AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
used since the Romans suspended a two-
AN INTRODUCTION TO
AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSION
SYSTEMS
Piyush Gaur, MSc Automotive
Engineering
Faculty of Engineering and Computing
Coventry University, UK
Abstract: Suspension system is a term
which is given to a system of springs, Shock
absorbers and linkages that connects a
vehicle to its wheels. A suspension system
serves the two dual purposes. It helps in
contributing of the car’s handling and
braking for good active safety and driving
pleasure. Any suspension system of an
Automotive is classifies into rigid,
Independent and combination of the above
two. In this paper, a brief introduction to the
suspension and is function is explained. A
brief introduction to its designing procedure
is also explained along with the factors
affecting suspension designing. Double
wishbone, McPherson Strut, Torsion bar,
Quardalink, Twist beam &Leaf Springs has
been discussed in detail along with the cars
on which they are used. The relationship
between the suspension system, the tyre and
the full vehicle dynamics performance has
also been discussed in this paper.
Keywords: Suspensions system, Springs,
Double wishbone, Hotchkiss, Adams,
Vehicle Dymamics, Multibody system
Analysis.
1. INTRODUCTION
Suspension systems date back perhaps two
thousand years or more. Early wagons were
known to have used elastic wooden poles to
reduce the affects of wheel shock. Leaf
springs in one form or another have been
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wheeled vehicle called a Pilentum on elastic
wooden poles. Later, some innovative
carriage designs included rudimentary leaf
suspension systems. Throughout history, leaf
springs would dominate as the primary
suspension design until fairly recently. Leaf
springs offered the benefit of simplicity of
design and relatively inexpensive cost. By
simply adding leaves or changing the shape
of the spring, it could be made to support
varying weights. As a result, major changes
primarily tended to revolved around the use
of superior materials and making
incremental design modifications.
Suspension is a term which is given to
system of springs, shock absorbers and
linkages that connects a vehicle to its
wheels. Suspension systems serve the two
dual purposes. It helps in contributing of the
car’s handling and braking for good active
safety and driving pleasure. Secondly, it
helps in keeping vehicle occupants
comfortable and reasonably well associated
from road noise, bumps and vibrations. The
suspension system also protects the vehicle
and any cargo or luggage from damage and
wear. The design of front and rear
suspensions of an automotive may be
different. If a road were perfectly flat, with
no irregularities, suspensions wouldn't be
necessary. But roads are far from flat. Even
freshly paved highways have subtle
imperfections that can interact with the
wheels of a car. It's these imperfections that
apply forces to the wheels. According to
Newton's laws of motion, all forces have
both magnitude and direction. A bump in
the road causes the wheel to move up and
down perpendicular to the road surface. The
magnitude, of course, depends on whether
the wheel is striking a giant bump or a tiny
speck. Either way, the car wheel experiences
a vertical acceleration as it passes over an
imperfection.
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
2. CLASSIFICATION OF SUSPENSION
SYSTEM
Vehicle suspensions can be divided into
rigid axles (with a rigid connection of the
wheels to an axle), independent wheel
suspensions in which the wheels are
suspended Independently of each other, and
semi-rigid axles, a form of axle that
combines the characteristics of rigid axles
and independent wheel suspensions. On all
rigid axles , the axle beam casing also
moves over the entire spring travel.
Consequently, the space that has to be
provided above this reduces the boot at the
rear and makes it more difficult to house the
spare wheel. At the front, the axle casing
would be located under the engine, and to
achieve sufficient jounce travel the engine
would have to be raised or moved further
back. For this reason, rigid front axles are
found only on commercial vehicles and four
wheel drive, general-purpose passenger cars
.With regard to independent wheel
suspensions, it should be noted that the
design possibilities with regard to the
satisfaction of the above requirements and
the need to find a design which is suitable
for the load paths, increase with the
number of wheel control elements (links)
with a corresponding increase in their planes
of articulation. In particular, independent
wheel suspensions include:
• Longitudinal link and semi-trailing arm
axles, which require hardly any overhead
room and consequently permit a wide
luggage space with a level floor, but which
can have considerable diagonal springing.
• Wheel controlling suspension and shock-
absorber struts , which certainly occupy
much space in terms of height, but which
require little space at the side and in the
middle of the vehicle (can be used for the
engine or axle drive) and determine the
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steering angle (then also called McPherson
suspension struts).
• Double wishbone suspensions or SLA
(Short Length Arm)
• Multi-link suspensions, which can have
up to five guide per links and which offer
the greatest design scope with regard to the
geometric definition of guide links per
wheel and which offer the greatest design
scope with regard to kingpin offset,
pneumatic offset, kinematic behavior with
regard to toe-in, camber and track changes,
brake/starting torque behavior and
elastokinematic property. Broadly speaking
these are the main type of automotive
suspensions systems which are commonly
used in different automotives today. These
are
 Double wish bone suspension system
