Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
VEICHELS
PRESENTED BY
V NIKHIL KUMAR
CB.EN.U4MEE13270
INDEX
1) INTRODUCTION
2) PRINCIPLE
3) TYPES OF POWER STEERING
3.1 HYDRAULIC
3.2 ELECTRO HYDRAULIC
3.3 ELECTRIC
3.4 POWER RACK AND PINION
4) ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
5) REFERENCES
1) INTRODUCTION
Power steering is designed to reduce the steering wheel turning effort by utilizing hydraulic
pressure to strengthen the normal torque developed by the steering gear box. It should ease
steering wheel manipulation.
Robert E. Twyford, a resident of Pennsylvania, included a mechanical power steering
mechanism as part of his patent (U.S. Patent 646,477) issued on April 3, 1900 for the first
four-wheel drive system.
Francis W. Davis, an engineer of the truck division of Pierce-Arrow, began exploring how
steering could be made easier, and in 1926 invented and demonstrated the first practical
power steering system. Davis moved to General Motors and refined the hydraulic-assisted
power steering system, but the automaker calculated it would be too expensive to
produce. Davis then signed up with Bendix, a parts manufacturer for automakers. Military
needs during World War II for easier steering on heavy vehicles boosted the need for power
assistance on armoured cars and tank-recovery vehicles for the British and American armies.
Chrysler Corporation introduced the first commercially available passenger car power
steering system on the 1951 Chrysler Imperial under the name "Hydraguide." The Chrysler
system was based on some of Davis's expired patents. General Motors introduced the
1952 Cadillac with a power steering system using the work Davis had done for the company
almost twenty years earlier.
Charles F. Hammond from Detroit filed several patents for improvements of power steering
with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in 1958.
Most new vehicles now have power steering, owing to the trends toward front wheel drive,
greater vehicle mass, and wider tires, which all increase the required steering effort. Heavier
vehicles, as are common in some countries, would be extremely difficult to manoeuvre at low
speeds, while vehicles of lighter weight may not need power assisted steering at all.
When the Saginaw recirculating ball steering gear was introduced on the 1940 Cadillac, it
provided a little more mechanical advantage, but it was still hard to turn the wheel when the
vehicle was stopped. If the car makers of the era were going to sell more vehicles, especially
to the new suburbanite homemakers, they were going to have to be easier to steer and shift.
Some power steering systems (such as those in the largest off-road construction vehicles)
have no direct mechanical connection to the steering linkage; they require electrical power.
Systems of this kind, with no mechanical connection, are sometimes called drive by wire or
steer by wire, by analogy with aviations fly-by-wire. In this context, wire refers to
electrical cables that carry power and data, not thin-wire-rope mechanical control cables.
In other power steering systems, electric motors provide the assistance instead of hydraulic
systems. As with hydraulic types, power to the actuator (motor, in this case) is controlled by
the rest of the power-steering system.
2) PRINCIPLE
For a car to turn smoothly, each wheel must follow a different circle. Since the inside wheel
is following a circle with a smaller radius, it is actually making a tighter turn than the outside
wheel. If you draw a line perpendicular to each wheel, the lines will intersect at the centre
point of the turn. The geometry of the steering linkage makes the inside wheel turn more than
the outside wheel. This is called Ackermans geometry. Every vehicle will follow this
principle.
Hydraulic or electric actuators add controlled energy to the steering mechanism, so the driver
can provide less effort to turn the steered wheels when driving at typical speeds, and reduce
considerably the physical effort necessary to turn the wheels when a vehicle is stopped or
moving slowly. Power steering can also be engineered to provide some artificial feedback of
forces acting on the steered wheels.
Representative power steering systems for cars augment steering effort via an actuator, a
hydraulic cylinder that is part of a servo system. These systems have a direct mechanical
connection between the steering wheel and the linkage that steers the wheels. This means that
power-steering system failure (to augment effort) still permits the vehicle to be steered using
manual effort alone.
In electric power steering when the driver turns the wheel, a steering sensor detects the
position and rate of rotation of the steering wheel. This information along with input from a
steering torque sensor mounted in the steering shaft is fed to the power steering control
module. Other inputs such as vehicle speed and inputs from the traction control or stability
control systems are factored in to determine how much steering assist is required. The control
module then commands the motor to rotate a certain amount, and a sensor on the motor
provides feedback to the control module so it can monitor the motor's position.
The second type uses a hydraulic cylinder that is an integral part of the steering gear and is
connected to the recirculating ball nut located on the steering shaft. The rotary control valve
is connected to a torsion bar that is part of the steering shaft. The rack and pinion steering
gear hydraulic cylinder is part of the rack gear and the control valve is connected by a torsion
bar to the steering shaft. In all these types of power steering, the pump delivers fluid to the
control valve. The control valve opens a pressurized flow to and from the hydraulic cylinder.
One design for measuring the torque applied to the steering wheel has a torque sensor,
a torsion bar at the lower end of the steering column. As the steering wheel rotates, so does
the steering column, as well as the upper end of the torsion bar. Since the torsion bar is
relatively thin and flexible, and the bottom end usually resists being rotated, the bar will twist
by an amount proportional to the applied torque. The difference in position between the
opposite ends of the torsion bar controls a valve. The valve allows fluid to flow to the
cylinder which provides steering assistance; the greater the "twist" of the torsion bar, the
greater the force.
