PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES PROJECT

A Report on

RACK AND PINION STEERING ASSEMBLY

Dated: 23rd November DR. K. S. SANGWAN

COURSE NO: ME C342 Submitted to

INSTRUCTOR IN-CHARGE, Production Techniques

SONAM SAMAT ARCHANA KASHIKAR ANIKET K. TEKAWADE RAHUL GARG SUBHASH KAPOOR

Submitted by

2006B3A4460P 2006B5A4518P 2007A4PS165P 2007A4PS226P 2007A4PS298P

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani

We would like to thank Dr. L. K. Maheshwari, Vice Chancellor of BITS PILANI for introducing the course Production Techniques for the mechanical students. We are also very grateful to Dr. K. S. Sangwan to give us this opportunity to work in BITS workshop which helped us to materialize our theoretical knowledge into practical one. We would like to thank our instructor Dr. R. P. Mishra who guided us in the practical sessions of Production Techniques and supervised our project. Besides this, we are grateful to the entire staff of workshop for being helpful enough and to give us time from their busy schedule.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The presented report details the manufacturing techniques, calculations, and design issues involved in production and fabrication of rack & pinion steering assembly. The rack & pinion steering assembly thus manufactured has a turning radius of 3.5 meters. The assembly is fabricated up to the steering knuckles, which mounted on support stands for demonstration. The report aims at providing precise information about design issues of steering mechanism and techniques of production processes employed.

ABSTRACT

V.

IV.

III. VI.

I.

II.

INTRODUCTION REFERENCES APPENDIX A

CONTENTS

MANUFACTURING PROCEDURE & CALCULATIONS

DESIGN ISSUES & CALCULATIONS

1 2 4 17 18

APPENDIX B: PART-BY-PART CAD MODEL

23

A rack and pinion is a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. The circular pinion engages teeth on a flat bar - the rack. Rotational motion applied to the pinion will cause the rack to move to the side, up to the limit of its travel. Rack-and-pinion steering is quickly becoming the most common type of steering on cars, small trucks and SUVs. A rack-and-pinion gear set 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.

MANUFACTURING OF RACK & PINION STEERING ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCTION

The pinion gear is attached to the steering shaft. When you turn the steering wheel, 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 gear-set 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. 1

The rack -- also known as a steering rack -- is a long piece of metal that is flat on at least one side. The flat side contains teeth running the length of the rack. The teeth are cut perpendicular to the edges of the rack, meaning they run side by side from one end of the rack to the other.

The other major component, the pinion is a round rod that also has teeth on it, although these teeth run parallel to the length of the shaft. The pinion shaft comes into the rack at a ninety-degree angle and the teeth on the pinion mesh with the teeth on the rack. The pinion is connected directly to the steering column, so when the steering wheel is turned to the left, for instance in the case of Ackerman geometry the pinion rotates counter-clockwise .Thus the rotary motion of the pinion is changed to transverse motion by the rack. The rack moves to the right, making the wheels go left. The car turns left.

For pinion,

DESIGN ISSUES & CALCULATIONS

RACK & PINION CALCULATIONS

Diametrical Pitch P = 12 teeth/inch Number of teeth

Pitch diameter d = N/P = 22/12 = 1.833 inches Module m = d/N = 1.83/22 = .083 inches Addendum = 1/P = 1/12 = 0.083 inches Dedendum = 1/P = 1/12 = 0.083 inches OD = 2*addendum + d For rack, p = 0.262 inches p = p*cos OD = 2*0.083 + 1.833 = 2 inches

Circular pitch p = d/N = 3.14*.083 = 0.262 inches

Here, is pressure angle

p = 6.3/22 inches

So (6.3/22)*cos = 0.262 So, = 24 degrees

Casing inner diameter = 25.4 mm Rack diameter = 22 mm Sleeve thickness = 1mm

ENGAGEMENT OF RACK AND PINION

Radial clearance = (25.4 22)/2 = 1.7 mm

The reducer is similar in shape and design to the part of the rack casing in which the pinion and bearing are housed. The reducer was chosen keeping mind the outer diameter of the pinion and bearing used. Consecutively, the length of the shaft that holds the pinion and bearing was ascertained. A shaft was manufactured as per the above design. The length and diameter of different sections of the shaft was determined to press-fit the pinion, bearing and the universal cross joint on it. A hollow tube was used as a steering rod to reduce the weight of the assembly. The ends were made of solid rods which needed proper profiling. On one side it was welded to the steering wheel and on the other end the universal cross joint was mounted. Length of knuckle = 8.5 The plate used is 4 wide and .5 thick. STEERING KNUCKLE STEERING ROD SHAFT DESIGN