 Mc person Strut suspension system.
 Torsion Bar
 Quadra Link
 Twist Beam
 Leaf Springs
A. Double wishbone suspension system
It is the independent suspension design
which uses a two wish bones arms to locate
the wheel. Each wishbone or arm has two
mounting points on the chassis and one
point at the knucle .The shock absorber and
coil spring mount to the wishbone is used to
control the vertical movement. This allows
the suspension designer engineer to control
the following parameters:
 Camber angle
 Caster angle
 Toe pattern
 Roll center height
 Scrub radius, scuff and more.
The double wishbone suspension can also be
referred to as double 'A' arms and short long
arm (SLA) suspension if the upper and
lower arms are of unequal length. SLAs are
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
very common on front suspensions for
medium to large cars such as the Honda
Accord, Volkswagen Passat, Chrysler 300,
or Mazda 6/Atenza, pickups, SUVs, and are
very common on sports cars and racing cars.
A single wishbone or A-arm can also be
used in various other suspension types, such
as Macpherson strut and Chapman strut. The
suspension consists of a pair of upper and
lowers lateral arms. The upper arm is
usually shorter to induce negative camber as
the suspension jounces (rises). When the
vehicle is in a turn, body roll results in
positive camber gain on the outside wheel.
The outside wheel also jounces and gains
negative camber due to the shorter upper
arm. The suspension designer attempts to
balance these two effects to cancel out and
keep the tire perpendicular to the ground.
This is especially important for the outer tire
because of the weight transfer to this tire
during a turn.
The advantage of a double wishbone
suspension is that it is fairly easy to work
out the effect of moving each joint, so you
can tune the kinematics of the suspension
easily and optimize wheel motion. It is also
easy to work out the loads that different
parts will be subjected to which allows more
optimized lightweight parts to be designed.
They also provide increasing negative
camber gain all the way to full jounce travel
unlike the MacPherson strut which provides
negative camber gain only at the beginning
of jounce travel and then reverses into
positive camber gain at high jounce
amounts.
The disadvantage is that it is slightly more
complex than other systems like a
MacPherson strut. Prior to the dominance of
front wheel drive in the 1980s, many
everyday cars used double wishbone front
suspension systems or a variation on it.
Since that time, the Macpherson strut has
become almost ubiquitous, as it is simpler
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and cheaper to manufacture. In most cases, a
Macpherson strut requires less space to
engineer into a chassis design, and in front
wheel drive layouts, can allow for more
room in the engine bay. A good example of
this is observed in the Honda Civic, which
changed its front suspension design from a
double wishbone design, to a Macpherson
strut design after the year 2000 model. The
changes was made to lower costs, as well as
allow more engine bay room for the newly
introduced Honda K-series engine.
Fig 1: Double Wishbone suspension
system
B. MAcPherson Strut
McPherson struts are popular struts that are
used mainly in the front suspensions on
vehicles especially cars. This strut contains
different types of components into one
package making them ideal for front-wheel-
drive cars. The McPherson struts are used in
different types and models of cars. The strut
is used for both rear and front suspension
but mainly used in the front suspension
because it provides a steering pivot. The
subframe of the strut is capable of providing
the lateral and longitudinal location of the
wheel. The strut was designed by Earl S.
McPherson. This strut was used in Ford
Vedette in 1949. The strut consists of a
wishbone or a compression link which is
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
stabilized by a secondary link. The
secondary link is important for providing a
bottom mounting point for the hub or axle of
the wheel. The lower arm of the strut is
helpful in providing both lateral and
longitudinal location of the wheel.
Fig 2: Mc Pherson Strut
The body is suspended on the coil spring
whereas the shock absorber, which is usually
in the form of a cartridge mounted within
the strut. The assembly is simple and can be
preassembled into a unit. Moreover, it
allows for more width in the engine bay by
eliminating the upper control arm. This is
useful for smaller cars particularly with
engine having transverse orientation just like
most front wheel drive vehicles have.
C. Torsion Bar System- A torsion bar
suspension, also known as a torsion spring
suspension or incorrectly torsion beam, is a
general term for any vehicle suspension that
uses a torsion bar as its main weight bearing
spring. One end of a long metal bar is
attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the
opposite end terminates in a lever, mounted
perpendicular to the bar, that is attached to a
suspension arm, spindle or the axle. Vertical
motion of the wheel causes the bar to twist
around its axis and is resisted by the bar's
torsion resistance. The effective spring rate
of the bar is determined by its length,
diameter and material.
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Torsion bar suspensions are currently used
on trucks and SUV from Ford, Dodge, GM,
Mitsubishi and Toyota. Manufacturers
change the torsion bar or key to adjust the
ride height, usually to compensate for
heavier or lighter engine packages. While
the ride height may be adjusted by turning
the adjuster bolts on the stock torsion key,
rotating the stock keys too far can bend the
adjusting bolt and (more importantly) place
the shock piston outside the standard travel.
Over-rotating the torsion bars can also cause
the suspension to hit the bump stop
