Selection of Optimal Tire and Design Optimisation of Steering System for a Formula Student Race Car through Tire Data Treatment

Abstract

Selection of tires plays a crucial role in Vehicle Dynamics, which is important to design the steering and suspension system. An attempt is made to select the most optimum tire for lateral performance by using the tire data acquired from Tire Testing Consortium. Parameters including the tire's lateral grip, cornering stiffness, cornering stiffness coefficient, camber stiffness, and lateral frictional coefficient have aided this selection. The tire is modelled using the Pacejka Magic Formula where the lateral and aligning coefficients are found, and used to get pneumatic trail, a parameter not provided in the raw data. The novelty of the work is seen when the selected tire is analysed to set the camber, pressure, and caster using the Design of Experiments method, without the need for building and testing a car. Making the best use of the tires' forces and moments, the steering geometry is designed for a target range of radii by operating the tire slip angles at its optimum value. Further the influence of the change in toe angle on the Ackermann percentage is examined. Steering moment, calculated using the aligning moment curves of the tire, is applied to the steering column to conduct finite element analysis.