PINION AND BEARING HOUSING

Kingpin Angle or Steering Inclination Angle (SIA) = 12 degrees (To ensure smaller scrub radius and hence more responsive steering) Caster angle = -7degrees (negative caster ensures more responsive steering) 3

The steering arm is 5.14 long and makes an angle of 26.56degrees with the knuckle. These dimensions were chosen in order to get a turning radius of less than 4m for a vehicle of wheelbase 46.5 and track width 53.5. Ackerman angle = 26.56degrees Turning Radius = 3.5 meters Distance between tie rod ends = 41.9

STEERING (ACKERMAN) ARM

*Refer to Appendix A for the calculations

The rack & pinion steering assembly can be split into smaller components for ease of understanding: Rack Bearing & Pinion Housing Ball-joints, Tie-rods Pinion Steering Knuckle Painting and Lubrication Casing Support stand and steering rod

MANUFACTURING PROCEDURE & CALCULATIONS

A case-by-case description of each component will be given, explaining its function, the design issues, calculations, along with flow-chart of manufacturing operations on each component. PINION

One of the crucial components of the assembly, the manufacturing of the pinion requires exhaustive design calculations which have a net effect on the specifications of the entire steering assembly. The pinion is the driving gear in the arrangement. As discussed earlier, we have decided upon a spur gear arrangement. The pinions rotational motion gives translational motion to the driven component that is, the rack.

Mild steel was chosen as the raw material for the pinion, because:

Mild steel is the most common form of steel Priced relatively cheaper (about Rs. 40 per kg.) M.S contains 0.16-0.29 % carbon, hence it gives optimum ductility and good machinablity PROCEDURE

MATERIAL

Blank preparation Turning, facing, drilling

Teeth cutting Involute-gear cutting on milling maching

BLANK PREPARATION

For the preparation of the blank, some initial calculations were made, which relate to the design issues of the entire assembly. Fixing the size of the pinion after considering available rack-length, as D = 2 inch, inches inches

Size of pinion: Considering one revolution of pinion for covering entire rack-length, we have

Thickness of pinion: Earlier, choice of rod for rack was made as 1 inch thick, 24 inch long. Drilling: For mounting of the pinion on the housing, a 10 mm hole had to be drilled. 5

Hence the thickness of pinion should be less than 1 inch for proper engagement (will be explained later). Thus, thickness of pinion was fixed at 0.5 inch. Processes carried out on the raw material which was cut out using power hack-saw included:

1. Turning on lathe to achieve 2 inch diameter 2. Facing on lathe to achieve 0.5 inch thickness 3. Drilling on lathe with 10 mm drill-bit

Teeth-cutting was performed by a horizontal milling operation with an involute cutter. Indexing was done with help of dividing head. Following calculations are critical to be made before the operation. Pitch is given as inches

TEETH CUTTING

A 12 teeth per inch DP cutter was available. Hence, on a 2 inch diameter blank, number of teeth was found as 22 earlier. On the column and knee type milling machine, the blank was mounted in a horizontal milling arrangement. An involute cutter of specifications 12 DP, 21-25 teeth was mounted on the arbor. Indexing was done with the help of dividing head. For making the equal spaced markings on the blank, the indexing plate had to be set so that exactly 22 teeth would be obtained at the end of this procedure. The gear ratio of the indexing gear to the gear to be where N = No. of teeth to be cut = 22. manufactured is This gives the number , such that the denominator is number available on the indexing plate. The indexing arm was moved to cover one entire revolution plus 63 holes after every tooth was marked or cut. The depth of cut was 0.166 inch and was adjusted by raising the table by the required amount before the cutting operation. Thus a pinion with 22 teeth and 12 teeth per inch was obtained. RACK

The rack is a straight rod which is driven by the pinion in translational motion. The rack is actually a gear of infinite pitch diameter1 in a common spur gear arrangement.

