Dynamic analysis of damping system in FS car using ADAMS Multidynamic Simulations

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to use manual calculations, ADAMS/Car and other CAE software to analyze the dynamic of the suspension system for Formula Student car. Manual calculations have been done to find the suitable suspension design load, such as normal, lateral and longitudinal load. The importance of software analysis is to get more accurate results which can be used to build the actual race car. The challenge is to design the 3D model of the car, use the coordinates to build similar model in ADAMS/Car and simulate to find out the optimum suspension properties such as roll center, scrub radius, camber, caster and toe angle. Results from manual calculations reveal that highest load at front wheel can be up to 3.1 kN, occurs during cornering. At the rear wheel highest load can be up to 3.0 kN during acceleration. Normal load will be transferred through push-rod with safety factor taken into account. Force can be nearly as high as 3.9 kN at the front and 7.3 kN at the rear push-rod. The big difference is due to 35° angle at the front compared to 17° angle at the rear push-rod. Results from software simulation have shown that camber angle of 2° is enough to maintain good contact patch between the tires and the ground. Caster angle of 5° combined with 0.5° toe-out will enhance the cornering ability of the car. Scrub radius has shown to be 57.5 mm which is slightly higher than expected. When taken into account the minimum wheel travel requirement, the suspension properties changed by only few percent. It is proven that the suspension geometry has been design properly and should be followed while building the actual race car.