Since the hydraulic pumps are positive-displacement type, the flow rate they deliver is
directly proportional to the speed of the engine. This means that at high engine speeds the
steering would naturally operate faster than at low engine speeds. Because this would be
undesirable, a restricting orifice and flow-control valve direct some of the pump's output back
to the hydraulic reservoir at high engine speeds. A pressure relief valve prevents a dangerous
build-up of pressure when the hydraulic cylinders piston reaches the end of its stroke.
The steering booster is arranged so that should the booster fail, the steering will continue to
work (although the wheel will feel heavier). Loss of power steering can significantly affect
the handling of a vehicle. Each vehicle owner's manual gives instructions for inspection of
fluid levels and regular maintenance of the power steering system.
The working liquid, also called "hydraulic fluid" or "oil", is the medium by which pressure is
transmitted. Common working liquids are based on mineral oil.
Some modern systems also include an electronic control valve to reduce the hydraulic supply
pressure as the vehicle's speed increases; this is variable-assist power steering.
Rack and pinion offers lighter weight and more precise control. Steering gears are more
durable and tolerate rough treatment far better. This is why many SUV and truck
applications use steering gear boxes.
With either system, fluid pressure from the pump is used to push against a piston. When the
wheel is turned, pressure flows to one side and the piston moves. The piston is attached to
the steering gears. Hydraulic pressure does the work, and the driver controls the direction by
turning the steering wheel.
Generally Used Steering Mechanisms are:
hydrostatic
As the steering wheel is rotated, a very sensitive torsion bar twists and rotates the steering
control valve. The valve blocks the port to the reservoir and fluid now flows through an
opening to one side of the steering gear. At the same time the other side of the cylinder is
vented to the reservoir. With pressure on one side and none on the other, the piston moves
and causes the wheels to turn.
pressurized is vented to the reservoir. Fluid pressure is now applied to the opposite side of
the steering gear and the vehicle steers the other way.
In 1988, the Subaru XT6 was fitted with a unique Cybrid adaptive electro-hydraulic steering
system that changed the level of assistance based on the vehicle's speed.
In 1990, Toyota introduced its second-generation MR2 with electro-hydraulic power steering.
This avoided running hydraulic lines from the engine (which was behind the driver in the
MR2) up to the steering rack. In 1994 Volkswagen produced the Mark 3 Golf Ecomatic, with
an electric pump. This meant that the power steering would still operate while the engine was
stopped by the computer to save fuel
engine accessory, and several high-pressure hydraulic hoses between the hydraulic pump,
mounted on the engine, and the steering gear, mounted on the chassis. This greatly simplifies
manufacturing and maintenance. By incorporating electronic stability control electric power
steering systems can instantly vary torque assist levels to aid the driver in corrective
manoeuvres.
The first electric power steering system appeared on the Suzuki Cervo in 1988. The system
has been applied by various automobile manufacturers.
MECHANISMS which are generally used are:
In the 1980s, modifying the flow from the pump to the cylinder started to be used as a
method to reduce high-speed sensitivity. This control system is called an Electronic Variable
Orifice (EVO).
The EVO valve is mounted at the power steering pump outlet. The valve uses an electronic
controller to produce magnetic field changes in the valves solenoid coil. The valve pin
attached to the orifice valve extends into the solenoid coil. The magnetic field generated by
the solenoid coil will pull the pin into the coil. This pulling action regulates the flow through
the valve. The valve and controller can be used with rack and pinion and conventional
systems.
An electronic controller changes the magnetic field in the solenoid coil by sending a Pulse
Width Modulated (PWM) voltage to the coil. The controller adjusts steering effort based on
vehicle speed input to the controller and steering wheel position. Vehicle speed input
normally comes from the Engine Control Module (ECM).
Steering wheel position comes from the Hand Wheel Speed Sensor (HWSS). It measures the
speed at which the steering wheel is being turned and produces a variable analogue voltage
signal to the controller. The signal will vary from a high voltage to a low voltage and return
to high voltage as the steering wheel is turned through 180 degrees of rotation. A
combination of vehicle speed and rate at which the steering wheel is being turned will
produce a PWM signal from the controller to the solenoid coil varying the amount of assist.
During parking manoeuvres, when there is no vehicle speed input, the orifice control valve
has no magnetic field and provides high pump flow for low steering effort. At highway
speeds, the orifice control valve magnetic field is increased to reduce the flow in proportion
to vehicle speed to achieve higher steering effort and reduce input sensitivity to the steering
wheel. When the controller receives both a vehicle speed input and HWSS input. It will
increase the magnetic field to decrease the pressure and flow to provide less assist and
increase steering effort.
Rack and pinion is in a power-steering system, the rack has a slightly different design. Part
of the rack contains a cylinder with a piston in the middle. The piston is connected to the
rack. There are two fluid ports, one on either side of the piston. Supplying higher-pressure
fluid to one side of the piston forces the piston to move, which in turn moves the rack,
providing the power assist.
Resistance to wheel movement is less so wheels can turn in and out easily during
turns.
The hydraulic fluid absorbs the shocks coming from the road and thereby
preventing it from transferring to parts of the vehicle and to the passengers inside
the car.
Driver can turn the vehicle with minimum efforts even in very large sized
vehicles and vehicles with heavy loads.
Power steering also assures the passengers a greater safety and controllability
under critical situations
DISADVANTAGES
The belt driven pump used in case of hydraulic power steering will consume
engine power thereby reducing performance of vehicle.
Hydraulic power steering will take some time to respond if brakes are being
applied.
In case of electric power steering the space required for installation is more as it
contains a motor, electronic control unit.
REFERENCES