Analysis of a Dakar vehicle suspension
Students of HAN University of Applied Sciences are building their own rally vehicle. This vehicle will participate in the DAKAR rally in 2010.
An extremely important part of the vehicle design is the suspension, which determines the tyre-road contact forces while driving on uneven roads (road-holding), the cornering characteristics and steerability during cornering.
Vehicle behaviour
The development of the rally vehicle is part of a research project of HAN Automotive Institute, whereby a SIMMECHANICS model environment was established to analyse the performance aspects mentioned above. Models were derived covering simple (nonlinear) quarter vehicle behaviour up to full vehicle behaviour. Design variations and suspension component settings were analysed in relationship to road-holding and driver comfort.