This is how I explained this problem to myself-
The wheels have a tiny moment of inertia, when compared to the mass of the car. And this means, you can assume the wheels are mass-less, like we are asked to in many simple mechanics problems.
So, the forces acting on the wheels are HUGE...
@ranger_mike
I agree, I love the website, it's the biggest find of my summer vacation! Great work by you guys.
Looking forward to learning lots more. Race car physics is something I'm looking forward to in particular.
@jack_action
That was beautiful man, thanks a lot! I still don't get how you calculate the position of the RC in more complex situations, but I think I understand the concept, how it works, and why it's so important. I'm finally able to make some progress with my book. Looking forward to the...
@ranger_mike
I tried reading it, but it seems really complicated, was unable to follow it, as I haven't done any courses on vehicle dynamics/suspensions, everything seems new to me. Isn't there a simpler explanation?
@jack_action
The second part is perfectly clear, but I'm having trouble with the first part. Generally, wouldn't the Roll Center simply be the center of mass of the sprung mass? Any force that doesn't pass through it would have a moment about the COM, resulting in a tendency to roll right...
I'm studying the chapter 'Steady State Cornering', from the book 'Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics' (by Gillespie).
The concept of a 'roll center' seems to be very important here, especially after the 'roll axis' is defined (line joining the front and rear roll centers). But I don't...
@mender,
"If the car is understeering at the limit, the front tires will be at a higher slip angle than the rear tires"
And like you said, up to a certain point, lateral force increases with slip angle. Assuming we're still within that range, if the slip angle in front is higher, the...
I am reading 'Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics' by Gillespie. In the chapter 'Steady State Cornering', it explains how under-steer and over-steer works, using a formula, which is also derived. I can understand the derivation of the formula reasonably well. The formula is:
Steer Angle = 57.3...
I didn't realize 'other' losses would be this significant. While these losses contribute to the load, I'm assuming it's still a very small load compared to the normal load on a wheel when a car is coasting along at a decent speed. So I'm guessing flooring the throttle is a bad idea in such a...
Hello.
An open differential works by the principle of distributing torque equally to both wheels, no matter what. And I think I understand how that works, so no problem with that.
Consider the case of one of the wheels on ice, and therefore having a very low traction limit. Almost every...