A Noble Design of Steering System for

Vehicles

B.E. Minor Project Report

BY
Adarsh K Das
Amit Sharma
Ritesh

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CHANDIGARH COLLEGE OF ENAGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
(DEGREE WING)

CHANDIGARHG-160019 (INDIA)
December, 2014

CERTIFICATE
We hereby certify that the work which is being presented in the B.E. Minor
Project Report entitled A Novel Design of Steering System for Vehicles, in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Bachelor of Engineering in
Mechanical Engineering and submitted to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of
Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (Degree Wing), Chandigarh is an
authentic record of my own work carried out during a period from July 2014 to
December 2014 under the supervision of Pankaj Rana, ME Department.
The matter presented in this thesis report has not been submitted by us for the
award of any other degree elsewhere.
Signature of Candidate
Adarsh K Das (CO11101)

Amit Sharma (CO11106)

Ritesh (CO11153)

This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidates is

correct to the best of my knowledge.

Signature of Supervisor
Date:

Pankaj Rana, Assistant Professor

Project Supervisor

Signature

Jatinder Madan,
Head of Mechanical Engineering Department
Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology (Degree Wing), Chandigarh

Abstract
A noble design of Steering system for automotive vehicles is introduced
and tested in this study. The steering system introduced is light weight and can be
manufactured at a fraction of cost of rack and pinion and is ideal for vehicles like Go-kart,
Lawn Mover, Golf Carts, Efficycle and many other such vehicles.
During motion of a vehicle a large amount of forces is transferred from
ground to the chassis. These forces result in stresses in the structure and deteriorate the
comfort level of the vehicle. In order to reduce these forces suspension system is used. Use of
suspension requires a steering system which can allow for the up and down motion of tires
while satisfying to Ackerman Geometry. Existing steering systems were either too heavy to be
used or do not allow for the up and down motion of the tire. Thus, inorder to solve this
problem a new noble design was invented.
A revolute joint linkage model of this design is created and analyzed in
MSC Adams View. Both Dynamic and kinematic analysis of this design is carried out. The
Hilber-Hughes-Taylor (HHT) method is used in MSC Adams View to solve for Kinematics and
Dynamics. In order to reduce the Ackerman error in the Geometry and for having Ackerman
Percentage of 100 at maximum turning angle of the tires, various linkages of this designed
steering system were optimized for their length and angles. A Detailed study of Ackerman
geometry of this noble steering is carried out and the result of this current study is compared
with that of the prototype developed.

Acknowledgement
I wish to express my profound gratitude and indebtedness to Mr. Pankaj Rana,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chandigarh College of Engineering and
Technology for his inspiring guidance, constructive criticism and valuable suggestion
throughout the project work.
Last but not least, my sincere thanks to all our friends who have
patiently extended all sorts of help for accomplishing this undertaking.

Adarsh K Das
(CO11101)
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology

CONTENTS
1.

INTRODUCTION
1.1 TYPES OF STEERING LINKAGES
1.1.1 RACK AND PINION LINKAGE
1.1.2 PARALLEL LINKAGE
1.1.2 HALTENBERGER LINKAGE
1.1.2 PARALLELOGRAM LINKAGE
1.2 STEERING GEOMETRY TEERMINOLOGY
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.4 OBJECTIVE
1.5 OVERVIEW

2.

CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
2.1 DESIGN METHODOLOGY
2.2 CAD DESIGN
2.3 SUMMARY

3.

DESIGN OPTIMIZATION AND PERFORMANCE

3.1 DESIGN METHODOLOGY
3.2 MULTI BODY DESIGN FORMULATION
3.3 SUMMARY

4.

PROTOTYPE

5.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 RESULTS
5.2 CONCLUSION

6.

REFERENCES

1. Introduction
Steering system, in automobiles is used to control the direction of a vehicle's
motion. Because of friction between the front tires and the road, especially in parking, effort
is required to turn the steering wheel. To lessen the effort required, the wheel is connected
through a system of gears to components that position the front tires. The gears give the
driver a mechanical advantage, i.e., they multiply the force he applies, but they also increase
the distance through which he must turn the wheel in order to turn the tires a given amount.
Various types of gear assemblies, none with any decisive advantages over the others,
are used, although some manufacturers prefer a rack-and-pinion system. In faster, heavier
cars the amount of force required to turn the tires can be very great. Many of these cars use
a power-steering system.
Steering System also helps to achieve better maneuverability, reducing the turning
circle radius of the car and to reduce the drivers steering effort. The added benefit of a
steering system is to absorb road shocks thereby preventing them from getting transmitted
to the drivers hands hence making the driver achieve maximum possible comfort during long
drives.

