On the design of racing car suspension
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ORIGINAL PAPER
On the design of racing car suspension Greg Wheatley1 Received: 10 April 2020 / Accepted: 23 July 2020 © Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The suspension assembly of a vehicle is a vital component in its ability to function safely and effectively. This paper details the design and simulation of the James Cook University Motorsports 2nd generation vehicle for the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers competition. After in-depth research it was decided that a pull-rod suspension system would be the most effective assembly for the Gen 2 car. Contrary to the current push-rod suspension on the Gen 1 car, the pull-rods allow the centre of gravity to be lowered, which is ideal. Working closely with the rear drive train, cockpit and upright teams, a design was conceived and developed. After several redesigns a final model was able to be created. SolidWorks was the tool used to generate the components created in the design phase. This is an extremely powerful program that allows the user to not only produce a three-dimensional component but also allow future modifications to be made to the component to change its dimensions. It was decided this was a vitally important ability, as future modifications will be needed when less conservative loading cases are discovered and then applied. The SolidWorks models where then transported to a computational simulation program, ANSYS. ANSYS, like SolidWorks, was an important tool in verifying design assumptions and concepts. With this program loading cases where able to be applied to the system to understand how they would react and if they would fail under the stresses applied. Keywords Design · Vehicle · Fatigue · Suspension
1 Introduction The suspension of a vehicle is one of the most critical components for transferring the power generated by the engine to the wheels. Poorly designed and calibrated suspension guarantees poor performance on the track. In the case of JCM 2nd generation FSAE car, a complete suspension design is to be generated with the intention of fitting the mounting points to a future frame. The design should improve upon the previous JCM FSAE car, Roxanne, with a particular emphasis on adjustability and ease of manufacture and installation. The suspension of an FSAE car is such a significant and vital aspect for absorbing a rough ride, making it comfortable is not its only attribute. Suspension is used at every moment on the track, for traction when cornering, maintaining steering control and providing an overall more stable vehicle. Choosing a suitable suspension configuration within the constraints of the FSAE rules and regulations as well as * Greg Wheatley [email protected] 1
James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
meeting any physical requirements of the track and FSAE car is no doubt one of the single, most important features. Roxanne utilised a double wishbone [1] pushrod suspension with unequal, parallel links. This geometry was designed around an existing frame, and was optimised
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