Short course/CPD
Vehicle Dynamics and Suspensions
Course date: 30 May 2012 - 01 Jun 2012
Course overview
To provide a fundamental understanding of vehicle ride and handling behaviour and to link this understanding to the practical implications for chassis and suspension design.
Location
Cranfield University is located at the very heart of the UK – within the innovation triangle between London and the cities of Oxford and Cambridge.
Our central location provides easy access from the M1, excellent main line rail service as well as proximity to key international airports. Set in rolling countryside, Cranfield offers a rich, rural landscape complemented by thriving towns and picturesque villages.
- Road: We are just 10 minutes from Junctions 13 & 14 of the M1 motorway. There is free parking on campus.
- Rail: Milton Keynes or Bedford
- Air: London Luton (22 miles), Heathrow (50 miles) or Birmingham (70 miles).
Course fee:
£990
Accommodation fee:
£267
Accommodation is on a full-board basis from the evening before the course commences until the afternoon of the last day. The course fee may include a course dinner for all participants. Refreshments and lunch during the day are included. Full details will be circulated with the joining instructions. The accommodation fee includes all other meals. Details of arrangements will be in the delegate information pack.
Speakers
Course Director:
Professor F Assadian
T: +44 (0) 1234 754657
E: f.assadian@cranfield.ac.uk
Course Lecturers:
How to register
Further information
For more information on this course or booking details please contact:
Academic Operations Unit
T: + 44 (0) 1234 754192
E: shortcourse@cranfield.ac.uk
Course description
A 3 day short course at the Cranfield University main campus intended for those practising engineers and technologists who already have a general understanding of vehicle dynamics and who now wish to develop their knowledge, in particular to the design and development of suspensions, tyres and chassis systems. The course will consist of a mix of lectures from both academic and industrial specialists in vehicle dynamics and suspension technology, ride and drive activities on a test track and a hands-on session of the use of modelling and simulation tools for case studies.
Delegates on the course will receive:
- Vehicle ride – an understanding of modelling, analysis and practical issues
- Vehicle handling – an understanding of modelling, analysis and practical issues.
- Tyres – force and moment properties and tyre modelling approaches
- Suspension kinematics and compliances – theoretical background and practical measuring schemes
- Suspension design – an overview of suspension design properties and review of current design philosophy
- Case studies – introduction to modelling and simulation software and discussion of practical case studies
- Practical ride and drive work at the Millbrook test track.
Subjects covered
Vehicle ride
- Quarter / half / full car model
- Suspension design optimisation
- Design guidelines / conflicts
- Wheelbase effects and left / right track inputs
- Front / rear suspension results
- Ride measurements, ridemeter
- Human response to vibration, ISO standards
- Springs, non linear effects, bump stops
- Damper properties, non linear properties, monotube, twintube
Vehicle handling
- Development of 2 dof model
- Understeer / oversteer
- Steady state cornering, stability, frequency response
- Transient, limiting manoeuvres
- Standard tests, steering pad, J turn, lane change manoeuvres
- Straight running stability, aerodynamics effects, neutral steer point
- Effects of braking, traction
- Effect of vehicle / suspension design properties
- C.g. position, tyre size, load transfer, camber, compliances
- Effects of braking, traction
- Extended model including roll, steering system, suspension derivatives
Tyres
- Mechanism of force generation
- Study of typical force / moment data
- Review of tyre models
Suspension kinematics and compliances
- Role of the suspension
- Kinematics, wheel motion control
- Forces transmitted
- Roll centres, anti-dive and anti-squat properties
- Review of other rigs
- MIRA K&C rig
Suspension design
- Review of typical designs
- Current design trends
- Practical implications
Case studies
- Introduction to IPG CarMaker software
- Analysis and interpretation of results for 3 vehicles
- Lotus Elise, Audi A6, Peugeot 406
Practical studies
- Ride and drive activities at Millbrook test track
Course partners
IPG Automotive GmbH, Millbrook Proving Ground