1.1. Types of Steering Linkages

There are three basic types of steering linkage used in passenger cars and light
trucks. These are Rack and Pinion, Parallel Linkages and Haltenberger Linkages.
There are other variations on those designs described in this section, but these
are the three fundamental types. Heavy truck and certain non-highway vehicles
utilize significantly different types of steering linkage.

1.1.1 Rack and Pinion Linkage

As the driver turns the steering wheel, the shaft that runs from the
steering wheel to a pinion gear (1) causes the pinion gear to turn. As the
pinion gear turns it causes the rack (2) to move side to side. As the rack
moves side to side it will push the tie rod ends (3) and the steering arms
(4) in the desired direction thus turning the wheels.

Advantages of this system include precise geometry, a relatively low

weight, and a relatively low cost.

The main disadvantages of rack and pinion linkage are a relatively low
carrying capacity and inflexibility when it comes to packaging and space
within the car.

Figure 1

1.1.2

Parallel Linkage
As the driver turns the steering wheel the shaft which runs from the steering
wheel to a steering gear (1) rotates causing the pitman arm (2) to rotate. The
pitman arm is connected to a center link (3), which will move side to side.
This side to side motion will cause the tie rod end/sleeve assembly (4) and
steering arms (5) to move thus turning the wheels in appropriate direction.
The idler arm (6) connects the steering linkage to the frame and keeps
everything parallel and aligned properly.
Advantages of this system include precise geometry, high load carry
capability, and package friendly; meaning it can be designed easily to work
around obstacles such as an oil pan.
The main disadvantage of parallel linkage is a relatively higher weight and
cost.

Figure 2

1.1.3 Haltenberger Linkage

As the driver turns the steering wheel the shaft which runs from the steering
wheel to a steering gear (1) rotates causing the pitman arm (2) to rotate. The
pitman arm is connected to a drag link (3), which will move side to side. This
side to side motion (or dragging) will cause the tie rod end (4) and steering
arms (5) to move thus turning the wheels in the appropriate direction.
Advantages of this system include a high strength capability; it is less expensive
than parallel linkage; and it is package friendly meaning it can be designed to fit
around obstacles such as an oil pan.
The main disadvantage of Haltenberger linkage is that it does not provide for
precise geometry.

Figure 3

1.1.4 Parallelogram Linkage

A parallelogram steering linkage is called such because like its name sake the two
sides of the linkage run parallel to each other and are equal in distance. This type of
steering linkage uses four tie rods, one inner and one outer on each side (left and
right), a center link (which runs between the tie rods), an idler arm on the passenger
side, and a pitman arm on the driver side. The pitman arm attaches to the steering
gear output shaft which is also commonly called the pitman shaft. The pitman arm
attaches to the center link and is moved by turning the steering wheel. The center link
transfers the movement from the pitman arm and pitman shaft to the idler arm on the
passenger side. The inner tie rods are mounted to the center link and transfer steering
motion to the steering arms and outer tie rods. All of the joints which mount these
components are constructed of small ball and socket joints to provide the necessary
freedom of movement required to maintain control over the vehicle while it is in
motion. The most common type of steering is the parallelogram.