prematurely, causing a harsh ride.
Aftermarket forged torsion key kits use
relocked adjuster keys to prevent over-
rotation, as well as shock brackets that keep
the piston travel in the stock position.
Fig 3: Torsion bar action
D. Twist Beam Suspension- The Twist-
beam rear suspension is a type of
automobile suspension based on a large H
shaped member. The front of the H attaches
to the body via rubber bushings, and the rear
of the H carries each wheel, on each side of
the car. The cross beam of the H holds the
two trailing arms together, and provides
the roll stiffness of the suspension, by
twisting as the two trailing arms move
vertically, relative to each other. The coil
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
springs usually bear on a pad alongside, or
behind, the wheels. Often the shock is
colinear with the spring, to form a coilover.
This location gives them a very high motion
ratio compared with most suspensions,
which improves their performance, and
reduces their weight. The longitudinal
location of the cross beam controls
important parameters of the suspension's
behavior, such as the roll steer curve and toe
and camber compliance. The closer the cross
beam to the axle stubs the more the camber
and toe changes under deflection. A key
difference between the camber and toe
changes of a twist beam vs independent
suspension is the change in camber and toe
is dependent on the position of the other
wheel, not the car's chassis. In a traditional
independent suspension the camber and toe
are based on the position of the wheel
relative to the body. If both wheels compress
together their camber and toe will not
change. Thus if both wheels started
perpendicular to the road and car
compressed together they will stay
perpendicular to the road. The camber and
toe changes are the result of one wheel being
compressed relative to the other. This
suspension is used on a wide variety of front
wheel drive cars, and was almost ubiquitous
on European superminis. It was probably
introduced on the Audi 50, which was
rebadged as the Volkswagen Polo. This
suspension is usually described as semi-
independent, meaning that the two wheels
can move relative to each other, but their
motion is still somewhat inter-linked, to a
greater extent than in a true IRS. This limits
the handling of the vehicle, and VW have
dropped it in favor of a true IRS for the Golf
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Mk V in response to the Ford Focus' Control
Blade rear suspension.
Fig 4- Twist Beam Rear Axle
E.Leaf spring
Originally called laminated or carriage
spring, a leaf spring is a simple form
of spring, commonly used for
the suspension in wheeled vehicles. It is also
one of the oldest forms of springing, dating
back to medieval times. Sometimes referred
to as asemi-elliptical spring or cart spring,
it takes the form of a slender arc-shaped
length of spring steel of rectangular cross-
section. The center of the arc provides
location for the axle, while tie holes are
provided at either end for attaching to the
vehicle body. For very heavy vehicles, a leaf
spring can be made from several leaves
stacked on top of each other in several
layers, often with progressively shorter
leaves. Leaf springs can serve locating and
to some extent damping as well as springing
functions. While the interleaf friction
provides a damping action, it is not well
controlled and results in stiction in the
motion of the suspension. For this reason
manufactures have experimented with
mono-leaf springs. A leaf spring can either
be attached directly to the frame at both ends
or attached directly at one end, usually the
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
front, with the other end attached through a
shackle, a short swinging arm. The shackle
takes up the tendency of the leaf spring to
elongate when compressed and thus makes
for softer springiness. Some springs
terminated in a concave end, called a spoon
end(seldom used now), to carry a swiveling
member.
Fig 5- Leaf Spring
3.1 Suspensions Geometry& Tyres role
for Effective vehicle Handling
The stability and effective handling of the
vehicle depends upon the designer’s
selection of optimum steering and
suspension geometry which particularly
includes the wheel Camber, Castor and King
Pin inclination. It is essential for the
suspension members to maintain these
factors throughout the whole life of a car.
Unfortunately, the pivoting and the
swiveling joints are both subjected to the
wear and damage and must be periodically
checked. With the understanding of the
principles of the suspensions geometry and
their measurements it is possible to diagnose
and rectify the steering and suspension
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faults. Following are the parameters which
are kept in mind for designing of suspension
systems
3.1 Wheel Camber Angle- Wheel camber is
the lateral tilt or sideway inclination of the
wheel relative to the vertical. When the top
of the wheel lean inwards towards the body
the camber is said to be negative, conversely
an outward leaning wheel has positive
camber. Road wheels were originally
positively cambered to maintain the wheels
perpendicular to the early cambered roads.
Practically for most of the suspensions
system wheel cambered has been reduces to
0.5 degrees to 1.5 degrees. if one wheel is
slightly more cambered then the other, due
may be to body roll with independent
suspension or because of misalignment ,the
steering wheel will tend to wander or pull to
one side as the vehicle is steered in the
straight ahead position. To provide a small
amount of understeer, the front wheels are
normally made to generate a greater slip
angle then the rear wheels by introducing
positive camber on the front wheel and
maintain the rear wheels virtually
perpendicular to the ground.
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS

