel steering
 Application
 Rack and pinion steering mechanism
 References
1.INTRODUCTION:
The most convent ional steering arrangement is to turn the front wheels using a hand
operated steering wheel which is positioned in front of the driver via the steering column which
may contain universal joints which may also be part of the collapsible steering
column design to allow it to deviate somewhat from a straight line. Other
arrangements are sometimes found on different types of vehicles for example a tiller or rear
wheel steering. Tracked vehicles such as tanks usually employ differential steering that is the
tracks are made to move at different speeds or even in opposite directions to bring about a
change of course.
(a) Rack and pinion recirculation ball worm and sector.
(b)Rack and pinion animation.

(c)Rack and pinion unit mounted in the cockpit of an ariel atom sports car chassis.For most high
volume production, this is usually mounted on the other side of this panel.

Many modern use rack and pinion steering mechanisms where the steering wheel turns the
pinion gear the pinion moves the rack which is a linear gear that meshes with the pinion
converting circular motion into linear motion along the transverse axis of the car side to side
mot ion. This mot ion applies steering torque to the swivel pin ball joints that replaced
previously used kingpins of the stub axle of the steered wheels via tie rods and a short lever arm
called the steering arm. The rack and pinion design has the advantages of a large degree of feed
and direct steering feel.A disadvantage is that it is not adjustable so that when it does wear and
develop lash the only cure is replacement. so that when it does older designs often use the
recirculation ball mechanism which is still found on trucks and ut ilit y vehicles. This is a
variat ion on the older worm and sector design the steering column turns a large
screw the worm gear which meshes wit h a sector of a gear causing it to rotate about its
axis as the worm gear is turned an arm attached to the axis of the sector moves the pitman arm
which is connected to the steering linkage and t hu s s t e e r s t h e w he e l s . T he
r e c i r c u l a t io n b a l l v e r s io n o f t h i s a p p a r a t u s r e d u c e s t he considerable frict ion
by placing large ball bearings between the teeth of the worm and those of the screw
at either end of t he apparatus the balls exit from between the two pieces into a
channel int ernal to the box which connects them wit h the other end o f the apparatus
thus they are recalculated.The recalculating ball mechanism has the advantage of a much greater
mechanical advantage so that it was found on larger heavier vehicles while the rack and pinion
was originally limited to smaller and lighter ones due to the almost universa l
adoption of p o w e r s t e e r i n g ho w e v e r t h i s i s no lo ng e r a n i m p o r t a nt
a d va nt a g e l e a d i n g t o t he increasing use of rack and pinion on newer cars.
 Fig:1(steering mechanism of car)

2.Fundamental condition for true rolling and correct steering angle :

The perfect steering is achieved when all the four wheels are rolling perfectly under all
conditions of running. While taking turns, the condition of perfect rolling is satisfied if the axes
of the front wheels when produced meet the rear wheel axis at one point. Then this point is the
instantaneous centre of the vehicle. It is seen that the inside wheel is required to turn though a
greater angle than the outer wheel. The larger the steering angle, the smaller is the turning circle.
There is however a maximum to which we can go as regards the steering angle. It has been found
that steering angle of the inner wheel can have a maximum value of about 440. The extreme
positions on either side are called lock positions. The diameter of the smallest circle which the
outer front wheel of the car can
.
traverse and obtained when the wheels arc at their extreme positions is known as the
turning circle.

3.Component of steering system:

4.Power steering:
a portion of the vehicle's power to traverse the axis of one or more of the road wheels. As
v e h i c l e s ha v e b e c o m e h e a v i e r a n d s w it c he d t o fr o nt w he e l d r i v e
p a r t ic u l a r l y u s i n g negat ive offset geometry along wit h increases in t ire width and
diameter P o w e r s t e e r i n g a s s i s t s t h e d r i v e r o f a n a u t o mo b i l e i n s t e e r i n g b y
d ir e c t i n g the effort needed to turn the steering wheel manually has increased often
to the point where major physical exertion is required. To alleviate this auto makers have
developed power steering systems or more correctly power assisted steering on road
going vehicles there has to be a mechanical linkage as a failsafe. There are two types of power
steering systems hydraulic and electric and electronic. A hydraulic electric hybrid
system is also possible.A hydraulic power steering uses hydraulic pressure supplied by an
engine-driven pump to assist the motion of turning the steering wheel. Electric
power steering e s p i s mo r e e f f i c i e nt t h a n t h e h yd r a u l i c p o w e r s t e e r i n g s i n c e
t he e l e c t r ic p o w e r s t e e r i n g mo t o r o n l y ne e d s t o p r o v id e a s s i s t a nc e w he n
t he s t e e r i n g w h e e l i s t u r n e d whereas the hydraulic pump must run constantly. In esp the
assist level is easily tunable t o t he ve h i c l e t yp e r o a d s p e e d a n d e ve n d r i v e r
p r e f e r e n c e . A n a d d e d be n e f it i s t he elimination of environmental hazard posed by
leakage and disposal of hydraulic power steering fluid. Also in the event of the engine cutting
out assist will not be lost where as hydraulic will stop working as well as making the
steering doubly heavy as the driver.

