Chapter 8 : The Steering Systems

By
Dr. Gan Leong Ming
Semester 2012/2013-II
Introduction
Has an influences on the directional response
behavior of a motor vehicle

Function is to steer the front wheels in response
to driver command inputs

May be powered or manual

Basically there are 2 types :

Rack-and-pinion steering gear
Recirculating-ball steering gear
The Steering Linkages
Vary widely in design but functionally quite
similar
The Steering Linkages In general
Steering wheel shafts
Universal joints
Vibrations isolators
Steering gearbox to transform rotary
motion to translational motion
The Steering Linkages
Gearbox is the primary means for
numerical reduction between the
rotational input from the steering
wheel and rotational output about
steer axis

Nominal ratio : 15 to 1 for passenger
car, 36 to 1 for heavy truck

Lateral translational from the
gearbox is relayed through linkages
to steering arms on the left and right
wheels

Usually not a parallelogram (equal
angle for left and right wheels) but
rather trapezoid to more closely
approximate Ackerman geometry
The Steering Linkages Rack-and-pinion Steering
The most common type of steering on cars, small trucks and SUVs

Simple mechanism.

A rack-and-pinion gearset is enclosed in a metal tube, with each end
of the rack protruding from the tube. A rod, called a tie rod, connects
to each end of the rack

The pinion gear is attached to the steering shaft. When the steering
wheel is turn, the gear spins, moving the rack. The tie rod at each
end of the rack connects to the steering arm on the spindle

The rack-and-pinion gearset does two things:

It converts the rotational motion of the steering wheel into the
linear motion needed to turn the wheels.

It provides a gear reduction, making it easier to turn the wheels.
The Steering Linkages Rack-and-pinion Steering
On most cars, it takes three to four complete revolutions
of the steering wheel to make the wheels turn from lock to
lock (from far left to far right).

Generally, lighter, sportier cars have lower steering ratios
than larger cars and trucks

The lower ratio gives the steering a quicker response

These smaller cars are light enough that even with the
lower ratio, the effort required to turn the steering wheel is
not excessive

Rack and pinion steering gear,
rack end and tie rods
The Steering Linkages Rack-and-pinion Steering
Steering knuckles
The Steering Linkages Rack-and-pinion Steering
The Steering Linkages Recirculating-ball Steering

The Steering Linkages Recirculating-ball Steering
Used on many trucks and SUVs today

The linkage that turns the wheels is slightly different than on a rack-
and-pinion system.

The recirculating-ball steering gear contains a worm gear

One part is a block of metal with a threaded hole in it. This block has
gear teeth cut into the outside of it, which engage a gear that moves
the pitman arm

The steering wheel connects to a threaded rod, similar to a bolt, that
sticks into the hole in the block

When the steering wheel turns, it turns the bolt

Instead of twisting further into the block the way a regular bolt would,
this bolt is held fixed so that when it spins, it moves the block, which
moves the gear that turns the wheels.

The Steering Linkages Recirculating-ball Steering
Instead of the bolt directly engaging the threads
in the block, all of the threads are filled with ball
bearings that recirculate through the gear as it
turns

The balls actually serve two purposes:

They reduce friction and wear in the gear

They reduce slop in the gear. Slop would be felt when
you change the direction of the steering wheel --
without the balls in the steering gear, the teeth would
come out of contact with each other for a moment,
making the steering wheel feel loose
Power Steering System
As vehicles have become heavier and switched to front wheel drive,
the effort to turn the steering wheel manually has increased

The hydraulic power steering system pressurizes the power-steering
fluid. Steering would cause the control valve to open and close to
provide pressurized fluid in or out of the power cylinder, thus moving
the piston and aids the steering.

This system requires the power steering pump, hoses & fittings, fluid
cooler, power-steering fluid and also the power-steering pressure
switch (signals engine ECM to raise idling speed when starts
pressurizing

There are three types of power steering systems
Hydraulic
Electric/Electronic
Hydraulic-electric hybrid system possible


A hydraulic power steering (HPS)

Uses hydraulic pressure supplied by an engine-driven pump to assist
the motion of turning the steering wheel.

Electric power steering (EPS)

More efficient than the hydraulic power steering, since the electric
power steering motor only needs to provide assist when the steering
wheel is turned, whereas the hydraulic pump must run constantly

In EPS the assist level is easily tunable to the vehicle type, road
speed, and even driver preference

An added benefit is the elimination of environmental hazard posed by
leakage and disposal of hydraulic power steering fluid
Power Steering System
1.Hydraulic pump
2.Oil Reservoir
3.Hydraulic Cylinder
4.Steering Arm Link
5.Cylinder Actuator
6.Cylinder Mounting Bracket
7-8.Hoses,Clamps,Bolts
Power Steering System - HPS
Power Steering System - HPS
Hydraulic pressure is usually provide by a gear motor or
rotary vane pump driven by the vehicles engine

Double acting hydraulic cylinder applies a force to the
steering gear, which in turn applies a torque to the steering
axis of the road wheels. The flow to the cylinder is controlled
by valves operated by the steering wheel

There are several common valve systems of varying
complexity, but they all allow the steering wheel to turn
further than is necessary to simply open a valve.

