Jump to content

Suspension analysis programs


slngsht

Recommended Posts

Any good free ones out there?

 

 

 

I actually started playing with my own - just to play around... so far I have the roll center calculation down, can rotate the frame, calculate lower ball joint position. I kinda stopped at the upper ball joint, but it's not that hard. Of course my little model doesn't do anything with steering, etc... and since I can see how it all works, I'm not as motivated now http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/lol.gif

 

 

 

So, I just want to play around with one that's already working before fabbing up my front suspension.

 

 

 

The only free one I know of is "wishbone" which is DOS based.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Come on, we are professionals.....

 

 

 

You need > this http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/biggrin5.gif

 

 

 

You don't even need to drive your car anymore. Just simulate the fun http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/cryin.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Skip. I think that one helps with roll bar, etc...

 

 

 

I'm looking for one where I can design the general suspension layout.

 

 

 

I will keep that one handy though. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/cheers2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still playing around with this... I need to finish doing the contact patch calculation to get a better roll center result, but things are looking promising.

 

 

 

My calculations are still off compared to an off the shelf program that I have, but all the basics should be correct, so it's a matter of debugging what's going on.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of screenshots of a little graphic I put together to visualize what's hapenning.

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070324_215047_RollCenter1.JPG

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070324_215129_RollCenter2.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/hurray.gif significant improvement tonight...

 

 

 

My numbers are very comparable to Roll Center Calculator by Performance Trends http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/thumbsup.gif

 

 

 

At 4 degrees roll, with the same setup, they get:

 

 

 

RC(X,Y): 3.8,3.7

 

Camber left: -1.15, right: -5.22

 

 

 

I get

 

RC: 4.04,3.69

 

Camber left: -1.14, right=-5.21

 

 

 

I need to improve the location of contact patch in my program, as I did a quick and dirty calc on that one. Everything else should be dead on.

 

 

 

This was a little easier than I thought.

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070326_220015_RollCenter3.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

http://www.mitchellsoftware.com

 

 

 

Pretty good stuff, although 500 clams might be a bit out of range for most of us. You can get a no-save demo version with Warren Rowley's book "An Introduction to Race Car Engineering" at;

 

 

 

http://www.rowleyrace.com/publications.htm

 

 

 

If you are serious about suspension design, the Rowley book is a great resource to have around. A bit more detailed than Van Valkenburgh's work.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you using macros to change it? I wish I had been a member of Delaware's SAE team (kicks self in arse). I remember one guy messing with excel and macros and had an excellent setup to calc. out all that stuff.

 

 

 

Oh well...things happen for many reasons, guess I shouldn't complain. Definately post up your finished excel product. Additionally, there is one on the locost board, but not visual in nature.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, basically vbscript.

 

 

 

Got the pushrod setup working tonight. I think I'm going to stop here - these are the pieces I need for the new front suspension.

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070327_232202_RollCenter4.JPG

 

 

 

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070327_232237_RollCenter5.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been so busy lately, this has taken a back burner...but please (if you're willing), post up your program!

 

 

 

I want to add a few lines to it and make it available to club members as a benefit http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/yesnod.gif

 

 

 

I have to do some cleanup to it now since I added the bellcrank and pushrod.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...