Chapter 7 : Suspensions

By
Dr. Gan Leong Ming
Semester 2012/2013-II
Introduction
Basically, suspensions are employed to deal with hump in
road surface, in other words, enhancing ride comfort.

When a car rides over a hump, the springs are
compressed, store the energy thus provide shock
absorption. The energy will be released quickly when the
springs bounce back. Dampers are employed to smooth
and slow down the bounce motion, this is called
"Damping".

Without dampers, the car will bounce up and down
severely and quickly, this is perceived as uncomfortable

To achieve ride comfort, suspensions is created and let
the wheels movable with respect to the car body
Introduction
Inevitably, this create many problems in handling.

When the car is turning quickly into a bend, centrifugal force
will roll the car body.

Body roll leads to the weight transfer towards the outside
wheels, it also changes the suspensions geometry which
changes the camber angles of wheels.

Change of camber accompanies with weight transfer result in
unwanted understeering or oversteering.

If brakes are applied in the bend, castor angles will also be
changed, that may further deteriorated understeering /
oversteering or even introduces torque steer
Introduction
If a wheel is not perpendicular to the road, then it is cambered. If it leans
towards the center of the car, then it is negative cambered. If it leans
outwards to the car, it is positive cambered

When a wheel has positve camber, due to the elasticity of tyres, the wheel
will be reshaped to something like the base of a cone. It will have a tendency
to rotate about the peak of the cone, as shown in the picture. The wheel tries
to steer away from the center of the car

If both the right and left wheels are positive cambered (that means they lean
towards opposite directions), the steering tendency will be cancelled so that
the car remains running in straight line. If the car is turning into a corner,
body roll puts more weight on the outside wheels than the inside wheels, that
means the outside wheel's steering tendency will have more influence to the
car. As the positive-cambered outside wheel tries to steer the car to the
outside of the corner, the car will be understeered.

On the contrary, if both wheels are negative cambered, the car will oversteer.

Functions of suspension system
The suspension system is located between the wheel axles
and the vehicle body or frame

Provide vertical compliance so the wheels follow the uneven
road, isolating the chassis from roughness in the road

Maintain the wheels in the proper steer and camber
attitudes to the road surface

React to the control forces produced by the tires
longitudinal (acceleration and braking) forces, lateral
(cornering) forces and braking and driving torques

Resist roll of the chassis

Keep the tires in contact with the road with minimal load
variations
Function and basic components of a suspension system
Suspension Systems
It should include the springs and related
parts that supports the weight of the vehicle
on axles and wheels. Springs support the
weight of the vehicle and its load.

Shock absorbers control or dampen spring
action. Without it, spring oscillation would
happen.

These springs and shock absorbers may be
mechanically or electronically controlled.
Suspension Systems
Types of springs used : coil, leaf, torsion and
air.
Automotive Springs
Important properties for dynamics analysis
Kinematic (motion) behavior

Response to forces and moments that it
transmit from the tires to the chassis

Other characteristics cost, weight,
package space, manufacturability, ease of
assembly and others

Type of Suspension System
Generally fall into two groups:

Solid axles : Hotchkiss, Four Link, De Dion

Independents : Trailing Arm, SLA, MacPherson
Strut, Multi-Link, Swing Axle
Solid Axles
Wheels are mounted at either end of a rigid beam so that any
movement of one wheel is transmitted to the opposite wheel causing
them to steer and camber together

Used on the rear of many cars and most trucks and on the front of
many four-wheel-drive trucks where high load-carrying capacity is
required

Advantages :

wheel camber is not affected by body roll. There is little wheel camber in
cornering

wheel alignment is readily maintained, minimizing wear

Disadvantages :

susceptibility to tramp-shimmy steering vibrations

Solid axles - Hotchkiss
The basic Hotchkiss style is a direct carry over from horse drawn
buggies, improvements over the years have kept it as a viable
suspension design for certain applications

Axle is located by semi-elliptic leaf springs and driven through a
longitudinal driveshaft with universal joints at the transmission and
axle

Solid axles - Hotchkiss
Used of leaf springs simple and least
expensive, stiff in the lateral and
longitudinal directions

Widely used on the rear axle passenger
cars into the 1960s till now on most light
and heavy trucks

Solid axles - Hotchkiss
Advantages
Simplicity There are very few components in this suspension so
manufacturing and assembly efficiency along with robustness ate
maximized easily
Strength By adding extra leaves to the spring the stiffness of the
suspension in the longitudinal direction could be greatly increased
Control of Rear Axle Torsional Rotation When the shocks were
mounted one in front and one behind the axle, the twisting of the axle
during violent wheel hop could be completely controlled