hits the road on the outside of the centre line

of the tyre contact point. The Kingpin
Angle, along with the Castor, dictates the
self-centering action of the steering and the
affect the steering will have under braking.
Fitting larger wheels can alter the Scrub
Radius if the correct offset is not chosen
which in turn can affect the handling.

3.2 King pin inclination – king pin

inclination is the lateral or inward tilt from
the top between the upper and lower swivel
ball joint or king pin to the vertical. If the
3.3 Castor Angle- Castor Angle is the angle
kingpin is perpendicular to the ground ,it’s
to the vertical plane on which the steering
contact centre on the ground would be offset
axis sits as viewed from the side. In other
to the centre of the tyre contact patch, the
words if we imagine looking at the side of
offset between the pivot centre and contact
the front wheel, the Castor Angle is the
patch centre is known as the scrub radius.
angle an imaginary line makes that is drawn
When turning the steering the offset scrub
through the centre of top ball joint (or top
produce a torque T created by the product of
mount of a suspension) and down through
the reactionary force f and offset radius .A
the lower suspension arm ball joint. Looking
large pivot to wheel contact centre offset
on the diagram, if we follow the Castor
requires a large input torque to overcome the
Angle line down we can see it hits the
opposing ground reaction, therefore the
ground in front of where the tyres contact
steering tends to be very heavy. A positive
with the ground, this is Positive Castor. This
Scrub Radius or Kingpin Offset is when the
means the tyres will always follow the
Kingpin Angle hits the road surface on the
steering input or in other words act just like
inside of the centre line of the tyre contact
a normal furniture castor wheel. Castor
point (see the diagram below), a negative
Angle determines the amount of self-
Scrub Radius is when the Kingpin Angle

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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
centring the steering will have, influence the
straight-line running and with the Kingpin
Angle it will influence the camber change
when cornering as a function of the steering
input. Castor Angle traditionally used to be
very small as large amounts of Castor Angle
created heavy steering,. Large Castor Angles
mean greater, dynamic camber changes can
be created and that means better negative
camber when cornering and smaller camber
on the straight, ideal for both performance
and wear of the tyres unfortunately too large
a castor angle can lead to poor turn-in.
Fig 8- Negative & positive Camber
3.4 Toe Pattern - Toe describes the angle at
which a wheel sits on a horizontal plane
relative to the longitudinal axis of the car. In
other words if we imagine looking vertically
down on top of a wheel mounted on a car, if
the front of the wheel is angled inwards
more than the rear of the wheel then it is
said to have ‘toe-in’, if it’s the other way
around then the wheel is said to have ‘toe-
out’. If the wheel is parallel with the
longitudinal axis of the car then it has zero
toe. Toe can be measured in degrees but
more commonly, it’s measured as the
distance difference between the front of the
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wheel rim and the rear of the wheel rim.
Total Toe is the overall distance for a pair of
wheels whereas Individual Toe is half the
Total Toe and relates to individual wheels.
Toe-in increases lateral stability but can lead
to wear on the inside shoulder of the tyre.
Front end toe-in dampens turn in response
but improves the self centring action of the
steering while rear toe-in helps to reduce
oversteer due to the improvement in lateral
stability. Toe-out reduces lateral stability and
can lead to wear on the outside shoulder of
the tyre. Front end toe-out can improve turn-
in response while rear end toe-out
encourages oversteer due to the reduction in
lateral stability. Toe can be altered on the
front by adjusting the track-rod ends and on
the rear by adjusting the toe control arms.
Fig 9- Toe pattern on suspension
geometry
3.5 Roll center Analysis – One important
property of the suspension relates to the
location at which lateral forces developed by
the wheels are transmitted to the sprung
mass. This point, which has been reffered to
as the roll center, affects the behavior of
both the sprung and unsprung mass, and thus
directly influences the cornering. Each
suspension has a Roll center, defined as a
point in the transverse vertical plane through
the wheel centers at which the lateral forces
may be applied to the sprung masses without
producing the suspension roll. It derives
from the fact that all suspensions have a roll
axis, which is the instantaneous axis about
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS

which the unsprung masses rotate with

respect to the sprung mass when a pure
couple is applied to the unsprung mass. The
roll center is the intersection of the
suspension roll axis with the vertical plane
through the center of two wheels .The roll
center height is the distance from the ground
to the roll center .The suspension roll axis
and roll center can be determined from the
layouts of the suspensions geometry in the
plan and elevation views. From the analysis,
we draw the concept of Virtual Reaction
point. It is another word of Instanteous
centre.

Fig 10a- Roll Center of McPherson

Strut

Fig 10 b- Roll centres of other automotive

suspensions

3.6- Tire behavior in Vehicle handling - A

tire is a simple visco-elastic toroid which
serves the three basic functions -1. It
supports the vertical load, while cushioning
road shocks 2. It develops longitudinal
forces for acceleration and braking and also
develops lateral forces for cornering. To
facilitate precise description of the operating
conditions, forces and moments experienced
by the tire, a SAE has defined the axis
system shown in fig below-