Mechanical Engineering Design by Shigley

As discussed before, Mild Steel is most commonly available steel and easily machinable. Further, as per our design, a 22 mm thick and 24 inch long rod was required. A one inch thick rod was easily available in workshop store. PROCEDURE Teeth cutting
Involute gear cutting on milling machine

MATERIAL

Preparation of the rod

Cutting Turning

Flat surface preparation

Shaping

Assembly
Internal thread cutting Tapping

Cutting: Available rod of one inch from the store was cut out to 26 inches (2 inches extra holding in head stock) with the help of power hack-saw. FLAT SURFACE PREPARATION

Turning: It was turned on the lathe for achieving the desired thickness of 22 mm and finished with flat file. Smooth movement of rod inside pipe is very critical, so this operation was essential. As previously discussed, a rack of 6.3 inches was to be cut on the rod. For the involute profile to be cut accurately a flat surface was required to be made on this rod. This flat surface was required to be 0.5 inches thick to match with the pinion thickness. Hence, the depth to be cut can be calculated as Thus, X is equal to 2mm. This is the depth to be cut. Linear Pitch = Circular Pitch = 0.262 inches
11 X 6.35

PREPARATION OF ROD

The shaping was done in four passes of 0.5 mm depth of cut each during pass. TEETH CUTTING

For appropriate meshing of teeth the pitch of both components has to be equated as

The teeth on the rack were cut using the column and knee type milling machine in the horizontal arrangement. Involute cutter of 12 DP, 21-25 teeth was mounted on the arbor. 7

In this case indexing was simply done by moving the table by 0.262 inches after every tooth was marked or cut. A depth of cut of 0.166 inches was given by raising the table. Thus, a length of 6.3 inches resulting in 22 teeth for the above mentioned pitch was obtained. ASSEMBLY The rack rod is connected to the ball-joint at the ends through a threaded joint. Ball-joints were obtained from the old SAE BAJA 2009 vehicle part which had a Lotus Elise steering assembly. The ball-joint has an external threaded end which connects to the rack-rod.

Measurement: The minor diameter was measured with vernier callipers to be 10 mm. Pitch was measure with a metric thread gauge and found to be 1.25 mm. Referring to the fine-pitch, metric threads table 2, we can obtain the specifications for design purpose (as discussed earlier). Drilling was done with the help of a 10 mm drill-bit mounted on tail-stock of lathe. Threading was done with a boring tool and automatic feed by engaging the split-nut of arbon with the lead screw on lathe. Tapping was done with a tapping tool of required thread size mentioned above. CASING This set of operations was performed on each side of the rack-rod. Thus, operations on this component were complete, and the rod was readied for assembly. Casing is the covering on the rack in which the rack moves to and fro when the steering wheel is turned. It is also used as a carrier of the lubricant for the rack to move smoothly. MATERIAL

For this purpose, an internal thread had to be made on the ends. This was done by drilling, internal threading and tapping, in sequence. Appropriate measurements had to be taken beforehand.

The casing is generally a cast product. But due to limitations and difficulties in casting, a G.I. (Galvanised Iron) pipe of required dimension is used. Galvanized metal has a zinc coating on it to protect it from rust. Further, the inner diameter of the casing is critical as it should be just larger than rack diameter with radial clearance given for lubrication. Casing inner diameter = rack diameter +2* radial clearance = 22 + 2 x 1.7 = 25.4 mm = 1
2

Pipe selection: The inner diameter of the casing should just enough to allow the movement of the rack inside itself. We can evaluate the ID of the required pipe as:
Table 8-1, Pg. 398, Shigley, Mechanical Engineering Design

PROCEDURE
Cutting to appropriate length
Power hack-saw Slot making Drilling and End milling Joining with pinion housing Grinding Arc-welding Engagement of gear-teeth Sleeve-making Gas-Welding

Cutting to appropriate length: Calculation of appropriate length of pipe was critical and an interesting problem. Consider 6.3 inches of teeth on the rack-rod section. The requirement is that (as shown in figure below), the rack length should be completely exhausted when the last tooth on the corresponding side reaches the pinion. Thus, Casing length = rack-rod length rack length = 24 6.3 = 17.7 inches.
6.3

Slot-making: A wide slot was to be made in the casing through which the pinion engages with the rack. The width of the slot is determined by a minimum width equal to 0.5 inch, which is the thickness of pinion. Beyond this width, the depth the slot from the top becomes critical for engagement of gear-teeth.

