Abstract
Research and/or Engineering Questions/Objective
Omnidirectional independent steering without traditional trapezoidal mechanism has become a research focus of EVs and presents new challenges also revolution opportunity of suspension mechanisms. The Objective of this study is to present a general design method of independent suspension topological structure suitable for omnidirectional steering.
Methodology
With reference to existing front suspension types, the Positon and Orientation Characteristics of knuckle was extracted, thus the type synthesis targets of front suspension with real Kingpin were acquired.Then type synthesis process was summarized and verified by workable structures. At last, kinematic simulation was conducted to optimize the proposed suspension types and compare the performance.
Results
The suspension with omnidirectional steering function has definite topological characteristic and can be logically designed with proposed method. Several workable structures were designed and feasibility was proved by kinematic optimization.
Limitations of this study
A limitation of current study is the lack of objective evaluation index of acquired structures and the application potential was largely limited due to existing mature automotive suspension technology.
What does the paper offer that is new in the field including in comparison to other work by the authors?
This study introduced the POC theory to the type synthesis of omnidirectional independent steering suspension early and scientific design process was proposed rather than presenting isolate structures.Suspension types acquired by the method show some degree of innovation.
Conclusions
The topological characteristics of omnidirectional independent steering suspension was summarized and general design process was presented based on POC theory. Workable structures were acquired and the feasibility were validated through kinematic optimization.
Key Words : Single-Open-Chain Unit, Independent Suspension, Position and Orientation Characteristics, Omnidirectional Steering