Analysis of the Kinematic and Compliance Behaviour

This thesis focuses on the analysis of the kinematic and compliance behaviour of a Double Wishbone front suspension. The kinematic study identifies 4 possible positions of the tie rod that have the same ‘bump steer’ and comparable steering behaviour. The compliance analysis has led to the creation of a tool that automatically selects the radial stiffness of the bushings that optimize the toe compliance. The tool is the result of a complete integration between the programs Adams Car and MATLAB. Results show that only a subset of the 4 tie rod positions satisfy the toe compliance targets. Moreover, the optimal combination of bushings is found for the valid tie rod positions. The tool has helped to identify the physical phenomena involved in the compliance behaviour: Force distribution due to geometry, force distribution due to stiffness combination and rotations along the elastic rotation axis.