Disadvantages
Weight Leaf springs are relatively very heavy when compared to a
more compact independent suspension design. This weight increases
the unsprung weight and hinders the ability of the wheels to follow the
road
Size Leaf springs are huge in comparison to a strut. Simply put
modern cars do not have room in the chassis to fit large cumbersome
leaf springs.
Solid axles Four Link
Evolved as the suspension of choice in
recent decades for the larger passenger
cars with solid rear-drive axles

Solid axles Four Link
Lower arm provide longitudinal control of
the axle while the upper arms absorb
braking/driving torques and lateral forces

The ability to use coil springs (or air
springs) to replace leaf springs provides
better ride and NVH by the elimination of
the coulomb friction characteristic of leaf
springs
Solid axles De Dion
Developed by Count de Dion in the 19th century

Consists of a cross tube between the two driving wheels with a
chassis-mounted differential and half-shafts

It has a sliding joint to permit wheel track variation during
suspension movement, this help refining ride quality too.

The DeDion tube keeps both wheels parallel to each other under all
conditions, so they are always perpendicular to the road surface
regardless of body roll


Solid axles De Dion
Driving wheels are attached to curved dead axle that is
attached to the frame by a central pivot

Differential unit is bolted to the frame and is connected to the
driving wheels by drive axles using Universal joints

The De Dion system keeps the wheels upright (the same as a
live axle does), but unspung weight is reduced because the
differential is out of the axle

De Dion suspension also leaves room around the differential
for inboard brakes, which can further reduce unspung weight

Live axle has too much unsprung weight, thus leads to
poor ride quality. Therefore many budget sports cars or
coupes chose DeDion Axle (rear) suspensions over live axle
Solid axles De Dion
Advantages
Still cheaper than most independent suspensions.
Body roll does not influence the camber of wheels.
Better ride quality than Live Axle.

Disadvantages
Non-independent, ride is still worse than independent
suspensions.
Both wheels cambered on bump.

Who use it ?
Caterham, Vector, Smart.
Independent Suspensions
Allow each wheel to move vertically without affecting the opposite
wheel

Nearly all passenger cars and light trucks use independent
suspensions

Advantages:

Providing room for the engine and because of the better resistance
to steering (wobble and shimmy) vibrations
Provides an inherently higher roll stiffness relative to the vertical
spring rate
Easy control of the roll center by choice of the geometry of the
control arms
Ability to control tread change with jounce and rebounce
Larger suspension deflections
Greater roll stiffness for a given suspension vertical rate
Independent Suspensions Trailing Arm Suspension
One of the most simple and economical
designs
Front : Parallel, equal length trailing arms connected at their
front ends to lateral torsion bars, which provide springing
Independent Suspensions Trailing Arm Suspension
Commonly used in nearly all mid-price to high-price sedans before
multi-link rear suspension became popular in 1990s.

Note that it only allows the wheel to move up and down to deal with
bump. Any lateral movement and camber change (with respect to
the car body) is not allowed

Nevertheless, when the car rolls into a corner, the trailing arm rolls
for the same degree as the car body, thus changes camber angle
(with respect to the road surface)

Both wheels lean towards the outside of the corner, thus lead to
understeer

Advantage : All round, few weakness

Disadvantage : Less refined than multi-link

Application : Many sedans and coupes
Independent Suspensions Trailing Arm Suspension
Trailing-Arm / Semi-Trailing Arm Rear Suspension

Reducing unsprung
weight by mounting the
differential on the body
Produces a steering effect
as the wheels move in
jounce and rebound
Independent Suspensions SLA front suspension
The upper and lower control arms are usually of unequal
length

The arms are often called A-arms [in United States] or
wishbones [in Britain]

Well adapted to front-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars because of
the package space it provides for the engine oriented in the
longitudinal direction

Camber geometry of an unequal-arm system can improved
camber at the outside wheel by counteracting camber due to
body roll, but less-favorable camber at inside wheel

Equal length parallel arms eliminate the unfavorable
condition on the inside wheel but at the loss of camber
compensation on the outside wheel
SLA - Double wishbones suspension
Basically, double wishbones suspension always maintains the wheel
perpendicular to the road surface, irrespective of the wheel's movement. This
ensure good handling.

Traditional double wishbones consists of 2 parellel wishbone arms of equal
length, which has the drawback of excessive tire scrubbing because of the
large variation in track width as the wheel moved off the neutral position

Therefore engineers developed unequal-length non-parellel A-arms to solve
this. By tilting the upper A-arm, anti-dive function is also achieved.