Figure 4

1.2. Steering Geometry Terminology

Ackermann steering geometry is a geometric arrangement of linkages in the
steering of a car or other vehicle designed to solve the problem of wheels on the inside and
outside of a turn needing to trace out circles of different radius.
The intention of Ackermann geometry is to avoid the need for tires to slip sideways
when following the path around a curve. The geometrical solution to this is for all wheels to
have their axles arranged as radii of a circle with a common center point. As the rear wheels
are fixed, this center point must be on a line extended from the rear axle. Intersecting the
axes of the front wheels on this line as well requires that the inside front wheel is turned,
when steering, through a greater angle than the outside wheel.
Rather than the preceding "turntable" steering, where both front wheels turned
around a common pivot, each wheel gained its own pivot, close to its own hub. While more
complex, this arrangement enhances controllability by avoiding large inputs from road
surface variations being applied to the end of a long lever arm, as well as greatly reducing
the fore-and-aft travel of the steered wheels. A linkage between these hubs pivots the two
wheels together, and by careful arrangement of the linkage dimensions the Ackermann
geometry could be approximated. This was achieved by making the linkage not a simple
parallelogram, but by making the length of the track rod (the moving link between the hubs)
shorter than that of the axle, so that the steering arms of the hubs appeared to "toe out". As
the steering moved, the wheels turned according to Ackermann, with the inner wheel
turning further. If the track rod is placed ahead of the axle, it should instead be longer in
comparison, thus preserving this same "toe out".
Various terminology used in the steering geometry are:

Steering Angle: The steering angle is defined as the angle between the front of the
vehicle and the steered wheel direction as shown in Figure

Figure 5

Steering Ackerman: Steering Ackerman describes the angle difference between the
outside and inside tire of a vehicle. The steering sensitivity of the vehicle is greatly
affected by the amount of Ackerman designed into the suspension.

Figure 6

Turn Radius: The turning radius of a vehicle is the radius of the smallest circular turn
(i.e. U-turn) that the vehicle is capable of making.

Figure 7

Ackerman Error: The difference between the measured Ackerman angle and the
theoretical Ackerman angle can also be expressed as an Ackerman Error.
Ackerman Error= (measured Ackerman angle) (theoretical Ackermann angle)

Ackermann Percentage: Ackerman Percentage is defined as the difference between

desired Ackermann percent and the Ackermann percent.
Ackerman Percentage=

( )
( )

100%

1.3. Problem Statement

Most of the vehicles currently available in the market have either two
wheel steering systems as their main handling system. As discussed earlier various types of
steering systems are available inorder to steer the vehicle in correct direction. Apart from
steering suspension system forms one of the major component of modern automotive as
they help in absorbing the shocks transmitted by the wheels onto the chassis to a significant
amount.
Rack and pinion & reciprocating ball type steering linkages are most
commonly used steering linkages in modern vehicles with suspension system. These systems
are heavy and at the same time are costly. The light weight construction of steering system
involves the use of pitman type steering system but this type of steering pose a challenge
with the use of the suspension.
Vehicles like Go-karts, Lawn Movers, and trikes etc. currently either
use rack and pinion or pitman arm type of steering linkage. Rack and pinion allows the use
of suspension system but are heavy and also increase the overall cost of the vehicle. For
light weight construction as in Go-karts, pitman arm type or four bar linkage are used. These
type of linkages though limits the use of suspension system.
Thus, there was a need for development of a new steering system
which is light weight, low cost and at the same time allows the use of suspension system.
For the initial step, various conceptual design has to designed taking into consideration all of
the objectives. Then, the best among all the conceptual design has to be optimized for best
performance.

1.4. Objectives

Before we embarked on the journey of making this project it was necessary to

have blueprint of our targets that we aim to achieve through this project. The
following are the main objectives of our project that we kept in mind throughout
the development of this project:
1.4.1 Conceptual Design:
We had to design a steering system that was not only low cost
but also light weight. The steering system designed should also be compatible
with the double wishbone suspension system. The steering system should be
easy to manufacture and maintain. Taking these factors into consideration a
conceptual layout of the steering system was designed in professional available
designing software package CREO.
3.2.1 Design Optimization and Performance:
We had to optimize the CAD design of our steering system so that it
performed to its fullest capacity in real world environment without facing any
breakdowns or failures in harsh terrains. For this we had to ensure that the steering
angles were maximum so that the vehicle could achieve maneuverability in sharp
corners with the slightest of effort. The design also had to be optimized so that it is as
close as possible to the Ackerman design, for this it was necessary that the Ackerman
percentage is cent percent and Ackerman error is least. A major objective under
optimization was to move the vehicle with the least power so that the rider felt the
greatest comfort during long drives. The above optimization was carried out in the
professionally available software MSC Adams suite.