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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
Fig 11- SAE axis systems
 Wheel plane – Central plane of the
tire normal to the axis of rotation.
 Wheel center- Intersection of the
spin axis and wheel plane.
 Center of tire Contact- intersection
of the wheel plane and projection
 Loaded Radius- Distance from
center of the tire contact to the wheel
center in the wheel plane.
 Longitudinal force(Fx)- Component
of the force acting on the tire by the
road in the plane of the load and
parallel to the intersection of the
wheel plane with the road plane .The
force component in the direction of
the wheel travel is called Tractive
force.
 Lateral Force (Fy) - Component of
the force acting on the tire by the
road in the plane of the road and
normal to the intersection of the
wheel plane with the road plane.
 Normal Force (Fz) - Component of
the force acting on the tire by the
road which is normal to the plane of
the road .the Normal force is
negative in magnitude.
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 Over turning Moment (Mx)-
Moment acting on the tire by the
road in the plane of the road and
parallel to the intersection of the
wheel plane with the road plane.
 Rolling Resistance Moment (My)-
Moment acting on the tire by the tire
by the road in the plane of the road
and normal to the intersection of the
wheel plane with the road plane.
 Aligning Moment (Mz)- Moment
acting on the tire by the road which
is normal to the plane of the road.
 Slip angle (α) - Angle between the
direction of the wheel heading and
the direction of the travel.
 Camber angle (γ) - angle between
the wheel plane and the vertical.
3.7 Mechanics of forces Generation in
tires- The forces on a tire are not applied at
a point, but are the resultant from normal
and shear stresses distributed on a contact
patch. The pressure distribution under a tire
is not uniform but vary in X and Y direction.
When rolling, it is generally not symmetrical
about the Y-Axis but tends to be higher in
the forward region of the contact patch.
Because of the tire’s visco elasticity,
deformation in the leading portion of the
contact patch causes the vertical pressure to
be shifted forward. the centroid of the
vertical force does not pass through the spin
axis and therefore generates rolling
resistance. With a tire rolling on the road
both tractive and lateral forces are developed
by shear mechanism. Each element of the
tire tread passing through the tire contact
patch exerts a shear stress which, if
integrated over the whole area is equal to the
lateral /tractive forces developed by the
tires.
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
Fig 12- Tire Deformation in the contact
patch
3.8 – Forces Developed on the tires and
their effect on vehicle handling
3.8 a- Tractive properties- Under
acceleration and braking ,additional slip is
observed as a result of the deformation of
rubber elements in the tire tread caused as
they deflect to develop and sustain he
frictional force. As the tread elements first
enter the contact patch they cannot develop
the frictional force because of their
compliance-they must have bend to sustain a
force. This can happen only if the tire isd
moving faster than the circumference of the
tread. As the tread element proceeds back
through the contact patch its deflection
builds up currently with vertical load and it
develops much more friction force.
However, ,approaching the rear of the
contact patch the load diminishes and there
comes a point where the tread element
began to slip noticeably on the surface such
that the friction force drops off, reaching
zero as it leaves the road. Thus acceleration
and braking forces are generated by
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producing a differential between the tire
rolling speed and it’s speed of travel. The
consequence is production of slip in the
contact patch. Slip is given by
S= (1- rώ) × 100 where,
V
R= Tire effective rolling radius
ώ= Wheel angular velocity
V= Forward velocity
3.8b.Effect of tractive properties on
Vehicle Handling- Longitudinal traction
properties are the properties of the tires
system that determine braking performance
and stopping distance.Beacuse of the weight
transfer during deceleration, all wheel
cannot be brought to the peak traction
condition except by careful design of the
braking system so as to proportion of the
front and rear braking forces in accordance
with the prevailing loads under these
dynamic conditions. Since it is practically
impossible to design a conventional braking
system that can achieve exact proportioning
under all conditions of load, center of
gravity location, and load condition, it is
inevitable that the driver will experience
lock up problem. Therefore, the sliding
coefficient of friction is an important tire
performance property. With the use of
antilock braking system thr brake system
maintains the wheel near the peak of the
traction curve and does not allow lock up .
3.8c. Cornering properties and It’s effect
on the Vehicle Performance- One of the
very important fuctions of the tire is to
develop the lateral forces necessary to
control the direction of the vehicle, generate
lateral acceleration in corners or for lane
change, and resists external forces such as
wind gusts and road cross slope. These
forces are generated either by lateral slip of
the tire, by lateral inclination, or a
combination of the two. The integration of
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
all the forces acting on a contact patch yields
the net lateral force with a point of action on
