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1.1 Preface
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Figure 1: Locating Suspension Units
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the motion of one wheel affects the position of the other but they are not rigidly
attached to each other.
The dependent suspension includes Trailing arms, Satchell link, Pan hard
rod, Watt's linkage, and Wobbling and Mumford linkage. The independent
suspensions includes Swing axle, Sliding pillar, MacPherson strut/Chapman strut,
Upper and lower A-arm (double wishbone), multi-link suspension, semi-trailing
arm suspension, swinging arm and leaf springs.
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Chapter 2
PROBLEM DEFINITION
2.1 General Problems without Suspension:
Unspring Weight
Having a large beam connecting the two front wheels results in a lot of mass.
This extra mass really hinders the road holding capability of the suspension
on rough road.
Wheel Movement
Because both wheels are tied together the force acting on each wheel are
directed to the other wheel. Under the load this cause the wheels to
Shimmy and decrease the stability of the vehicle in corners
Bad Bump Steer
Because a beam axle makes locating the steering correctly difficult, most
solid axle suspensions suffer from an uncontrollable amount of bump steer.
Again, hindering the performance of the car.
Size
Simply put solid axle are huge and fitting them into a chassis requires an
amount of space practically available.
Ride Quality
Due to the high mass of the axle and the wheels being connected there is not
much ride isolation between the springs and unspring mass. This results in
rough ride and even worse, compromised road holding capacity.
The conventional metal springs faced some drawbacks which were air suspension
system overcomes and so they are preferred and used in more these days. Let's see
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some of the plus points of this system.
1) The automatic control devices installed in the vehicle allows making optimum
use of the variable space for deflection of wheel.
2) The height of the automobile remains steady and so the changes in the alignment
of headlamp due to varying loads are restricted.
3) It helps to reduce the load while the vehicle in motion.
Chapter 3
LITERATURE REVIEW
Some European car makers had tried coil springs, with Gottlieb Daimler in
Germany being the leading exponent. However, most manufacturers stood fast
with leaf springs. They were less costly, and by simply adding leaves or changing
the shape from full elliptic to three-quarter or half elliptic, the spring could be
made to support varying weights.
Leaf Spring
Leaf springs in one form or another have been used since the Romans
suspended a two-wheeled vehicle called a Pilentum on elastic wooden poles. The
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first steel spring put on a vehicle was a single flat plate installed on carriages by
the French in the 18th century.
The venerable leaf spring, which some manufacturers still use in rear
suspensions today, was invented by Obadiah Elliot of London in 1804. He simply
piled one steel plate on top of another, pinned them together and shackled each end
to a carriage.
The coil spring is not a spring chicken, either. The first patent for such a
spring (British patent No. 792) was issued to R. Tredwell in 1763. The main
advantage of coil springs was that they did not have to be spread apart and
lubricated periodically to keep them from squeaking, as leaf springs did.
Henry Ford's 1908 Model T Ford featured old-fashioned leaf springs with a novel
twist -- he used only one spring at each axle, mounted transversely, instead of one
at each wheel. Ford's adaptation of high-strength vanadium steel from a French
racing car allowed him to save weight and cut costs in many areas of the Model T
without compromising its durability.
With the exception of a car here and there, independent coil spring front
suspension remained in limbo for 25 years after the introduction of the Brush
Runabout. Then suddenly in 1934, General Motors, Chrysler, Hudson, and others
reintroduced coil spring front suspension, this time with each wheel sprung
independently. In that year, most cars started using hydraulic shock absorbers and
balloon (low-pressure) tires. Coupling a solid front axle with shock absorbers and
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these tires really aggravated front end shimmy. Suspending each wheel
individually lessened the effects of spring bounce.
Air springs combine spring and shock absorbing action in one unit and were
often used without metal springs. The first one was developed by Cowey Motor
Works of Great Britain in 1909. It was a cylinder that could be filled with air from
a bicycle pump through a valve in the upper part of the housing. The lower half of
the cylinder contained a diaphragm made of rubber and cord which, because it was
surrounded by air, acted like a pneumatic tire. Its main problem was that it often
lost air.
Air suspension, which Lincoln ballyhooed for some models in 1984 was
introduced in 1909 by the Cowey Motor Works of Great Britain. It did not work
well because it leaked.
Figure 3: Stout-Scarab
The first practical air suspension was developed by Firestone in 1933 for an
experimental car called the Stout-Scarab. This was a rear-engined vehicle that used
four rubberized bellows in place of conventional springs. Air was supplied by
small compressors attached to each bellow. As you might imagine, the air bag
suspension was an expensive setup -- still is, in fact.
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The first automobile to use torsion bar suspension was the 1921 Leyland.
Most of the credit for the wide acceptance of torsion bars in Europe goes to Dr.
Ferdinand Porsche who made it standard on most of his cars, beginning with the
1933 Volkswagen prototypes. By 1954, 21 makes of European cars were equipped
with torsion bars.
Chapter-4
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Figure 2: Advanced Air Suspension
Depending on the situation, this type of air suspension will probably have to be
dealt with for leveling purposes. Normally, the air suspension is just one part of the
air system on the vehicle. Most (but not all) vehicle with an air suspension also
have air brakes along with other equipment that may be operated with air
Any of these other systems can cause problems with the air suspension. Other air
systems including the brake systems in general, will not be discussed in this
school. It is important to understand that on vehicles with air systems, especially
with air brakes, manufacturers must follow specific regulations when designing
their air systems. The brake system will always be the main concern for the air
system. There will be safety features installed in the system that make the brake
system the main priority for the air system.