1.4.3

Prototype Design:

The idea which had been designed and optimized in the virtual world now had
to be brought to life. During this process it was necessary that the manufacturing of
the steering system is according to the design parameters and there are no errors in
the manufacturing process. At the end of the manufacturing, it is required we check
that there is no deviation between the theoretical design values and the actual
design values. The manufacturing process was carried out using tools and common
manufacturing processes.

1.5. Overview
This research is organized in the following manner. Chapter 2
overviews about the design of the new steering system and the methodology
adopted to design the new steering system. It also describes how the conceptual
design model was made and the different steps that were taken in order to design a
new type of steering system. Chapter 3 overviews the methodology adopted to
optimize the currently made CAD design. It also describes the use of Adams to
optimize the steering design. Chapter 3 also gives us the theoretical values of
different steering parameters and also tells us about the forces on steering column
during the movement of vehicle and during bump travel and also the forces on
steering column and wheel while cornering of the vehicle. Chapter 4 describes the
fabrication of the prototype model. The methodology used to fabricate the steering
system. This chapter also gives us the actual behavior of steering column under
different conditions and gives us results to compare it with the theoretical results.

Chapter 5 overviews the results of the above research and the conclusions that
were taken out of the research.

2.

Conceptual Design
In this section the complete CAD design of the conceptual design is presented. Various
concepts were considered and based upon these concepts, the best design was found
based on various constrained satisfaction. The design which met the design constraints
was parameterized and a CAD model is created.

2.1. Design Methodology

A successful product is built on the foundation of a strong, simple and well
thought out design. The objective here was to design a steering system which would
work with a double wishbone suspension system. Thereafter it was required that the
conceptualized design is low cost and easy to fabricate. Keeping in mind the aero
dynamical aspects it was required that the design was light in weight.
After various rounds of brainstorming a lot of conceptual designs were
considered which could work with the above mentioned suspension system. Then
each design was pitted against various design requirements of low cost, light weight
and ease of fabrication. The design which performed the best in all design
requirements was then selected and further developed on.

Figure 8

2.2. CAD Design

According to the need of the project, different conceptual designs were made.
On the basis of the space constraints and necessity of the project, best conceptual
design was chosen and the CAD model was made. The conceptual design had
following components.

Figure 9

a. Steering Wheel
Steering wheel is a component used to give direction to a vehicle. Rotational
movement of steering wheel gives movement to wheels which causes the
motion of vehicle in desired direction.
b. Linkage To Steering Wheel
This linkage is used to connect steering wheel to the circular arm link. It may
consists of one or two universal joints in order for proper alignment of steering
wheel according to the driver.
c. Circular Arm Link
Circular arm link consists of three holes drilled on a metal plate. Linkage to
steering wheel is connected to the center of the circular arm link. Motion of
steering wheel results in the rotational motion of circular arm link.
d. U-Clamp-Circular Arm Linkage Tie Rod
It is a linkage which consists of two tie rods connected on both ends used to
connect circular arm link with the U-Clamp.
e. U-Clamp
U-Clamp is fixed and mounted on the vehicles body on u-clamp mounting
points. U-Clamp moves with the movement of circular arm link to give desired
direction to the wheels.

f.

U-Clamp-Knuckle Steering Arm Linkage Tie Rod

This linkage is used to connect u clamp with the knuckle with tie rods at both
ends.
g. Knuckle
Wheel is mounted on the knuckle. Plate from knuckle is connected to the
whole steering system via linkage rod.

2.3. Summary
A complete CAD Design methodology and its implementation in the design
of a Novel design of steering system to meet the aforesaid objective has been presented in
this chapter. Among all the available conceptual design, the design shown in this chapter
meets all the objectives. This design is not only light but also less costly and also allows for
the use of the suspension. But before this design is finalized it is very important to check for
the performance and optimization of this design.

3.

