Caster Angle and Directional Stability of a Car Application to Sports Car

Abstract

Caster Angle is the Angle between the kingpin and the suspension system, as seen from the side of a car, locomotive, or bicycle. The front wheel often vibrates when the vehicle is running. When the caster Angle of the front wheel kingpin becomes larger, the shimmy will occur simultaneously, which will increase the possibility of vehicle instability. Appropriate alignment parameters may maintain stability of driving and handiness of operation, and automatic returnability of the steering system when vehicle goes on straight. The alignment parameters of wheel and the steering mechanism are very important factors on tire wear. Among these parameters, the caster angle of the car is one of the most important factors to maintain the stability of the car. Therefore, the topic of this study is the relationship between vehicle rearward Angle and vehicle driving stability. This study adopts Carsim modeling. It is concluded that as the caster angle increases, the car becomes more unstable when it is steered and less stable. While as the caster angle increases, the stability of the car increases when driving in a straight line.