An air suspension has three basic components. The air supply, the air bags and
the height control valves. As stated before, there are many different types of these
components and different arrangements of how these components are used. In the
following section, we will discuss several different arrangements of these
components but this is by no means a complete discussion of all of the possible
arrangements.
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The air supply is engine air compressor, the air tanks, air valves and air
lines. The engine air compressor supplies air for every piece of air equipment on
the vehicle. The maximum pressure supplied by the compressor varies. For many
years, the air supply was maintained around 120 to 125 psi but on some newer,
larger vehicles this has been increased to 135 psi. There will be dash gauges that
will supply system pressure information but all vehicles have what we refer to as a
pop off valve. You can hear the valve pop off when the system reaches the
maximum air pressure.
The air supply is maintained through an arrangement of air tanks. Air tank
arrangement is one thing that varies greatly between different air systems. I have
seen systems with one tank that has primary and secondary compartments built in,
and systems with some type of main, secondary or auxiliary tank for every
component of the system, as many as 10 to 12 different tanks. The terminology for
these tanks varies greatly also. There are primary tanks, secondary tanks, wet
tanks, auxiliary tanks, front brake tanks, rear brake tanks and ping tanks to name
some of them. No matter how many there are or what they are called, they all do
basically the same thing, they store air for the different systems on the vehicle.
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4.2.3 Height control valves
The height control valves (HCV from now on) are kind of the brains of the
system. They dictate how much air is in the air bags. This dictates the height the
vehicle sits at, thus, Height Control Valve. Most HCVs are mechanical valves but
electronic HCVs are available. The HCV is mounted to the frame of the vehicle.
An L shaped linkage attaches the HCV to the axle. As the axle moves up and down
in relationship to the frame, the linkage moves the valve or electronic mechanism.
With mechanical valves, there is an airline from the air supply to the HCV. There is
an airline from the HCV to the air bag or bags+ that it controls. The HCV also has
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an exhaust port. When the connecting linkage moves up, the HCV connects the air
supply to the air bag(s), inflating the bag(s). When the connecting linkage moves
down, the HCV connects the air bag(s) to the exhaust port, deflating the bag(s).
This controls the height of the vehicle.
If the HCV is electronic, as the linkage moves, the sensors in the HCV send
information to an electronic control. These controls will open or close air solenoid
valves as needed to inflate or deflate the bags. There are two basic styles of
mechanical HCVs, the instant response valve (IR valve) and the delay valve. These
names are accurate descriptions of how the valves react. The IR valve will start to
inflate or deflate the air bags as soon as the valve activating lever moves. The delay
valve has a slight delay when the activating lever moves before inflating or
deflating the air bags. The number and arrangement of HCVs used on a suspension
Varies a little. There are normally three HCVs used on a suspension. Either there is
one for the front axle and two for the rear, (most common arrangement) or some
use two on the front axle and one on the rear. A few chassis have been done with
one HCV for each side of the front and rear axles, a total of four, but this would not
be very common. Vehicles with a tag axle use regulated air or tie the tag air bags to
the driver air bags to control the tag air bags. Although it may be done, I know of
no one using HCVs to control the tag axle air bags.
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is added to the vehicle or transferred through the suspension of the vehicle, the air
in the air bag(s) is compressed, the frame moves closer to the axle. This forces the
HCV linkage up. As the linkage moves up, the valuing of the HCV connects the air
supply to the air bag(s). The added pressure and volume inflates the air bag(s),
causing the frame to move away from the axle. As the frame moves back to the
proper ride height, the HCV linkage moves to the neutral position. This moves the
valuing away from the air supply and locks the air in the air bag to maintain the
proper ride height. As weight is removed from the vehicle or the suspension shifts
weight away, the existing pressure in the air bag(s) can push the frame away from
the axle. The HCV linkage is pulled down. This connects the air bag(s) to the HCV
exhaust port. As air is exhausted from the air bag(s), the frame lowers back down
towards the axle. As the linkage moves up to the neutral position, the exhaust port
is closed and the air is again locked in the air bag(s), maintaining proper ride
height. These three drawings show a schematic example of the height control valve
in the neutral position, inflate position and deflate or exhaust position.
4.4 ADVANTAGES
Excellent Suspension and driving comfort
Fully automatic Level Control
Lifting and lowering function
Easy to service
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Figure: 7 Actual Working Air Suspension
Chapter-8
CONCLUSION
Air suspension is today mainly feature for luxury vehicle. It offers a lot of
feature for compact class. Cost or price level will be more attractive. Integration &
smart design is key. The Air Suspension System has ability to change the load
carrying capacity simply by changing the air pressure.
From the whole discussion in air suspension system, I observe that the
system is like a white blood cell .As white blood cell provides energy to our body
to fight against diseases or viruses which try to destroy or try to decrease our life,in
the similar way air suspension system provides the energy to a vehicle to protect
itself from damaging, increasing life of the vehicle ,increases the handing ,
increases comfort of passengers and many more.
So, according to me if you remove the suspension system, then you feel like
in bull- cart in Audi, Mercedes types luxurious cars. The only difference is speed.
So, the scope of Air Suspension System is Too Bright.
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REFERENCE
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