Hence, end-milling was done after opening up the casing by drilling holes in its surface. End-milling was performed on the Column and Knee type milling machine, in the vertical milling arrangement. End-milling cutter was used and feed given was along both X and Y coordinates, for obtaining a rectangular slot of 1 inch x 2 inch dimensions. Joining of Casing and Pinion Housing (Reducer): After the pinion-housing was completed (discussed below) in parallel, both parts were welded together after exhaustive edge-preparation by grinding. Engagement of Rack & Pinion: For proper engagement of the gear-teeth, generally a spring-lock system is provided just opposite to the pinion, however, since such a system could not be fabricated, two semi-circular sleeves were provided below the rack, to push it onto the pinion teeth. This pair of sleeves (on either side, on each end) were gas-welded with brass as filler material.

The pinion is engaged on the rack inside a housing arrangement. This housing also supports a bearing behind the pinion. The pinion and bearing are mounted on a shaft, which connects to the Universal cross joint. On the other side of this joint, is the steering rod. The outer-case of the housing assembly was welded to the pipe-casing. MATERIAL

BEARING AND PINION HOUSING

Since, the smaller section of the reducer was 1.5 (38.1 mm), a ball bearing of appropriate OD was to be selected. A Single-Row O2 Series deep groove ball bearing of bore 17 mm, width 12 mm and OD 40 mm. As mentioned, a shaft was required to be made for mounting the pinion and bearing. An MS rod of one inch thickness was taken from scrap. PROCEDURE

The entire casing for engagement of rack and pinion is usually a cast product. However, considering the difficulty of casting, an alternate plan was considered wherein the pinion casing would be substituted by a reducer (2.25:1.5).

Modification of reducer Cutting with hand hacksaw

Edge preparation Hand-grinding

Joining of casingpipe and reducer Arc-welding

Cutting & welding of reducer: The reducer was cut, by a hand hack-saw, on the broader side to provide an opening for the pinion to engage with the rack. This cut reducer was ground in successive iterations for ensuring exact engagement of the rack and pinion and finally welded above the slot in the casing-pipe.

Turning of shaft: The one inch thick rod was turned to achieve a 17 mm thickness for tight fitting the bearing and 10 mm thickness, on the other side, for mounting of pinion.

10

Shaft preparation Turning

Mounting Press-fitting

Mounting: The bearing and the pinion were press-fitted on the shaft and then the shaft was press-fitted into the Hookes joint from the side of the bearing. After this assembly, the bearing was press-fitted in the reducer, with help of a sheet-metal sleeve. These press fittings were done manually. The steering knuckle is mounted between the upper and lower ball joints which connect the steering assembly to the wheels and convert the translational motion of the rack rod to the turning motion of the wheels. The steering arm is connected to the tie rod which goes up to the rack. In our case, the steering knuckle is the end of our model. The hole which connects to the lower ball joint is mounted on the support stand for the demonstration of the model. Two MS slabs of 12 mm thickness and 10 mm thickness were used to make the knuckle and steering arm. PROCEDURE MATERIAL STEERING KNUCKLE

Cutting of plates Universal cutting machine

Making of holes Drilling

Profiling of Steering arm Gas-cutting Grinding

Joining Arc-welding

11

This part involves calculation of caster angle and steering inclination angle. The steering inclination angle used is 12 degrees. The distance between the centers of the two holes is 8.5 inches. The caster angle usually set at about 7 degrees. Tan(7) x 4.25 = 0.52 inches Thus, the holes were offset by 0.5 inches on each side from the central axis of the plate. Tan(12) = => X=1.8 Making of holes: Two holes of quarter inch each were drilled on the side slabs. The vertical distance between these holes is maintained at 1.8 inches based on the following calculations

Cutting of plates: The base of the knuckle was made by cutting on the universal cutting machine to get dimensions of 8x4 inches. The two side slabs were cut to dimensions of 3.5 inches and 2 inches in length and 2 inches in width. The 12 mm thick plate was used as the base of the knuckle and the two sides of the knuckle were made from the 10 mm thick plates.