Independent Suspensions SLA front suspension
http://www.arengineers.com/RollCenter/We
bRollCenter.aspx for roll center calculation
Popular versions of double wishbone
Double wishbones suspension
Double wishbone suspension
Double wishbones suspension
Advantage:
Ideal camber control leads to good handling

Disadvantage:
Space engaging and costly

Who use it ?
American sports cars and some sedans, most
European pure sports cars like Ferrari, TVR, Lotus ....
some Euopean sedans, most Honda .... many many
many.
Double wishbones suspension
Independent Suspensions MacPherson Strut
Invented in the 1940s by Earl S. MacPherson of Ford

Introduced on the 1950 English Ford and has since become one of the
dominating suspensions systems of the world because of its compactness
and low cost

Strut a telescopic member incorporating damping with the wheel rigidly
attached at its lower end, such that the strut maintains the wheel in the
camber direction

It saves the upper control arm

Upper end is fixed to the body shell or chassis

Lower end is located by linkages which pick up the lateral and
longitudinal forces

Body roll and wheel's movement lead to variation in camber, although
not as severe as swing axle suspension

can be adopted in both front and rear wheels
Independent Suspensions MacPherson Strut
Advantages

Simple design
Package space for transverse engines widely used for front-
wheel-drive cars
Separation of the connection points on the body well-suited to
vehicles with unibody construction
Fewer parts and capability to spread the suspension loads to the
body structure over a wider area
The strut is vertically positioned, the whole suspension is very
compact and cheap

Disadvantages

Average handling
Relatively high overall height requires a higher hood and fender
line, which is not very desirable to sports cars' styling
Independent Suspensions MacPherson Strut
Independent Suspensions Multi-Link Rear Suspension
Multi-link is characterized by ball-joint connections at the ends of the
linkages so that they do not experience bending moments

Four links are required to provide longitudinal and lateral control of
the wheels and react brake torques

Five links additional link over-constrains the wheel, but capitalizes
on compliances in the bushings to allow more accurate control of toe
angles in cornering

Use of linkages provides flexibility for designer to
achieve the wheel motions desired

Advantage: Good handling and ride

Disadvantage: Not as cheap and as compact as
MacPherson and Torsion beam
Independent Suspensions Swing Axle
Easiest way to get independent rear suspension

Most notable application Volkswagen Beetle
for good ride

Camber behavior is established entirely by the
axle shafts pivoting at the U-joint adjacent to the
differential

Small swing radius cause large camber change

Difficult to get consistent cornering performance
Independent Suspensions Swing Axle
Outside tire
more heavily
loaded (greater
cornering force
Inside tire
attempts to lift the
vehicle such that
the wheels tuck
under
Jacking phenomenon effect of elevating the
vehicle body (reducing its rollover resistance) and
causing loss of cornering force on the axle due to
camber thrust vehicle spin out and serious
directional control problems
Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
Remember the weight transfer during acceleration?
L
h
g
a
W W
L
h
g
a
L
b
W W
x
rs
x
r
+ =
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
Dynamic load is increased at the rear wheels due to
longitudinal weight transfer
The weight is transfer to the axle and wheels principally
through the suspension
Thus implied compression (jounce) in the rear suspension
Squat/power Squat
Associated rebound in the front suspension
Rear jounce + front rebound = vehicle pitch
Suspension systems may be designed to counteract the
weight transfer and minimize squat and pitch
Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch
Anti-dive and anti-squat are percentages and refer to the
front diving under braking and the rear squatting under
acceleration. They can be thought of as the counterparts for
braking and acceleration as jacking forces are to cornering.
The main reason for the difference is due to the different
design goals between front and rear suspension, whereas
suspension is usually symmetrical between the left and
right of the vehicle.

The method of determining the anti-dive or anti-squat
depends on whether the suspension linkages react to the
torque of braking and accelerating

Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
Equivalent Trailing Arm Analysis :

Assume all suspensions are functionally equivalent to a trailing arm with
regard to the reaction of forces and moments onto the vehicle
0 cos P - z F
0 sin P - sin P F
0 cos P - cos P F
1 1 1 2 x
2 2 1 1 z
2 2 1 1 x
=
=
= +
z u
u u
u u
Writing Newtonss Second
Law for horizontal, vertical
and moments at point o
Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
After solving all the geometry equations,
d
e
F
F
x
z
=
Identical to that which would be obtained if the
control arms were replaced with a single
(trailing) arm pivoting on the body at the
projected intersection of the control arm axes
Imaginary pivot on
the vehicle body
Resisting axle windup : Ability to
transmit vertical force to the
sprung mass counteract squat
Anti-squat
Geometry that produces an instant center through which
acceleration forces can act to reduce or eliminate
drive wheel spring deflection during acceleration

Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
The path through which the tractive force (F
x
) must act is
along a line drawn between the tire footprint and the
instant center. This path carries horizontal (F
Xa
) and
vertical (F
Za
) components of force.

Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
Instants centers
Instant center locations, projected onto the
longitudinal axis of the vehicle, provide the
location where the forces transmitted during
acceleration, effectively act.

The resultant horizontal and vertical components
of the tractive force, transmitted through these
instant centers, DETERMINE THE PERCENT
(%) OF THE WEIGHT TRANSFER THAT ACTS
THROUGH THE SUSPENSION LINKAGES, with
the remaining acting through the suspension
springs.
Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
Equation which indicates the relationships for 100% anti-squat.



