KINEMATIC AND DYNAMIC

ANALYSIS OF INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION SYSTEM

D N Siddhartha Jain, Ratnesh Kumar

Manipal Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT. As a part of the Formula SAE team, Manipal, the suspension team was required to do a
comprehensive study of different available independent suspension system and henceforth develop a
methodology to design the suspension system for the SAE car. This paper is a result of that work and
discusses different aspects of suspension kinematics and dynamics and methods to analyses the suspension
system to obtain a optimize suspension geometry

KEYWORD. Independent Suspension, Mitchell, Roll centre, Motion Ratio,

INTRODUCTION. Designing suspension system for production or racing car requires technical knowledge
in several disciplines [4].This paper covers the various aspects of a typical suspension system including its
effects on car handling and ride comfort.

When we talk about suspension geometry, it means a broad subject of how the unsprung mass of the
vehicle is connected to the sprung mass. These connections not only dictate the path of relative motion, they
also control the forces that are transmitted between them. Any particular geometry must be designed to meet
the needs of the particular vehicle for which it is to be applied. There is no single best geometry. In order to
optimize the suspension geometry, one requires the complete understanding of kinematics and dynamics of
suspense. One of the first stages of suspension design is to size the mechanism and ensure it is capable of
fitting into the packaging envelop. This requires the comprehensive analysis of suspension motions and forces
acting through suspension members including tires. In the past when there was no computers to help the
human mind, a conventional and cumbersome graphical approach were followed but now a days we have
special computational software like ADAMS and MITCHELL which can greatly reduce the effort and time
required.

In this paper, authors will introduce both the approaches as a part of suspension design.
OBJECTIVES. The objective of this paper is to highlight following points

• Introduce the basic features of vehicle suspension systems.

• Indicate simple methods for the analysis of vehicle suspension systems and their components.

• Demonstrate the design requirements for vehicle suspension systems and how to achieve them.

DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY. There is a lot of terminology associated with suspension design
which may appear novel to someone meeting the subject for the first time.
1. Sprung Mass. Sprung mass of vehicle refers to the mass supported by the suspension spring like space
frame, engine etc.
2. Unsprung Mass. Unsprung mass refers to the mass that is not supported by the spring for example
wheel, hub, bearings etc
3. Wheelbase. Wheelbase refers to the distance between centre of front axle and centre of rear axle. The
wheelbase has a big effect on the longitudinal load transfer.
4. Trackwidth. Trackwidth is define as the distance between the between the right and left wheel
centerlines
Since one of the functions of a suspension system is to maintain the position of the wheels constant
relative to the ground throughout the motion of the suspension it is important to identify how the wheel
position is defined. Figure 1

Figure 1
1. Slip angle. Slip angle of a tire is the angular deflection between the direction in which the tire is
pointing and the direction in which the tire contact patch is travelling. The lateral force developed by
the tire is the function of slip angle [1].
 2. Camber angle. It is the lateral inclination of tire in the transverse vertical plane as measured from the
ground. It is necessary to have a small amount of negative camber in a suspension to induce camber
thrust. Changes in the camber should be minimized to reduce the loss of camber thrust.
3. Steering axis inclination. SAI is the lateral inclination of steering axis in the transverse vertical plane
as measured from the ground.
4. Scrub radius. It is the distance between the treads centre of pressure and the intersection of steering
axis with the ground. It acts as a moment arm which induces a torque about the steering axis during
forward motion.
5. Caster angle. It is the longitudinal inclination of the steering axis from vertical as measured from the
ground. Positive caster induces a self correcting force which provides the straight line stability.
6. Toe angle. It is the angle in the plane view which the tire makes with the longitudinal axis. Static toe
should be set such that the tires do not become toe out during maximum bump and the roll.
7. Roll center. Roll centre in SAE is defined as “the point in transverse vertical plane trough any pair of
wheel centers at which lateral forces may be applied to the sprung mass without producing suspension
roll.
INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT SUSPENSION SYSTEM. A dependent suspension system normally
has a simple beam axle that holds wheels parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axle. When the
camber of one wheel changes, the camber of the opposite wheel changes in the same way. Hotchkiss
suspension and trailing arm suspension comes under this category.
An independent suspension allows wheels to rise and fall on their own without affecting the
opposite wheel. In this case, the wheels are either not connected at all or are connected through universal
joints with a swing axle. Macpherson and Double wishbone suspension comes under this category.
The methods for suspension analysis describe in this paper are illustrated with the help of
independent suspension system only

