Ackermann Steering Geometry

As the front wheels of a vehicle are steered away from the straight-ahead position, the
design of the steering linkage will determine if the wheels stay parallel or if one wheel
steers more than the other. This difference in steer angles on the left and right wheels
should not be confused with toe-in or toe-out which are static adjustments and add to (or
subtract from) Ackermann geometric effects.
For low lateral acceleration usage (street cars0 it is common to use Ackermann
geometry. As seen on the left of Figure 19.2, this geometry ensures that the wheels roll freely
with no slip angles because the wheels are steered to track a common turn center. Note that at
low speed all wheels are on a significantly different radius, the inside front wheel must steer
more than the outer front wheel. A reasonable approximation to this geometry may be made as
in Figure 19.3.

According to Ref. 99, Rudolf Ackermann patented the double pivot steering system in
181762 and, in 1878, Charles Jeantaud added the concept mentioned above to eliminate
wheel scrubbing when cornering. Another reason for Ackermann geometry, mentioned
by Maurice Olley, was to keep carriage wheels from upsetting smooth gravel driveways.
 High lateral accelerations change the picture considerably. Now the tires all operate
at significant slip angles and the loads on the inside track are much less than on the outside
track. Looking back to the tire performance curves, it is seen that less slip angle is required at
lighter loads to reach the peak of the cornering force curve. Ifthe car has lowspeed geometry
(Ackermann), the inside front tire is forced to a higher slip angle than required for maximum
side force. Dragging the inside tire along at high slip angles
(above the peak lateral force) raises the tire temperature and slows the car down due to
slip angle (induced) drag. For racing, it is common to use parallel steering or even reverse
Ackermann as shown on the center and right side of Figure 19.2.
It is possible to calculate the correct amount of reverse Ackermann if the tire properties
and loads are known. In most cases the resulting geometry is found to be too extreme
because the car must also be driven (or pushed) at low speeds, for example in the pits.
Another point to remember is that most turns in racing have a fairly large radius and
the Ackermann effect is very small. In fact, unless the steering system and suspension are
very stiff, compliance (deflection) under cornering loads may steer the wheels more than
any Ackermann (or reverse Ackermann) built into the geometry.
The simplest construction that generates Ackermann geometry is shown in Figure 19.3
for "rear steer." Here, the rack (cross link or relay rod in steering box systems) is located behind
the front axle and lines starting at the kingpin axis, extended through the
outer tie rod ends, intersect in the center of the rear axle. The angularity of the steering
knuckle will cause the inner wheel to steer more than the outer (toe-out on turning) and a
good approximation of "perfect Ackermann" will be achieved.
The second way to design-in differences between inner and outer steer angles is by
moving the rack (or cross link) forward or backward so that it is no longer on a line directly
connecting the two outer tie rod ball joints. This is shown in Figure 19.4. With "rear
steer," as shown in the figure, moving the rack forward will tend more toward parallel.
Steer-steer test
A straightforward way to measure the overall steering ratio is to set the front end on
alignment tables (Weaver plates) with a steering scale. A circular protractor is mounted
(centered) on the steering wheel and a suitable pointer is attached so that the steering
wheel angle can be measured. This test is called steer-steer and should be performed
with the car at known load and ride height. The steering wheel is turned to the right in
even intervals, perhaps 45°,90°, etc., and the steer angles of both front wheels are noted.
The test continues by rotating the steering wheel back to center, stopping at each angle,
and checking the front wheel steer angles again to look for any slop (or hysteresis). Continue
past center, steering to the left, and finally return to center.
Data and a plot of the results of this test are shown in Figure 19.5. From the plot, the
average slope of the data points is called the overall steering ratio. Note that the data plots
make loops; this is called hysteresis and means that there is some compliance and/or lost
motion in this steering system. Also note that the plot is not straight; this nonlinear
characteristic indicates that the linkage is not "perfect," common in many steering systems.
For racing, it is appropriate to take data points only in the range of steering wheel angles
that are normally used. Steering ratio data near full lock will reflect performance only
during low speed maneuvers.

Steering ratio partially deternines the steering effort that is required for a manual
steering system in conjunction with the kingpin geometry (trail and scrub). Higher (20: 1) ratios
will require less effort than lower (quicker) ratios. When interpreting driver comments, be
aware that a quick steering ratio can often be confused with a fast vehicle transient response
time, as discussed in the chapters on vehicle dynamics.
Steering ratio can be calculated as described in the following sections.
Rack-and-Pinion Steering Box Ratio
Rack-and-pinion gearsets convert rotary motion at the steering wheel to linear motion
at
the inner tie rod ball joint. The steering ratio is calculated using the rack c-factor and the
steering arm length (as measured from the outer ball joint to the kingpin axis).
c-factor = travel (in.)/360° pinion rotation
Often, a steering rack will be described as a "1-718-inch rack" or a "2-inch rack"; this
dimension is the amount the rack moves for one rotation of the steering wheel-the c-factor.
Once the cofactor is known for the rack, the steering ratio can be calculated approximately by
Steer ratio = sin-1(c-factorlsteering arm length)/360
Where dimensions are in in.
Angles are in deg.
sin-1 is the same as “the angle with sin of,” or arcsin
The approximation will be good as long as the angularity in the system is minimal, that
is, the tie rod is nearly perpendicular to the steering ann in top and front view. For designs with
high angularity, a layout is required to detennine the steering ratio.

