Steering and suspension design for a SAE-A formula race car

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The design and development of the steering and suspension system for the USQ Motorsport team is presented. Formula SAE-A race car is presented. BACKGROUND Formula SAE-A is an annual competition for university students throughout Australia and around the world, it has been recognized by industry as providing some of the best graduating engineers because of the practical and teamwork experience obtained through participation. Each year SAE produces a list of rules for the design of the vehicles, the rules that directly affect this project are: 6.1 Suspension, 6.2 Ground Clearance, 6.3 Wheels, 6.4 Tyres, 6.5 Steering and 6.7 Rollover Stability. All vehicles are subject to a technical inspection to ensure the rules have been adhered to. OBJECTIVES The main objectives of this project were to identify and investigate possible changes to the existing design of the steering and suspension to improve the performance and reliability from a practical and safety aspect. PROJECT DETAIL The project is broken into two categories: 1- Steering and suspension performance and 2- Safety of the steering system. The WIN Geo software package (Wm.C.Mitchell) was used to analyse and optimise the steering and suspension geometry for improved performance and reliability.This design uses a rack and pinion steering with coil over shock absorbers and a double A-Arm suspension system.The steering safety was analysed and investigations led to designing a steering transfer system that allows an improvement of the drivers’ access and egress. CONCLUSIONS The results of this research will be given to the 2010 USQ Motorsport Team to determine the feasibility of their use in the 2010 car