Fig:2(power steering)

5.Principles of the Power steering

direction Power steering has two types of device for steering effort one type is a hydraulic device
utilizing engine power. The other type utilizes an electric motor. For the former the engines used
to drive a pump. For the latter an independent electric motor in the front luggage compartment is
used the pump. Both develop fluid pressure and this pressure acts on a piston within the power
cylinder so that the pinion assists the rack effort. The amount of this assistance depends on the
extent of pressure acting on the piston. Therefore if more steering force is required the pressure
must be raised. The variation in the fluid pressure is accomplished by a control valve which is
linked to the steering main shaft.

a)Neutral (Straight ahead) position:

Fluid from the pump is sent to the control valve. If the control valve is in the neutral position all
the fluid will flow pass through the control valve into the relief port and back to the pump. At
this time hardly any pressure is created and because the pressure on the cylinder piston is equal
on both sides the piston will not move in either.

b) While turning:

When the steering main shaft is turned in either direction the control valve also moves closing
one of the fluid passages. The other passage then opens wider causing a change in fluid flow
volume and at the same time pressure is created. Consequently a pressure difference occurs
between both sides of the piston and the piston moves in the direction of the lower pressure so
that the fluid in that cylinder is forced back to the pump through the control .

6.There are two kinds power steering currently in use:

a)Integral power steering.

The system consists of solid cylinder on which two grooves have been cut known as valve spool
which slides closely within the hole in the valve housing. The housing has three internal grooves
the central groove is connected to the pump and two a tends are connected to the reservoir. The
two additional openings from the internal collars are connected to the two sides of the cylinder as
shown in the figure. When the valve spool is in the position shown in the figure then the pump
delivers the oil in the central part of the housing and then delivers back to the reservoir by the
passages shown by the arrows. In this position there will be no oil pressure in the cylinder and
there is no tendency for the piston to slide in any direction. Thus there is no steering action and
vehicle moves straight a head.
 Fig:3(internal power steering)

b) Linkage booster power steering:

In this type power assistance is applied directly to the steering linkage. The power cylinder
consists of piston and the piston rod is extended out on the right and is fixed to the frame
member. The relay rod is linked with the cylinder housing.In the neutral position the spool valve
is held in the centre position by the centering springs. In this position oil from pump flows to
both sides of the piston in the power cylinder at equal pressure and then there will not be
displacement in the power cylinder thus there will no steering action. In this position the vehicle
moves straight ahead on the road.

Fig:4( Linkage booster power steering)

Again when the steering wheel is turned anticlockwise as shown then the ball of the pitman arm
shifts the valve spool towards right side. Due to this shifting the oil from pump flows in the
valve section of the unit through the ports. Then the oil through feed line flows into the right
hand side of the power cylinder. The high pressure oil inside the cylinder forces it to move to the
right which results to turn the stub axles to the left side.For the right side of the vehicle this
operation of the system is reversed to it.

7.speed Sensitive Steering:

An outgrowth of power steering is speed sensitive steering where the steering is heavily assisted
at low speed and lightly assisted at high speed. The auto makers perceive that motorists might
need to make large steering inputs while maneuvering for parking but not while traveling at high
speed. The first vehicle with this feature was the citron with its diravi layout citation needed
although rather than altering the amount of assistance as in modern power steering systems it
altered the pressure on a centering cam w h i c h m a d e t h e s t e e r i n g w h e e l t r y t o s p r i n g
b a c k t o t he s t r a i g ht a h e a d p o s it i o n. Modern speed sensit ive power steering
systems reduce the mechanical or electrical a s s i s t a n c e a s t he ve h i c l e s p e e d
i n c r e a s e s g i v i n g a mo r e d ir e c t f e e l. T h i s f e a t u r e i s gradually becoming more
common.