DESIGN CONSIDERATION FOR A SUSPENSION SYSTEM. A suspension design is a compromise

between the handling capacity of tire and ride quality of vehicle. The factors which increases the ride comfort
deteriorates the handling of vehicle. Good ride quality demands for flexible spring however stiffer spring is
required to react various braking and acceleration loads. A passenger vehicle is design for a ride comfort
whereas a race car suspension is design for better car handling characteristics. In order to achieve good
handling characteristics roll center movement and camber gain during cornering are to be restricted within
safe limits. This demand for a optimal suspension geometry.

DESIGN METHODOLOGY. In order to design a suspension system, basic parameters of car are to be
finalized beforehand .This includes wheelbase, trackwidth, tires, wheel rim size etc. Then depending on the
purpose of the car designer has to figure out certain suspension parameters. These generally include roll centre
placement, scrub radius and camber gain. Then the initial suspension geometry is modeled and analyzed for
changes in suspension parameters. The conventional approaches include drawing suspension over a wheel
travel and analyze it graphically. This is neither a very accurate method and quite cumbersome as it requires
drawing lots of figure. Another approach is using modeling software which is discussed later in this paper.
Lots of iterations are to be done to obtain a optimal design.

SUSPENSION SYSTEM ANALYSIS. Comprehensive analysis of suspension motions requires the

inclusion of joint compliances and the problem then becomes one of the force motion analysis. However if the
joint compliances are neglected problem is simplified into purely kinematics and approximate results can be
obtained using graphical analysis.
1. Roll Center Analysis. A vehicle can have different roll centre heights at the front and rear wheel planes and
the line joining these roll centers is called roll axis about which sprung mass tends to roll during cornering. As
the tire forces act through the roll centre these forces can generate a roll over movement due to the
displacement of roll centre. Therefore controlling the motion of roll centre within the operational envelop of
the suspension is a primary goal when designing a suspension which will be operated under large lateral
acceleration.
For a given front and rear suspension the roll centre can be determined from the kinematic
definition by using the Aronhold-kennedy theorem of three centers which states: “when three bodies move
relative to one another they have they have instantaneous centers all of which lie on same straight line.”[4]

Figure 2
 To illustrate the determination of roll centre by this method consider the double wishbone suspension
shown in Figure2. The instantaneous center of the wheel relative to the sprung mass
 lies at the
intersection at the intersection of upper and lower wishbones, while that of wheel relative to the ground lies at

 .The instantaneous centre of the sprung mass relative to the ground i.e. roll centre in the centre plane of the
vehicle on the line joining
 and
 as shown in the diagram. For a double wishbone suspension,
 can be
varied by angling the upper and lower wishbone to different positions, thereby altering the load transfer
between inner and outer wheels in a cornering manoeuvre .This gives the suspension designer some control
over the handling capabilities of a vehicle.
Similar type of analysis can be performed for other suspension systems.

.
2. Motion Ratio Analysis Motion ratio has classically being defined as the displacement of spring divided by

the displacement of the respective wheel, and is usually presented as a constant fraction. Assuming that the
change in motion ratio remains linear over a range, this classic definition in fact will give the instantaneous
motion ratio at the middle of the range. The motion ratio should be kept near 1.0 to improve damper/spring
efficiency.
Motion ratio at any instant can be found out with the help of a velocity diagram drawn to the scale. To
illustrate this approach consider the Macpherson strut as shown in the Figure3.