The angle the instant center (I.C.) must lie on for 100% anti-squat is




If the Tan < h/L then squat will occur.
d
e
=
L
h
L
h
=
d
e
= | Tan
Anti-Squat and Anti-Pitch Suspension Geometry
**The percentage of anti-squat is now determined relative
to the 100% (h/L) line**
Anti-Dive Suspension System
Longitudinal load transfer incidental to braking
acts to pitch the vehicle forward brake dive

Anti-dive (Anti-lift)
Geometry that produces an instant center through
which braking forces can act to reduce or eliminate
spring deflection during deceleration.

Anti-dive is usually designed into both front and rear
suspensions.
brake) rear (% L
h
=
d
e
=
-
| Tan
L
h
=
d
e
= | Tan
|
.
|

\
|
-
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
L
h
g
a
W brake rear
r
% %
Rear Anti-Dive/Anti-Squat Geometry
Anti-Dive Suspension System
brake) rear (% L
h
=
d
e
=
-
| Tan
|
.
|

\
|
-
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
L
h
g
a
W brake rear
r
% %
brake) front (% L
h
=
d
e
=
-
| Tan
|
.
|

\
|
-
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
L
h
g
a
W brake front
f
% %
The angle of the line the instant center (I.C.) must lie on for 100%
anti-dive in the front and rear suspension
Anti-Dive/Anti-Squat Geometry
The main reason for the difference is due to the different
design goals between front and rear suspension, whereas
suspension is usually symmetrical between the left and right of
the vehicle.

An Anti-dive ratio of 50% would mean the force vector under
braking crosses half way between the ground and the center of
gravity.

Anti-squat is equivalent to Anti-dive and is for the rear
suspension under acceleration.

Anti-dive and Anti-squat may or may not be desirable depending
on the suspension design.
Anti-Dive/Anti-Squat Geometry
Independent suspension using multiple
control arms can be an issue if the percentage
is too high (say over 30%)

A percentage of 100% in this case would
indicate the suspension is taking 100% of the
weight transfer under braking instead of the
springs

This effectively binds the suspension and
turns the independent suspension into no
suspension like a go-cart
Anti-Dive Suspension System
Maximum anti-dive seldom exceeds 50%, because

Full anti-dive required pivot point above the full anti-squat

Cause flat stops undesirable

Front suspension castor angle changes may increase steering
effort during braking

Complex steering system geometry

For rear suspension, overstreer may be created by the high
location of the pivot


NVH performance may be compromised
L
h
g
a
W
x
Roll Center Analysis
Roll Center
- is the center of rotation for a suspension
system.
Point or location at which lateral forces
developed by the wheels are transmitted
to the sprung mass.
-Point in the transverse vertical plane
through any pair of wheel centers at which
lateral forces may be applied to the sprung
mass without producing a suspension roll



Roll Center Analysis (continue)
- Affects the behavior of both the sprung and
unsprung masses influences cornering.
- influence the handling characteristics of the
car: spring and wheel rates, shock
dampening, CG location, track width, wheel
base and many others.
- estimate how much the camber angle of the
front wheels will change during suspension
travel or how much body roll will be present
while cornering.
Roll Center Analysis (continue)
- Affects the behavior of both the sprung and
unsprung masses influences cornering.
- influence the handling characteristics of the
car: spring and wheel rates, shock
dampening, CG location, track width, wheel
base and many others.
- estimate how much the camber angle of the
front wheels will change during suspension
travel or how much body roll will be present
while cornering.
Roll Center Analysis (continue)
- Affects the behavior of both the sprung and
unsprung masses influences cornering.
- influence the handling characteristics of the
car: spring and wheel rates, shock
dampening, CG location, track width, wheel
base, cornering reactions and many others.
Roll Center Analysis
Each suspension has a suspension roll
center point in the transverse vertical
plane through the wheel centers at which
lateral forces may be applied to the
sprung mass without producing
suspension roll

Roll Center Analysis
Roll axis instantaneous axis about which
the unsprung mass rotates with respect to
the sprung mass when a pure couple is
applied to the unsprung mass



Different between passive and active suspension systems
Passive suspensions refer to traditional
springs and dampers

Semi-active or active suspension when the
suspension is externally controlled

Semi-active suspensions include devices
such as air springs and switchable shock
absorbers, various self-leveling solutions, as
well as systems like Hydropneumatic,
Hydrolastic and Hydragas suspensions
Different between passive and active suspension systems
For example, a hydropneumatic Citron will
"know" how far off the ground the car is
supposed to be and constantly reset to
achieve that level, regardless of load.

It will not instantly compensate for body roll
due to cornering however. Citron's system
adds about 1% to the cost of the car versus
passive steel springs