Joining: The two side plates and the steering arm were joined to the base plate by arcwelding and ground later for better finishing.
2.3

Profiling of Steering Arm: The steering arm profile was cut as shown in figure alongside. For profiling, the plate was cut by using a carburizing flame during gas-cutting and then ground. Grinding operation in this case was critical and took about 90 minutes of grinding time for each arm.
4.6

Since the steering assembly thus fabricated has to be setup for demonstration, a supportstand was fabricated. This stand supports the assembly at the casing, knuckle base and steering rods bearing. MATERIAL

SUPPORT STAND AND STEERING ROD

Rectangular beams from scrap were obtained. Steering rod and wheel also were obtained from scrap.

12

Cutting to size hand hack-saw universal cutting machine

Edge preparation, Profiling Grinding

PROCEDURE

Joining Arc welding

Support Stand: The critical dimensions for making the support stand include - Height difference between casing and the base of knuckle. Considering an arbitrary height for the knuckle base of 19 inch, the height for the casing support is obtained by adding 4 inches from base of knuckle to steering arm which is at the same level as the casing. Hence, height of 23 inch is required for supporting the casing. Width is decided by taking the distance between the two knuckle-bases which was found to be 46 inch. Steering Rod: : The steering rod is used connect the steering and the universal cross joint which transmits the rotation from the steering to universal cross joint which in turn rotates the pinion and the drives it. The steering rod is actually not a solid rod but a tube, which is lighter, and has a solid rod section at its end, which enters the Hookes Joint. The rod was assembled in the Hookes Joint by grinding the rod thickness to 17 mm, and tightened by a inch by 2 inch bolt & nut with washer. On the other side, a solid rod was turned on lathe and welded into the tube for fixing the steering wheel. TIE-ROD, BALL-JOINT AND HOOKES JOINT TIE ROD END:

For completing the assembly, some components had to be acquired from the old SAE BAJA 2009 on lease. Following section explains their respective functions, and importance in the assembly. Description: A tie rod is a slender structural unit used as a tie and capable of carrying tensile loads only. Tie rods may be connected at the ends in various ways, but it is desirable that the strength of the connection should be at least equal to the strength of the rod. The ends are threaded and retained by nuts screwed on the ends. Function: Tie rod is used to join the rack and the steering arm. Material: High quality alloy steel

13

Specifications of threads:
Unified Screw Threads Fine Series (1) Size designation = 3/8 Number of threads per inch = 24 Size designation = 3/8 Unified Screw Threads coarse Series (2)

Tensile stress area = 0.0878 sq. inch

Minor diameter area = 0.0809 sq .inch

Number of threads per inch = 16

Tensile stress area = 0.0775 sq. inch

Description: A ball joint is steel bearing stud and socket enclosed in a steel casing. The bearing stud is tapered and threaded. Ball joints play a critical role in the safe operation of an automobile's steering and suspension.

BALL JOINT

Minor diameter area = 0.0678 sq. inch

Function: here the ball joints are used on either side of the rack to join it with the steering arm.

Material: Low carbon steel suitably zinc plated for high strength and good wear resistance.

14

Description: A universal cross joint or U joint or Hooke's joint is a joint in a rigid rod that allows the rod to 'bend' in any direction, and is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion. It consists of a pair of hinges located close together, oriented at 90 to each other, connected by a cross shaft.

UNIVERSAL CROSS JOINT:

Function: Here the universal cross joint is used as a joint between the steering rod and the shaft which carries the pinion. They are joined by pressing them fit on both sides. 1

Material: It is generally made of 20Cr steel. Here chromium improves strength, toughness and resistance to corrosion.

