Abstract
Demands on larger motors and battery packs in electric vehicles cause a suspension layout issue not appearing in gas-powered vehicles. Motivated by this need, our research aims to design a new-concept suspension applicable to electric vehicles, where given space-related constraints are satisfied without scarifying their kinematic performance. Here, we propose a three-phase design process for the synthesis of rear suspensions of an electric vehicle: concept topology design, kinematic feature identification, and detailed design. For the concept design to determine the mechanism topology, we employ the topology optimization method developed for mechanism synthesis subjected to a reduced suspension design space as well as a tighter condition on the camber rate—known as yielding better vehicle’s dynamic performance. The next phase is to extract the underlying kinematic features of the synthesized suspension obtained by the topology optimization method as it may be difficult to directly figure out how the synthesized mechanism functions kinematically. For the extraction, we propose a connectivity-mapping technique followed by the wrench calculation. This phase is followed by the final detailed design to meet the specific requirements imposed on the target suspensions. The new suspensions designed by the proposed three-phase design approach will be shown to successfully resolve the suspension layout issue typically encountered in electric vehicles.
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Funding
This research was supported by the SNU-Hyundai NGV Cooperative Research Project Grant (No. 5263-20160007) funded by Hyundai Motor Company via a contract with the BK21+ Transformative Training Program for Creative Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers at Seoul National University in Korea. It was also partially supported by a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) (No. 2016R1A2B3010231 and No. 2016R1A5A1938472) funded by the Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), through a contract with the Institute of Advanced Machines and Design at Seoul National University in Korea.
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Replication of results
The topology optimization method employed in this research has been already published in the authors’ earlier work (Kim et al. 2018) and the related algorithm can be found there. The shape optimization can be implemented based on the data written in the main body of the manuscript., e.g., the nodal positions and bush stiffness values. Therefore, the results in this work can be reproduced by a suspension design engineer. On the other hand, specific software used to develop the patented AX-link suspension is an intellectual property of Hyundai & Kia Motor Companies and Seoul National University.
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Appendix. Vector calculus for the wrench analysis
Appendix. Vector calculus for the wrench analysis
Equations (A1a-e) can be calculated based on (28) and (31). For the transpose and dot product of the ordered pair of vectors, the rules defined in (22) and (23) are applied.
By using the identities in (A2), it is possible to check if the wrench in (31–33) satisfies the relation (30). Although the identities in (A2) are well-known from the vector calculus, they can be checked from the simple calculation after assuming three-dimensional vector components, e.g., A = {A1, A2, A3}T.
In the case of (A1b), one can obtain (A3) by using the identity expressed by (A2) and (32). Likewise, one can see that (A1c) and (A1d) are equal to zero from the result of (A3).
Next, (A4) can also be obtained by applying the identities (A2) into (A1a).
Because the vectors N1 and N2 are perpendicular to the vector sF1 − sM24, (A4) becomes zero. In the same manner, one can show that (A1e) is equal to zero. Thus, all equations in (A1) are zero. Therefore, the linear combination of (A1), i.e., (30), becomes zero.
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Kim, S.I., Shin, D., Han, S.M. et al. A novel space-constrained vehicle suspension mechanism synthesized by a systematic design process employing topology optimization. Struct Multidisc Optim 62, 1497–1517 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-020-02669-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00158-020-02669-2