Figure 3
Begin by drawing the suspension mechanism to scale and assume the chassis is fixed. Let link AB
has an arbitrary angular velocity ω =1 rad/sec in clockwise direction. The velocity of  =ω
 i.e
 =1×331=331mm/s perpendicular to link AB and represented by vector  .This vector is drawn from the
pole of the velocity diagram  .The velocity of B relative to C comprises a component parallel to BC and a
component perpendicular to BC.At this stage, magnitudes of these components can be calculated,but by
drawing a line from  parallel to BC and a line from b perpendicular to BC the two lines intersect at b’.
Hence the magnitudes of the radial and tangential components of the velocity B relative to C are established.
 
Their magnitudes are found to be  =311mm/s and  =113.2mm/s.Since DB can be considered to be a
rigid extension of link BC, the velocity of D relative to B,  consist only of a tangential component

 .Magnitude of this can be determined by proportioning as follows.

  
= and introducing the data db = 113 = 34.54mm/s
  

This establishes point D on the diagram. It is then possible to scale the vertical and horizontal
components of d. These are found to be , = 311mm/s and , ! " = 147.6mm/s. Hence,
  
Motion Ratio = # = $ = ( =1.16
%&'

3. Forces in Suspension Member. While computer packages are undoubtedly required for a comprehensive
force analysis some simple first estimate of loading of suspension member and chassis connection points can
be carried out using graphical methods. In this analysis mass of members is assumed negligible. Friction and
compliance at the joints are also assumed negligible.

Figure 4
As an example consider double wishbone suspension shown in the Figure4. Assume ) is the wheel load and
)* is the exerted by the spring on the suspension mechanism.When the free body diagram of the wheel and the
knuckle is considered,direction of ) and ) are known and together establish the point of concurrency , + ,for
the three forces which act on the body.The magnitude of ) is known ,the magnitudes of ) and ) can be
determined from the triangle of forces. Similar analysis can be performed for other links of suspension
system.
Typical wheel loading arises from cornering effects, braking, drag forces and shock loads due to wheels
striking bumps and pot holes. The preceding principle can also be used to analyze suspension for these
loading conditions. However dynamic loading effects are difficult to quantify, but experience has enabled the
range of dynamic load factors to be established.
5. Analysis using Mitchell Software. Since the above mentioned methods require lots of effort the use of
software packages can immensely reduce the design time. The authors used Mitchell software for their project
as it was cheap and easy to learn compared to other softwares available in the market. This software comes
with inbuilt suspension geometry of various suspension systems and hence this software helps us to calculate
the position of tire and wheel for different suspension geometry. This software provides graphical interface
with the user for changing the suspension geometry by changing the coordinate’s different mounting points

Figure 5
 Figure 6
Figure5 Shows the double wishbone suspension geometry with inboard suspension
Figure6 Shows suspension edit mrnu for change in suspension geometry
Figure7 Shows the roll centre analysis result window

Figure 7
CONCLUSION. Kinematics and dynamics of suspension system is a very complex subject and finding out
the optimal suspension geometry takes large number of iterations. With the help of computational and
modeling software, the work of designer is greatly reduced. Once the geometry is modeled large number of
iteration could be done in minimal time by making small changes in geometry. Real situations could be
generated and very accurate results could be obtained.

REFRENCES.
[1] Smith Caroll. Tune to Win
[2] Miliken William F., Miliken Douglas L. Race Car
Vehicle Dynamics
[3] Van Valkenburgh, Paul. Race Car Engineering and
Mechanics
[4] Happian-Smith Julian, An Introduction to modern vehicle design
[5] Eddmund F. Gaffney III and Anthony R.Salinas, An Introduction SAE to Formula SAE Suspension and
Frame Design

D N Siddhartha Jain Ratnesh Kumar

+91-9986165570 +91-9844411902
dnsiddharthajain@gmail.com