Steering System Design Considerations

Steering is one of the fundamental principals which you need to have a firm grasp of in order to design any vehicle. It can be an exceptionally complex system with large amounts of variation between systems. There are numerous tricks you can play by altering angles to solve issues with steering, and this article aims to explain in basic terms, the ways in which you can rectify some common steering problems when designing a steering system for an automobile or kart.

Content will be updated very soon as I plough through my research for the steering design for my formula zero kart feasibility study!

Figure 1: Toe Angle

Figure 2: Castor Angle

Figure 3: Camber Angle

Figure 4: King pin inclination

»»  read more

F1 2011: New Season, New Rules. What Has Changed?

Pirelli are the new tire suppliers for F1 in the 2011 season.

The new season is dawning on us; with testing well under way, cars being released and driver deals being finalized before the first race on 13th March in Bahrain. However this season brings a huge number of changes to the sport, this article is my attempt to simply all of these changes down and make them easy to understand!

List of Changes occuring:

• The F-Duct which was introduced amidst controversy last season has been banned
• Adjustable Rear wings have been introduced (THIS IS A BIG ONE!)
• Moveable splitters have been banned
• Rear wing slots have been banned
• Beam wind slots have been banned
• Mirror positions have been mandated, they must now sit in the optimal position for the driver to see what is around him, rather than being used an aerodynamic feature
• Limits have been placed on the rear impact structures
• Blade Roll Structures have been banned
• Connected shark fins have been banned
• Max chassis height and dash roll have been mandated 
• Wheel spoke shaping has been banned
• Weight distribution rules have been mandated
• Oversized started motor holes have been banned
• Limits have been placed on the rear wing support pylons
• The infamous double diffuser (and exhaust blown diffusers) have been banned. 

The graphic below which is available for download, provided by cooperation with confused.com marketing company: Big Fish Ideas. Just right click on the image and select to download/save image.



I found the following discussion on JamesAllenOnF1 surrounding the introduction of the adjustable rear wing, i will let you make your own mind up!

"To reiterate, the rule is as follows, “The driver may only activate the adjustable bodywork in the race when he has been notified via the control electronics that it is enabled. It will only be enabled if the driver is less than one second behind another at any of the pre-determined positions around each circuit. The system will be disabled the first time the driver uses the brakes after the system has been activated.”

Many fans feel that the device will be a gimmick, which adds an artificial element to the racing and today several drivers articulated similar fears. Mark Webber said that the devices would be at home on a Sony Playstation, but not in the real world of F1 racing.

“Overtaking moves should be about pressurising, being skillful, and tactical,” said Webber in his press briefing today. “Yes we want to see more overtaking, of course we do, we know that, but we also need to keep the element of skill involved in overtaking and not just hitting buttons, like KERS, like adjustable rear wings.”

One of the concerns the drivers have is that the art of defensive driving will potentially disappear. However well a driver defends his position, if the car behind can drop the wing angle and shoot past with a 10km/h speed advantage, then that skill will be redundant. As it will be the same for everybody, there are likely to be a lot more overtakes on straights, particularly at tracks with long straights like Shanghai, Bahrain, Monza and Abu Dhabi.

Jarno Trulli voiced safety concerns having been the victim of some high speed wing failures in the past, “We have to make sure we can run it in a way that it is safe,” he said.

“I have the lost the rear wing a couple of times and it is one of the most dangerous things you can have happen to you because you are no longer in control of your car. Normally it fails at very high speed and you’re going to end up hitting the wall. I do not want to have the worry of my rear wing failing. The front wing is slightly different even though it is still a problem, the rear wing is worse.”"

»»  read more

Basics of a Sliding Mesh Gearbox

The sliding mesh gearbox was used in early road vehicles (pre 1930’s) but was problematic (gear clash issues due to the sliding engagement of spur gears rotating at different speeds)

Sliding Mesh Gearbox Diagrams:

Text soon to be updated...

»»  read more

How to Change Your Shock Absorbers

Shock absorbers are there to ensure handling ride comfort in cars. They are effectively dampers which lessen the effect of the bounce experienced when a car hits a lump or object in the road, it is and important part of the automotive system; when they become worn the lack of damping can damage some of the components in the car. It can also lower the MPG rate and efficiency of your car, costing you a fair bit in petrol in the long run, not to mention the extra adverse effects to our enviroment. Luckily, the process for changing them is fairly simple for a relatively knowledgable person and is exactly the same for left and right shock absorbers, so here is a simple step by step guide:

1. Prepare the car:
Park your car on a level surface and jack up the car, make sure you place the jacks against the frame of the car and not the suspension system, prolonged periods of holding the cars weight can damage the system. Ensure you place wedges behind your rear wheels to prevent the car from moving, loosen you wheel nuts and remove the wheel.

2. Removing the old shock absorbers
locate the lower attachment bolts and or screws of the shock absorber (consult your car handbook if in doubt to which ones), Remove them whilst clamping the shock absorber piston rod in a vice grip. Using a wrench or other tool, remove the upper attachment bolts/screws, your shocks are now removed from the car, remove it carefully.

3. Replace worn parts (bushings and grommets)
The key things to replace is the grommets and rubber bushings. Get the first grommet and put it concave side down onto the shock absorber piston rod. Then, slide the rubber bushing onto the piston rod, moving it down so it is in contact with the convex side of the grommet. Put a second grommet onto the shock absorber piston rod, sliding it down (convex side down) so it sits snuggly to the bushing. If there is a plastic strip around the shock absorber, remove it.

4.Installing the new shock absorber
Place your new shock between the upper and lower suspension arms, pushing the shock absorber piston rod through the hole in the upper suspension arm, tighten the upper fixing nut. Compress the shock slowly, until it lines up with the lower mounting holes on the shock and the suspension arm. Insert the lower bolt through the bottom mounting holes and the bottom of the shock absorber and tighten.

That's it!
Now all you have to do is replace your wheel and lower the car from its jacks!

»»  read more