the centroid.The asymmetry of the forces
build up in the contact patch causes the force
resultant to be positioned toward the rear of
the contact patch by a distance known as
Pneumatic Trail. By SAE convention the
lateral force is taken to act at the center of
the tire contact. At this position net resultant
is a lateral force,Fy and aligning moment
,Mz.The magnitude of aligning moment is
equal to the lateral force times the
pneumatic trail.
Vehicle stiffness is one of the primary
variables affecting steady state and transient
cornering properties of vehicles in the
normal driving range.Understeer gradient,
the characteristic commonly used to qualify
turning behavior, is directly influenced by
the balance of the cornering stiffness on
front and rear tires, as normalized by their
loads.A higher relative cornering stiffness on
the rear wheels is necessary to achieve under
steer.
Fig 13- Lateral force vs slip angle
graph
3.8d- Camber thrust and it’s effect on
vehicle handling- A second means of lateral
force generation in a tire derives from
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rolling at a non-vertical orientation, the
inclination angle being known as camber
angle.With Camber, a lateral force known as
“Camber Thrust” is produced. The
inclination angle is defines with respect to
the perpendicular from the ground plane,
positive corresponding to an orientation with
the top of the wheel tipped to the right when
looking forward along it’s direction of
travel. It is the primary cornering force by
which motorcycles and the other two
wheeled vehicles are controlled. On
passengers and trucks, camber thrust
contributes to understeer behavior, but
normally as a secondary source. On vehicles
with independent suspensions where
significant camber angles may be achieved,
this mechanism may contribute up to about
25 percent of the under steer gradient. On
vehicles with Solid axles, little camber can
occur such that its contribution to turning
performance is very less.
Fig 14- Lateral Angle vs Camber Angle
3.8e- Aligning Torque And its effect on
Vehicle performance- Aligning torque as a
torque acting on the vehicle contributes a
small component to the understeer of a
vehicle. The fact that positive aligning
moments attempt to steer the vehicle out of
the turn means that they are understeer in
direction. Overall, the direct action of the
moments contributes only a few percent to
the understeer gradient of a vehicle. The
aligning moment has a more direct influence
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
on understeer by its action on the steered
wheels. The moment is normally in the
direction to turn the steered wheels out of
the turn. the steered wheels out of the turn.
Even though the steer deflection angles in
response to aligning moments may be small,
this is normally an important contribution to
under steer gradient.
4. Simulation and Analysis of Suspensions
Systems- Computer aided simulation of
vehicle handling characteristics is nowadays
universally acknowledged as an efficient
method in the process of developing new
vehicles. Simulation software tools are used
both by automobile manufacturers and
suppliers to an increasing extent. The
outstanding quality of simulation results for
chassis development is acknowledged
without exception. ADAMS® as a
multybody-simulation-tool is in service in
automotive engineering all over the world.
The dynamics of rigid bodies can hereby be
analyzed mathematically very exactly.
Fig 15- ADAMS model of a car
The main use of ADAMS within the
automotive industry is to simulate the
performance of suspension systems and full
vehicle models. The analyst will often wish
to validate the performance of a suspension
model over a range of displacements
between full bump to rebound before the
assembly of a full vehicle model. The final
model may be used for ride and handling,
durability or crash studies. A detailed model
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY, UK
may include representations of the body, sub
frames, suspension arms, struts, roll bars,
steering system, engine, drivetrain and tyres.
The main analysis code consists of a number
of integrated programs that perform three-
dimensional kinematic, static, quasi-static or
dynamic analysis of mechanical systems. In
addition there are a number of auxiliary
programs, which can be supplied to link
with ADAMS. These programs can be used
to perform modal analysis, model vehicle
tyre characteristics, pre-process using a
library of macros, automatically generate
vehicle suspensions and full vehicle models,
or model the human body. Once a model has
been defined ADAMS will assemble the
equations of motion and solve them
automatically. It is also possible to include
differential equations directly in the
solution, which allows the modeling of
active suspensions or steering, braking and
speed controllers. Programs such as
ADAMS have developed to such an
advanced stage that they form an integral
part of a modern computer aided
engineering installation. The program will,
for example, link or interface with CAD
systems, finite element programs, software
used for advanced visualization or additional
software modules such as those used for tyre
modelling. The combined use of these
systems can lead to the development of what
may be referred to as virtual prototypes,
which is computer models that can simulate
the tests and conditions that a real prototype
would be subject to during the development
of a new engineering product.
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
CAD/Solid Modelling

