Kinematic Suspension Linkages - A Model for Their Behaviour and a Procedure for Their Design

This paper presents an approach to suspension linkage design that avoids the geometry iteration process typically required to ensure specific kinematic behaviour in the design condition. It is built around a model of behaviour for linkages and consists of geometric constraints applied during the design process that guarantee the design condition kinematic characteristics of the linkage. The approach is described in sufficient detail for it to be implemented within a spreadsheet or a parametric CAD model. Several examples are given of how it can be used to configure well-known non-trivial suspension architectures, such as that of the 5-link.