This is done so that the position of the steering wheel
corresponds to the position of the vehicles wheels.
Power Steering System - HPS
As the pumps employed are of the 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 are used to direct some of the pumps output back to the hydraulic
reservoir at high engine speeds.

A pressure relief valve is also used to prevent a dangerous build up pressure
when the hydraulic cylinders piston reaches the end of the cylinder

Some modern implementations also include an electronic pressure relief
valve which can reduce the hydraulic pressure in the power steering lines as
the vehicle's speed increases (this is known as variable assist power
steering)
Power Steering System - EPS
Designed to use an electric motor to reduce effort by providing assist to
the driver of a vehicle

Most EPS systems have variable assist, which allows for more assistance
as the speed of a vehicle decreases and less assistance from the system
during high speed situations

This functionality requires a delicate balance of power and control that
has only been available to manufacturers in recent years.

So far limited to passenger cars, as a higher voltage electrical system is
necessary to operate EPS in larger vehicle

Do not require a hydraulic pump, which is belted into the engine
Power Steering System - EPS
Power Steering System - EPS
Rather the systems electric motor is powered by the vehicles alternator
which is belted into the engine, EPS motor only needs to provide assist
when the steering wheel is turned, whereas the hydraulic pump must run
constantly

The efficiency advantage of an EPS system is derived from the fact that it
is activated only when needed. Thus, a vehicle equipped with EPS may
achieve an estimated improvement in fuel economy of 3% compared to the
same vehicle with conventional HPS

In EPS the assist level is easily tunable to the vehicle type, road speed,
and even driver preference

An added benefit is the elimination of environmental hazard posed by
leakage and disposal of hydraulic power steering fluid
Power steering system
Power Steering System
Power steering system and rack and pinion
Power Steering System
Electronic power steering
Steering Geometry Error
Steering action is achieved by translational
displacement of the relay linkage in the
presence of arbitrary suspension motions

Steering geometry errors steering action
arise from suspension motions (without
moving the steering wheel)

Ideal steering geometry no interaction on
an independent front suspension
Steering Geometry Error
**When wheel jounce and rebound (down and up)
no translational motion in wheels
Follow up and
down according to
a specific arc
Determine by CAD, based
on the knuckle location
Steering Geometry Error
Not always possible to achieve this ideal
because of packaging problems,
nonlinearities in the suspension motion

Steering geometry ERROR result in a
change in toe angle with suspension
deflections
Steering Geometry Error Case 1 (Toe change)
Arc center at the
inboard joint of the
relay linkage (tie rod)
View from rear
View from top
A) When wheel
jounce or rebound
B) Relay arm move
inboard
C) Toe out
angle error
resulted
Steering Geometry Error Case 1 (Toe change)
As a result, proper toe angle is difficult to
maintain cause the toe error is dependent
on the front axle load

Could resulting body roll (cause
understeer or oversteer) during cornering
cause toe angle change during cornering
Steering Geometry Error Case 2 (Body roll)
Maybe used intentionally to alter handling behavior
Arc center located below
the ideal center
View from rear
Condition 1 View from top
B) Left hand steer
A) Wheel move
jounce (down)
If view from FRONT, direction
of travel will be symmetrical
Steering Geometry Error Case 2 (Body roll)
Maybe used intentionally to alter handling behavior
Arc center located below
the ideal center
View from rear
Condition 2 View from top
B) Right hand steer
A) Wheel move
rebound (up)
If view from FRONT, direction
of travel will be symmetrical
Steering Geometry Error Case 2 (Body roll)
Consider during cornering to the right,
which cause body roll to the left
Left wheel jounce (rear view) left hand steer
Right wheel rebound (front view) left hand
steer
As a result, understeer occur


If the Arc center located above
the ideal center, oversteer will
occur during cornering because of
body roll
Four Wheel Steer
A system employed by some vehicles to 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

This allows the vehicle to turn in a significantly smaller
radius sometimes critical for large trucks or vehicles
with trailers
Four Wheel Steer
Low-speed Turning :

Improved by steering the rear wheels
out-of-phase with the front wheels to
reduce the turn radius, thus improving
maneuverability

High-speed Turning :

Out-of-phase rear is impropriate
because the outward movement of the
rear wheels would constitute an
oversteer influence

In-phase rear steer is used, although
limited to a few degrees of steer
Four Wheel Steer
4WS systems yield a quicker response
with better damping of the yaw
oscillation

Body sideslip angle can be randomly
reduced in cornering adds the
general feeling of better stability during
transient maneuvers
Steer by wire
The aim of steer-by-wire technology is to completely do away
with as many mechanical components (steering shaft, column,
gear reduction mechanism, etc.) as possible

Steer-by-wire holds several advantages, such as:

Simplifies the car interior design

Allows much better space utilization in the engine compartment

The steering mechanism can be designed and installed as a
modular unit

The impact of a frontal crash will not force the steering wheel to
interrupt the driver's survival space

Steering system characteristics can easily and infinitely be adjusted
to optimize the steering response and feel
Safety
For safety reasons all modern cars
feature a collapsible steering column
(energy absorbing steering column)
which will collapse in the event of a
heavy frontal impact to avoid excessive
injuries to the driver

Collapsible steering columns were
invented by Bela Barenyi
Alignment angles of the front wheels
Wheel Alignment