Design Optimization and Performance

3.1. Methodology
We had to optimize the CAD design of our steering system so that it performed
to its fullest capacity in real world environment without facing any breakdowns or failures in
harsh terrains.
For this we had to ensure that the steering angles were maximum so that the
vehicle could achieve maneuverability in sharp corners with the slightest of effort. The design
also had to be optimized so that it is as close as possible to the Ackerman design, for this it
was necessary that the Ackerman percentage is cent percent and Ackerman error is least.
This optimization was done by modifying the lengths of various links which comprised of the
length of the U-link and lengths of various joints. These factors could be modified as the other
parameters were of standard components. The combination of lengths which gave the
maximum turning angle was selected.
This selected design was then checked for its resemblance with the Ackerman
and the Ackerman error and Ackerman percentage is calculated. It is required that the
Ackerman error is minimum and Ackerman percentage is cent percent. If the design fulfills
this criterion the design is moved forward for the next optimization process.
The next process was to check the forces and stresses developed on various
components of the steering system. Then the thickness of the components was modified such
that extra thickness was added on heavily stressed components and thickness was reduced in
optimum amounts on stable components to reduce weight. This process is repeated until the
strongest and lightest design is achieved.

3.2. Multi body design formulation

A complete design of the steering system for performance testing has
been setup in the available Multibody Design package, MSC ADAMS/View. The
complete model has been setup with various linkages as shown in the below diagram.
Various approximation taken in the design of this model are:

a.
b.
c.
d.

All parts are rigid and does not vibrate.

Tie rod Joints are considered as ball joints
Steering Wheel is in the Centre of the vehicle
Steel is used as material for calculation of Inertia

Figure 10

Hilber-Hughes-Taylor (HHT) method with defaults parameters has

been used inorder to study the kinematic and dynamic effect of steering wheel
rotation. All the joints are considered to be frictionless. Optimization of the linkages
is carried out using the developed model. The steering wheel is given a sinusoidal
rotation of 90. Currently, the wheels are free to rotate about their axis. The joint
about which the steering wheels are free to rotate is frictional to approximate the
vehicle loading onto the ground.
3.2.1

Effect of variation of Length of U-Link rod on the Steer Angle:

Figure 11 and Figure 12 shows the variation of steer angle for right and left front
wheels as the length of the U-Link rod is increased. As the U-link rod length is
increased the maximum steering angle also increase as can be seen from the figures.
As the length is increased the time i.e. the angle by which the steering wheel is
required to be turn for maximum vehicle wheel steer angle, also decreases. It can be
seen that after a particular value of the wheel steer angle, the slope of the outside
vehicle wheel steer angle attains an zero value while the slope of the curve of the
inner wheel steer angle curve continue to increase.
Thus it could be seen that the best and optimized value for the steering linkage rod is
best for Steering Test 6.

Figure 11

Figure 12

3.2.2

Effect of variation of lengths of Steering Linkage rod on the Steer Angle

Figure 13 and Figure 14 shows the variation of steer angle for right and left front
wheels as the length of the steering linkage rod is decreased. As the Steering Linkage
rod length of knuckle is decreased the maximum steering angle Absolute value also
increases as can be seen.
As the length is decreased the time i.e. the angle by which the steering wheel is
required to be turn for maximum vehicle wheel steer angle, also decreases
significantly. It can be seen that after a particular value of the wheel steer angle, the
slope of the outside vehicle wheel steer angle attains an zero value while the slope of
the curve of the inner wheel steer angle curve continue to increase.
Thus it could be seen that the best and optimized value for the steering linkage rod is
best for Steering Test 14.

Figure 13

Figure 14

3.2.3

Ackerman Geometry:

The steering system is necessary to meet the Ackerman geometry. The figure 15 shows
the graph of Ackerman error with respect to the percentage Ackerman. It can be seen from the graph that
beyond the percentage Ackerman of 40%, the Ackerman error starts to increase parabolic and then
decreases parabolic to zero error value at the maximum Ackerman percentage of 100%.
Also at the maximum value of steer angle, the turning radius for inner Tyre is found to
be 2.7 m while that for the outer Tyre is found to be 4.8 m. The design successfully meets the Ackerman
geometry at the maximum value of steering system designed for the best available design from the above
section.
Thus, the design is fully optimized for the maximum turning angle while meeting for the
Ackerman geometry.