Fig:5(speed sensitive steering)

8.Four-wheel steering:

Four wheel steering or all wheel steering is a system employed by some vehicles to improve
steering response increase vehicle stability while maneuvering at high speed or to decrease
turning radius at low speed.In most active four-wheel steering systems the rear wheels are
steered by a computer and actuators. The rear wheels generally cannot turn as far as the front
wheels. Some systems including delphi and the system in Hondas Prelude line allow the rear
wheels to be steered in the opposite direction as the front wheels during low speeds. This allows
the vehicle to turn in a significantly smaller radius sometimes critical for large or tractors and
vehicles with trailers.Many modern vehicles offer a form of passive rear steering to counteract
normal vehicle tendencies. For example Subaru used a passive steering system to correct for the
rear wheels tendency to toe out. On many vehicles when cornering the rear wheels tend to steer
slightly to the outside of a turn which can reduce stability. The passive steering system uses the
lateral forces generated in a turn through suspension geometry and the bushing to correct this
tendency and steer the wheels slightly to the inside of the corner. This improves the stability of
the car through the turn. This effect is called compliance under steer and it or its opposite is
present on all suspensions. Typical methods of achieving compliance understeer are to use a
Watts Link on a live rear axle or the use of toe control bushings on a twist beam suspension. On
an independent rear suspension it is normally achieved by changing the rates of the rubber
bushings in the suspension. Some suspensions will always have compliance oversteer due to
geometry such as hotchkiss live axles or a semi trailing arm.Passive rear wheel steering is not a
new concept as it has been in use for many years although not always recognized as such. For
example Jaguar independent rear suspension incorporated a small amount of passive rear wheel
steering since 1961.

Fig:6( rear steering angle)

9. Application

In an active four-wheel steering system all four wheels turn at the same time when the driver
steers. There can be controls to switch off the rear steer and options to steer only the rear wheel
independent of the front wheels. At slow speeds eg. parking the rear wheels turn opposite of the
front wheels reducing the turning radius by up to twenty five percent while at higher speeds both
front and rear wheels turn alike electronically controlled so that the vehicle may change position
with less yaw enhancing straight line stability. The Snaking effect experienced during motorway
drives while towing a travel trailer is thus largely nullified. Four wheel steering found its most
widespread use in monster trucks where maneuverability in small arenas is critical and it is also
popular in large farm vehicles and trucks. Some of the modern European Intercity buses also
utilize four wheel steering to assist maneuverability in bus terminals, and also to improve road
stability.

General Motors offers Delphis Quadrasteer in their consumer silverado sierra and suburban
yukon. However only 16500 vehicles have been sold with this system since its introduction in
2002 through 2004. Due to this low demand gm discontinued the technology at the end of the
2005 model year.

Previously honda had four wheel steering as an option in their 1987-2000 Prelude and Mazda
also offered four wheel steering on the 626 and mx in 1988.

A new active drive system is introduced on the 2008 version of the renault laguna line. It was
designed as one of several measures to increase security and stability. The active drive should
lower the effects of under steer and decrease the chances of spinning by diverting part of the g-
forces generated in a turn from the front to the rear tires. At low speeds the turning circle can be
tightened so parking and maneuvering is easier.
10.Rack and pinion steering mechanism:
It is very simple and common type mechanism the system is shown in simplified sketch.This
type is very well suitable in an independent suspension system. The system consists of a rack
housed in a tubular casing. The casing is supported on the frame near its ends. The ends of the
rack are connected to the track rods with the help of ball and socket joints. The pinion shaft is
carried in the plain bearings housed in casing. The pinion is meshed with the rack and the
clearance is adjusted with the adjusting screw. When the pinion is given rotary motion with the
steering wheel then the rack slides in either sides. This sliding motion of the rack is used through
the track rods to turn the wheels in desired side.

Fig:7(Rack and pinion steering mechanism)

References:

1. www.2carpros.com/articles/how-car-steering-works
2. www.carbibles.com/steering_bible.html - Cached - Similar
3. www.scribd.com/doc/23430592/Steering - Cached - Similar