Specifications:

1. Inner diameter = 15mm. The shaft is press fit at this side. PAINTING AND LUBRICATION

A lubricant is a substance introduced between two moving surfaces to reduce the friction between them, improving efficiency and reducing wear and distribution of heat. Lubricating grease composes of oil base and a thickener. The grease has excellent film strength, improved anti-washout capabilities. They possess a higher initial viscosity than oil. Here lubricant is used in the following parts. 1. Pinion is lubricated so that it slides on the rack smoothly.

2. Inner diameter = 17mm. The steering rod is press fit at this side.

A nipple is attached to the casing to feed lubricant into casing using lubrication gun. There is a small ball that gives a passage for the lubricant when pressure is applied. The ball again comes back to its original position by spring action when the pressure is removed.

2. Inside the casing lubrication is provided inside the casing so that the rack moves to and fro smoothly.

15

The nipple has threads with the help of which it fitted. Supposedly, the casing had to be tapped to get the counter-threads. But since the thickness of the casing is not thick enough to make the threads, a hole was drilled and the nipple was brazed onto the casing. And using the lubrication gun the lubricant was fed into the casing. Painting: The whole assembly is painted to prevent it from getting rusted as it acts as a protective layer from oxidation and dust.

PROCEDURE

16

[1] Shigley et. al, Mechanical Engineering Design

[2] B. S. N. Parashar, R. K. Mittal, Elements of Manufacturing Processes [3] Thomas D. Gillespie, Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics [4] Milliken & Milliken, Race Car Vehicle Dynamics [5] Carroll Smith, Tune to win [6] Ghosh & Malik, Manufacturing Science

REFERENCES

17

The diagram below outlines the important geometry in determining the motions of the wheels in a vehicle that uses Ackerman steering geometry. Ackerman geometry is an interesting problem because it is dynamic. That is to say that we have two components moving together the left and right steering knuckles, but the relationship between their motion changes as we move them.

APPENDIX A

Lets look at the important distances and angles. The two most fundamental distances are the wheel base of the car and the kingpin center to center distance. If we draw two lines representing the wheelbase and the distance from the cars center line to one of the king pins, we can make a triangle. By design, the line that goes through the centers of the steering arm forms the hypotenuse of this triangle. See below. Note that the angle with its vertex at A is 90 degrees by design. Note that the line that forms the Ackerman angle with the hypotenuse is parallel with the thrust line. Because of this, we can say that angle B and the Ackerman angle are similar, so if we know one, we know the other. Clearly,
King Pin Center to Center Distance 23.25

TAN Angle B = king pin center to center distance / 2 Wheelbase Ackerman Angle

Wheelbase

18

The problem is that we know the distances and are trying to find angle B. We need the inverse function ARCTAN. Rearranging, we get: We can pick distances, turn the crank and find Angle B and by extension, the Ackerman Angle. According to our design, Wheel base = 46.5 ARCTAN king pin to king pin distance = 46.5. The formula would look as follows: 46.5 / 2 46.5 ARCTAN (.5) = 26.56 So, the Ackerman Angle is 26.56 degrees. = Angle B ARCTAN king pin center to center distance / 2 = Angle B Wheelbase

19

To find the length of the tie rod, we can decompose the trapezoid ABCD into a rectangle and two triangles.
D C

The distance between the tie rod ends (effective steering system length) is equal to the king pin to king pin center distance minus distance Y on each side. Ackerman arm radius has been chosen to be 5.14. Well, recall that the SIN of an angle is the ratio between the side opposite the angle and the hypotenuse i.e. Now, LT = DKC 2*RAA*SIN Ackerman Angle Y = 2.3 SIN 26.56 = Y/5.14

2656

B
Y

DKC is the distance between king pins center to center RAA is the radius of the Ackerman Arm LT = 41.9

Where:

LT is distance between the left and right tie rod ends

LT = 46.5 2*5.14*SIN 26.56

20

C AA

Something less than 35

Weve figured out all of the static values. Now lets contemplate a turn as diagrammed in red to the right.