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

3.3. Summary
An optimization of the Steering Design presented in Chapter 2 has been
carried out in this chapter. From the various graphs we can see that if we decrease
the length of the steering linkage rod of the knuckle, the maximum wheel steer
angle is increased. At the maximum steering angle the percentage Ackerman is
100%. The Ackerman error for the final design for final design is increasing zero for
maximum turning angle, whereas for angle between the maximum and minimum it
increase parabolic. Thus, as the Ackerman error is least in this design and the
Ackerman percentage at the maximum turning angle is 100% thus, this design is
most suitable and is ready for manufacturing.

4. Prototype Design
The idea which had been designed and optimized in the virtual world now had
to be brought to life. The first step during the prototype design was to fabricate the knuckle
according to the design specifications. After the knuckle has been fabricated, it is verified
that it matches the optimized design thereafter the fabrication of U-link is carried out. This
component is then scrutinized for its closeness to the original design.

The circular arm link fabrication is carried out after the U-link fabrication. The
circular arm link is one of the major components of the steering system hence proper care
has to be taken so that it is built according to the specifications of the design.
Following this we move on to the concoction of various linkage tie rods namely U-clampCircular Arm linkage tie rod and U-clamp-Steering Arm linkage tie rod. These tie rods held us
in the adjustment of the steering geometry angles hence it is necessary that these are
designed with utmost care.
The various components after the manufacturing process are assembled and a
final check is done so that it satisfies our final theoretical design. After it is verified that the
design is meets all the required design parameters, setting of tie rods is done to adjust the
toe in and toe out angles so that the actual design mimics the virtual design.
The Ackerman percentage for the prototype is found to be 100% at the
maximum steer angle. Also the Ackerman error is in close proximity to that of the virtually
optimized design.

5. Results and Conclusions

5.1 Results
The prototype made for the project showed accurate results and results
very much close to theoretical values with an Ackerman error of zero and 100%
percent Ackerman. The newly developed steering provided the vehicle with
superior cornering stability with improved steering responsiveness and precision.
The High speed straight line stability of the vehicle also increased in an effective
manner.

5.2 Conclusions
From the above made design, following conclusions were made:
1. That the newly manufactured was best suited for light vehicles and the
project is very usefully for driver while driving the vehicle. This project has
also reduced the cost involved in the concern. Project has been designed to
perform the entire requirement task which has also been provided. Vehicle
can be turned with great effectiveness with minimum drivers effort and
also provides a self-locking mechanism which restricts the damage of
steering linkages. The cost involved with the steering is also less compared
to all other steering mechanisms, thus gives it greater flexibility of use in
different automobiles without increasing weight and cost of that particular
vehicle. Also the methods used for the fabrication of steering linkages are
very simple and does not require any special equipment for its fabrication
which is also a great benefit for this steering system.
2. That the steering can be used for wide range of vehicles reducing the cost of
those vehicles. These vehicles include

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Go-karts
Lawn movers
Trikes
Quad-bikes
Golf karts

3. That the above made steering in general cannot be used in cars and jeeps
due to heavy transmission of stresses and loads on the steering linkages
which may cause to failure of the steering system but by making subtle
changes in the material and optimizing the design it can be effectively
installed in cars and heavy vehicles.

6. References
1. Design Optimization of Steering System for Bump and Brake Steer using Adams, Girish
R Rane, A.S Dhekane, IJSRD, Vol. 2, Issue 03, 2014
2. Vehicle Handling and Stability investigation into causes of vehicle drift during Straightline Braking, Nihal Mirza, Khalid Hussain, Andrew J. Day, Society of Automotive
Engineers, Inc. 01-0797, 2006.
3. Effect of wheel Geometry parameters on vehicle steering, R.P Rajvardhan,
S.R.Shankpal, S.M. Vijaykumar, SSA TECH Journal, volume 9, Issue 2, pp. 11-18,
September 2010.
4. The truck steering system from Hand Wheel to Road Wheel John W. Durstine, Societ of
Automotive Engineers, 1973.
5. Steering System modelling, Niklas Philipson, The modellica Association, Inc,010227,2008
6. A Simple, Cost Effective, Method of Evaluating Bump and Brake Steer and Achieving
correlation with ADAMS analysis, Vinay A. Upadhyay, K. GopalaKrishnan, Ajau R.
Kshirsagar.
7. On the Dynamics of Automobile Drifting, Mujahid Abdulrahim, Society of Automotive
Engineers, Inc. 01-1019,2006