Design and Development of an Optimized, Passive Camber System for Vehicles

A passive suspension geometry concept is presented that optimizes the camber performance of a suspension without the use of active actuator systems. The concept can be applied to multiple configurations, and enhances vehicle performance based on a more optimal camber response during cornering and zero camber during jounce and rebound.

The concept effectively utilizes the roll of the vehicle coupled with a kinematic system to camber a tire into the turn of the vehicle, while maintaining the associated tires parallel to one another. Two significant advantages of the system include a higher camber gain than typical for passenger cars, and independence of camber as a function of heave.

One perturbation of the concept is presented and analyzed for comparison with typical vehicular suspensions. This design is envisioned as a substitute for an SLA suspension since it consumes similar volumes and has similar pickup points. The system is modeled in ADAMS and compared to representative models using both Double A-Arm models and McPherson Strut models. A sensitivity analysis is then performed on the concept to examine the sensitivities of various design parameters on the performance of the suspension.