Recirculating Ball Steering Box Ratio

Recirculating ball gearsets (and also the higher-friction equivalent, wonn and sector)
are
still used in many cars. If the box ratio is unknown, it may be easiest to measure the Pitman
arm motion (with a dial indicator) for 3600 of steering wheel rotation and then use
this dimension (inches) as the Cofactor in the rack-and-pinion equation above.
If the steering gearbox ratio is known, then the following fonnula may be used to approximate
the steering ratio:
Steer ratio = box ratio x (pitman arm length I steering ann length)

where all the ratios are "_-to-I" as in 1O-to-l

all lengths are in inches
Recirculating ball (and worn and sector) steering systems have additional linkage (compared
to the rack-and-pinion system), typically a Pitman ann, cross link (relay rod), and idler ann.
Because of this, angularity is much more likely to upset these simple ratio calculations. A
layout may be required to design-in a desired ratio.
Reverse Efficiency
Reverse efficiency refers to the ability of the steering mechanism to pass road inputs
back
to the driver for feedback. Depending on the application, more or less feedback may be
desirable.
Rack-and-pinion and also recirculating ball steering gears have high efficiency-most of
the torque about the kingpin will appear in the steering wheel. This is desirable for
smooth surface race tracks where the aligning torque signals will help the driver determine the
approach of front tire breakaway.
Worm and sector steering gears do not have the ball-bearing screw that recirculating
ball
units have and thus they have more friction. The amount of friction is, of course, a function of
the wear, adjustment, and lubrication of the unit. This type of steering system has
poor (low) reverse efficiency-torques about the kingpin cannot drive the worm (steering
wheel) through the sector gear. For many off-road vehicles this may be desirable to reduce
driver fatigue.
Steering dampers offer another solution to the rough road situation. The steering
damper
is designed to offer low resistance to motion at low velocities but much higher resistance
at higher velocities. This assumes that driver control happens at lower frequencies while
road noise is higher frequency; the steering damper acts like a filter reducing the steering
kickback.
Steering dampers reduce driver feel ifthere is too much damping at low velocities. The
damper can mask the aligning torque (centering) feel and make limit driving more difficult,
especially skid recovery. This effect is worse on low-coefficient surfaces where the
aligning torque signal to the driver is weak to begin with. Steering dampers are not
recommended unless absolutely necessary to cure a problem.
Steering dampers are also fitted to vehicles with solid front axles. In this case, the
damper is to prevent (or reduce) shimmy and/or tramp caused by gyroscopic (or other)
coupling between axle motions (especially axle roll on one wheel bump) and the steering
system. Solid axles can have very complex dynamic motions depending on the type of
axle location, brake reaction, drive reaction (FWD and 4WD), and steering geometry.
The compromises iI).volved in producing a front suspension with good ride and
handling
caused the general move to independent front suspension for most vehicles.

Power Steering
Power steering is now used in many heavy, stock-based race cars such as in NASCAR,
Trans-Am and GTO. The stated reason is usually to reduce driver effort and a power box
(rack) will certainly have this effect.
The problem with power steering is that the units are usually modified production parts
which have a buIlt-m nonlinear characteristic. The force gain is approximately linear
around center, as controlled by a spring (usually a torsion bar), and once the spring is
deflected significantly the gain increases dramatically. This nonlinearity cannot be a
good thing as far as driver feedback from the front wheels is concerned.
Another way to lower the driver steering effort is to design the steering geometry with
very little kingpin and caster angle, a minimum of scrub radius, and a small amount of
trail. With this geometry, even a very heavy car can be steered without the use of power
assist, and all the associated weight and complexity. With small values of trail it is important
that the suspension and steering system have very little compliance so that the
geometry does not vary from design.
As an aside, production cars without power steering are often designed to lower the steering
effort, some example include:
1. Large scrub radii may be used so that at low speed (parking) the wheels can “roll
around” the kingpin axis. This dramatically lowers the steering effort when compared
to scrubbing the tire with centerpoint steering. Of course, steering
while standing still with the brakes locked will be very difficult because the tires
must be scrubbed around the kingpin axis! As mentioned earlier, large scrub radii (and
spindle length) are not recommended for racing purposes because of the
effects on steering kickback.
2. Negative (or zero) trail is sometimes used to counter the effect of tire pneumatic trail.
Of course, at high lateral accelerations the tire pneumatic trail is generally near zero
anyway.
3. Centrifugal caster refers to designing the knuckle so that its center of mass is
ahead of the kingpin axis. In some cases weights are actually added to the
knuckle ahead of the kingpin line. When this is done, the centrifugal force in a
tum tends to steer the front wheels outward-an understeer effect. This might be
done to counter the effect of negative trail, as mentioned above.
For racing, any additional unsprung weight (on the knuckle) will reduce road
holding and is not advisable. Arranging the steering gear ahead of the kingpin (front
steer) adds centrifugal caster, as does moving the brake calipers to the front side of the
disk.
4. Check the installation and set-up requirements carefully for the power steering
box; they often require that a certain position in the box travel be lined up with
straight-ahead road and steering wheel position.