IGES Mass
Translation properties
Body properties, Suspension
Human Factors Modelling geometry, Geometry models, tyre Vehicle Modelling
postures monitors models,
drivetrains (i) The use of kinematic or quasi-static
Hydraulic, Pneumatic
Subsystem Modelling
Bond-graph ADAMS Differential
Equations Actuator Modelling analysis to simulate the motion of the
Models System Model Definition
Mass,
road wheel relative to the vehicle
Control System Modelling
Control laws
ADAMS Data Language
stif ness,
damping
models
F.E.
Flexible Body Modelling body passing through the full range
of vertical movement between the
Interactive Real-Time Kinematics Kinematic Path Optimisation rebound and the bump positions. The
output from these analyses is mainly
Equation Generation geometric and allows results such as
Assembly/ Initial Condition Analysis camber angle or roll centre position
Kinematic Analysis
Loads
to be plotted graphically against
Static/Quasi-Static Analysis
Dynamic Analysis
Boundary
Conditions vertical wheel movement.
Plant Linearisation/Model Analysis
Model

ADAMS
System Simulation Modules (ii) The use of static, quasi-static or
ADAMS Results Files dynamic analyses to simulate the
diffusion of loads from the contact
Signal Processing Data Tabulation
patch through the suspension system
High-speed Photo-realistic
Shaded
Image
Configuration Display Results Plot ing
Rendering
Film-recorded
and into the body mounts. These
Animation Superimposed Display/Animation Animation
types of analyses are used to
ADAMS
Simulation Results Processing Modules
represent typical in service loads that
need to be considered to provide the
Fig 16- Integration of Adams with CAE
required durability. Typical load
cases will include those due to
driving, braking and cornering
leading on to the simulation of the
more severe cases to which a
prototype vehicle would be subjected
such as driving through a pothole.
The output from these analyses will
be the peak loads produced at
locations such as the suspension arm
to body mounts and the spring seats.
These results can then be used as
inputs to finite element models in
order to determine the structural
stresses and strains required for the
design of the components and to
perform further fatigue assessments.

(iii) The third type of analysis is the use

The types of analyses that can be performed of dynamic analyses to determine the
and the use in design will be addressed in natural frequencies in the suspension
system required for the consideration
three main areas:
of the ride performance of the

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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS

vehicle. An example of this would be and aligned through the front and rear roll
to recreate test procedures carried centers.
out in the laboratory such as the
input of an oscillatory load at the The four suspension arrangements are
tyre contact patch where the shown schematically in Figure18.
frequency is varied with time. This is
often referred to as a frequency
sweep and will identify which
frequencies will excite the
suspension leading in severe cases to
problems such as ‘wheel hop’ where
the resulting excitation of the road
wheel can lead to violent bouncing.

Modelling of suspension system

consist of the following four types of
model which are used with ADAMS.
They are—

(i) The Linkage Model where the suspension

linkages and compliant bush connections are
modelled in detail in order to recreate as
closely as possible the actual assemblies on
the vehicle. Fig 17.1 Linkage model

(ii) The Lumped Mass Model where the

suspensions are simplified to act as single
lumped masses which can only slide in the
vertical direction with respect to the vehicle
body.

(iii) The Swing Arm Model where the

suspensions are treated as single swing arms
that rotate about a pivot point located at the
instant centres for each suspension.

(iv) The Roll Stiffness Model where the body

rotates about a single roll axis that is fixed Fig 17.2- Swing Arm Model

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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
5. Physical Testing of Simulation System-
Basically two tests are commonly used to
test the exact geometry of suspension
system. These two test are- 1. K and C test
2. Shaker’s Rig test.
5.1- K & C Testing - For the understanding
of vehicle handling characteristics,
investigations on suspension kinematics and
compliance steer are of major interest.
Kinematics means the movements of the
wheel relative to the body that result from
spring travel. Compliance steer results from
additional forces in the contact area of the
tires. These forces caused by lateral or
longitudinal accelerations of the vehicle
deform the suspension parts and its bushings
and lead to additional camber and toe
angles. Compliance steer of axles has a great
influence on the handling performance of
vehicles. By a specific interpretation of the
suspension elements, the engineer is being
forced to get a compliance steer that
supports a controlled road performance of
the complete vehicle. Some types of axles
have however conceptionally caused
disadvantages regarding compliance steer
such as twist- beem rear axles .These shall
be minimized in the most effective way by
constructive features. Because of the
diminution of vehicle development time it is
necessary to get object measuring results
from new axles very fast and easily. These
results are also necessary to validate the
compliance steer of vehicle models for the
simulations of vehicle dynamics. The quality
of the model compliance steer influences
very clearly the results of the multy-body-
simulations. Pure static mechanical models
do not deliver adequate simulation results
for modern vehicles.
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY, UK
The IKA kinematics and compliance Test
Rig can be used for the measurement of the
influences of vertical deflections and both
lateral and longitudinal forces on the axle
geometry of complete vehicles or of axle-
systems. By the help of four hydraulic
cylinders that are fixed to the four wheels
arbitrary wheel suspension positions can be
realized. The test bench mainly consists of
12 hydraulic actuators (one for longitudinal,
lateral and vertical force generation on each
wheel) that can be operated individually.. In
order to simulate a contact zone between
wheel and the ground the test bench can be
equipped with aerostatic bearings. Highly
sophisticated sensors, amplifiers and
measurement data acquisition systems
record any value in the course of time that
might be of interest. Fig. 17c shows the
optical Autocollimator sensors that are used
to measure the camber and toe angles. A
large number of fastening devices, which
serve to fix the vehicle body to the test rig,
eliminate the influence of body stiffness on
the measurement. Moreover, the fastening
systems allow the easy fixing of any car to
be tested without the need to produce costly
adapters. Apart from that it is also possible
to fix and to examine single axles and wheel
suspensions without examining the complete
vehicle.
The complete system is controlled by a
reliable computer system to reduce the
operator's influence on the results and to
achieve an optimum reliability and
repeatability of the measurements. Extensive
routines shall exclude a malfunction of the
test bench to avoid a damage of the vehicle.
This system is presented in Figure 16 .
Typical characteristics which are supposed
to be examined are: roll axis position, roll
stiffness or steering compliance. But also
complete driving maneuvers such as 'steady
state cornering' or 'breaking maneuvers' can
be simulated at the test bench. Knowledge
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS

can be gained about the self steering

properties of the vehicle by using this
method. The technical data of the test rig
are:

