Abstract
The paper presents the possibility of developing a method for obtaining the values of vertical forces that act on the front wheels of a vehicle. It is considered the dynamic mode, and the approach is based on the deformations of the struts. Both the theoretical and the experimental models were applied on a suspension system from a Daewoo vehicle model. The subject of the paper is part of a dynamic study of how various road conditions influence the steering system. For the experiments there was used a transducer made of strain gauges mounted in full-bridge circuit. They were applied on the lower part of a strut from a MacPherson type suspension. The calibration was done by adding a force transducer and applying several force values. In parallel to theses transducers, linear displacement transducers were adapted to the suspension, to measure the vertical displacement of the wheel, due to road bumps. The results were obtained by simulating difficult road testing conditions. The values obtained with the data acquisition system were analyzed and conclusions were established about the efficiency of the method.
Keywords: suspension, damper, strain gauge, force, displacement transducer