DESIGN PROCEDURE AND OPTIMIZATION OF STEERING SYSTEM FOR FORMULA STUDENT CAR

Steering system is one of the major part of any Automotive design. It is responsible for transferring drivers input to the wheels and gives feedback from road to driver. To design a proper steering system for a formula SAE vehicle, several design parameters needed to be determined. The most important design intent for this system was to provide the driver with a system that did not require excessive steering input force or excessive steering wheel rotation, proper wheel feedback, and adequate wheel steering angle to allow the driver to navigate the tightest corners on the autocross course. This report gives clear idea about how the steering geometry has to be decided for formula student car by using CAD Software Solidworks, and how to select from different possible alternatives. Also, designing of steering components like rack and pinion, shafts and Steering wheel is explained in the report. The overall report can be divided into two objectives. The first is to design the proper steering geometry for the car. The second objective is to design the steering system components, so that the steering effort decreases without compensating the feedback which is obtained from the road. Designing and optimizing of steering system and its components is done considering the rules provided by Formula Bharat 2020, ergonomics, drivers safety, Components Manufacturing, Assembly and performance. The CAD file is entirely developed in Solidworks 2018-19. Static force analysis on components is also performed in Solidworks 2018-19.