35

Now we can set to work on determining each. If you think about angle k, we can determine it because for any steer angle, we know the positions of the ends of the diagonal line. If we assigned point A the coordinate of 0,0 then point D would have the coordinates Kingpin Center to Center Distance,0. In the our case specifically point Ds coordinates would be 46.5,0. We can calculate point Bs coordinates with the following formulae: Where: Point Bs X coordinate = RAA * COS(AA + SAL) Point Bs Y coordinate = RAA * SIN(AA + SAL)

According to rack and pinion design the maximum rack travel is 6.3 left to right. As a result of rack travel of 3.15 from centre to one side leads to the inner wheel turning approx. 35 at a turn. Suppose that the Ackerman arm labeled AB steers 35 degrees to the left as shown. Since the car pictured is turning to the left, the right Ackerman arm (CD) needs to steer something less than 35 degrees. To find out how much less let us consider a line drawn diagonally from point D to B. This creates three angles that add together to give the angle of the wheel that pivots at point D. Well call the first angle K, the second angle (pronounced gamma), and the third angle is of course, the Ackerman angle.

AA is the Ackerman Angle

RAA is the Ackerman Arm Radius

21

SAL is the steering angle of the left wheel. Zero degrees is straight ahead.
D

Positive values are a left turn, negative values are a right turn. For a 35 left turn, Point Bs X coordinate = 5.14 * COS(26.56 + 35) Point Bs Y coordinate = 5.14 * SIN(26.56 + 35) Point Bs X coordinate = 2.45 Point Bs Y coordinate = 4.52

AA

So, the coordinates of Point B at a 35 left turn are 2.45, 4.52. We can project straight to the left of point B and straight up from point A to create a new point called point E. Because we projected straight left and straight up, the angle at E is by definition 90. Also, because point E falls on segment AD, we can calculate distance DE with the formula: DE = 46.5 4.52 DE = 41.98 BD = DE = AD AE

4.52

2.45

Now that we know EB and ED, we can find the length of BD because it is a hypotenuse of the triangle formed. Using Pythagorean Theorem: BD = (2.45)2 + (41.98)2 BD = 42.05 (EB2 + (DE)2

Furthermore, because we know the sides of the triangle we can determine angle k in the following manner: TAN k = EB/ED K = 3.34 ARCTAN (2.45/41.98) = k

All we have left is to find angle (pronounced gamma). Note that is the angle BDC. We know that side DC is the length of the Ackerman arm, which we chose to be 5.14. We know that side CB is the distance between the tie rod end joints, which we calculated earlier to be 41.9. Finally, we know the distance BD, which we determined using Pythagorean Theorem to be 42.05. So we have a triangle and we know the lengths of each of the three sides. 22

Luckily, there is a somewhat abstract relationship between the sides of non-right triangles called law of cosines. It can be expressed a number of ways, but we will use the permutation shown below. Per usual, we are trying to get the thing we dont know by itself, so well need to beat this up a little bit to make it useful. Rearranging gives: (42.05)2 + (5.14)2 (41.9)2 = COS 2(42.05)(5.14) = 84.82 COS = A2 + B2 C2 2AB

Now if we add up angle k, and the Ackerman angle, well have the tires steer angle from the line that connects the two kingpins. To get the steer angle, we have to subtract 90. The formula is: Steer Angle = k + + Ackerman Angle - 90 = 3.34 + 84.82 + 26.56 - 90 = 24.72

The car is executing a left turn. The left front wheel is steered 35 to the left. The right wheel is tracing a larger arc, and therefore should have a lesser steer angle and hence the right side steering angle should be something less than 35 (which in our case is 24.72). The turning circle of a car is the diameter of the circle described by the outside wheels when turning on full lock. There is no hard and fast formula to calculate the turning circle but we can refer to the following formula to get the approximate value. Turning circle radius = (track/2) + (wheelbase/sin(steer angle)) = (53.5/2) + (46.5/sin24.72) inches = 3.5m

23

STEERING KNUCKLE

APPENDIX B

24

STEERING (ACKERMAN) ARM

25

SHAFT

26

PINION AND BEARING HOUSING

27

RACK

28

PINION

29

RACK AND PINION ASSEMBLY

30