· variable wheelbase: 2000 to 3250 mm

· variable track width: 1180 to 1650 mm
· max. vertical displacement at the wheel:
400 mm
· max. wheel load: 14 kN
· max. lateral force (per wheel): 10 kN
· max. brake force (per wheel): 10 kN
· max. Traction force (per wheel): 5.5 Kn

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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
Fig 18- Measurement of Toe and camber
angle
5.2 Shaker Rig Test- Dynamics and
vibrations are much harder to understand
than static forces. Ever since man has been
building and driving cars, the complex
systems of springs and dampers have created
a complicated symphony of noises and
vibrations. The passenger car industry has
been mounting cars on four-post shaker rigs
for years, since it allows for more precise
evaluations of body and suspension
dynamics than running on a road. The inputs
can be simple repetitive vibrations (sine
waves), or they can be representations of
real roads. While undergoing input from the
road, sophisticated dynamic measurement
devices provide insight to how the system is
working. Generally, unwanted noises and
vibrations entering the passenger
compartment are the focus of these
investigations. In racing, the only objective
is to go fast. One of the main limiting factors
is how well the tires stay in contact with the
track surface. The basic use of the shaker rig
is to optimize the springs and shocks to
minimize tire load variations while
maintaining reasonable body motion control.
COVENTRY UNIVERSITY, UK
We have all seen a car running down the
highway with a bad or missing shock
absorber. The body is bouncing up and down
like a boat on big waves, and the tire may
also be hopping up and down showing
daylight on each up cycle. This is a
representation of what happens when the
system of springs and masses is very under-
damped. The shock absorbers are the key
element here. They have to do the job of
controlling the body motions as well as the
wheel motions. One device (normally a
shock absorber) mounted between the
chassis and the suspension is asked to
control a spring connecting two different
masses, each with its own natural frequency.
To further complicate the issue, the four
corners of the car work independent of each
other but are tied together by the body
structure. The wheels basically move
straight up and down relative to the chassis
while the body has several motions relative
to the ground. Engineers call these body
motions “heave (movement up and down),
pitch (forward and back) and roll (side to
side).” Each of these motions is resisted by
the springs at the four corners of the car.
Resistance to these motions causes force
variations between the tire and the road. The
trick is to find the balance point. Tie the car
down too tight and the force variation goes
up, but freeing it up too much can do the
same thing in the opposite direction. There
has to be a compromise for the correct
amount of damping that gives the best load
control. Finally, there is one last, but very
important, variable to throw into the mix.
Driver preferences come into play here in a
big way; some drivers like very little body
motion, while others don't mind a car that
moves around a little more.The seven-post
shaker rig is used in racing work because
aerodynamic downforce and track banking
add to the wheel loads. The amount of load
added can be more than the static initial
weight, so it must be included in the test
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 AN INTRODUCTION TO AUTOMOTIVE SUSPENSIONS SYSTEMS
procedure. The seven posts are hydraulic
cylinders. Four of them have flat pans the
tires sit on and support the car. The other
three are called the aeroloaders and attach to
the sprung mass. Normally, two are mounted
to the front of the chassis some distance
apart while the third one is mounted at the
rear on centerline. Loading on these
cylinders is done to pull the car down,
opposing the four wheel pans. The
aeroloaders simulate other forces on the car
such as the squashing from inertia loads as
the car rolls through a banked turn or
deflections due to aerodynamic loading. By
adjusting the load on the three downforce
rams we can simulate any combination of
roll, heave or pitch displacement to recreate
specific conditions seen on the track and
repeat that condition. Normally, wheel
travels from actual test-session recordings
are re-created in the lab. By using the
correct deflections indicated by wheel travel
with the same springs and bars as those used
in the track test, the loads will be correct.
Deflections are used because race teams
seldom have vertical loads as a
measurement.
Fig 19- Seven post shaker rig
Conclusion- Suspension systems are one of
the most important system of an automotive
.In this paper, Various types of suspensions
and their functions has been introduced. The
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types of cars on which the suspension
systems are used has also been discussed.
Particular Emphasis has also been given on
the mechanics of tyres, Suspension
Geometry and how it affects the vehicle
performance. Various physical test like K &
C Rig test and Shaker’s Rig test has also
been given and fully explained. More
emphasis is given on the Modelling and
analysis of the Automotive Suspensions.
References-
1. Advance Vehicle Technology by
Heisler
2. “ Vehicle Dynamics” by Thomas
D.Gillespie
3. www.howstuffwork.com
4. Advance Race Dynamics by
Milliken & Milliken
5. www.sidebrake.net/forums/index.ph
p?topic=841.0
6. http://www.circletrack.com/techarticl
es/seven_post_shaker_rig_suspensio
n_dynamics/index.html
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