Auto suspension design made easy

摘要

Lotus Engineering Suspension Analysis (ISA), the commercial version of software from Lotus Engineering in the U.K., quickly creates 2D and 3D kinematic models of standard suspensions using templates. These define how suspensions connect to vehicles and can be run with a library of default values. LSA handles configurations such as double wishbones, Macpherson struts, trailing arms, semitrailing arms, pull-and-push rod-damper actuation, and "A" and "H" frames. Users can also create and distribute their own templates. Even without extensive suspension-design knowledge, designers can be looking at something workable in about 10 min. Selecting a particular template brings up a suspension in 3D wire frame. Tires and wheels are assumed rigid. (In kinematics terms, the tire contact is a point, not a patch.) A shaded 3D model clearly shows suspension details, at the cost of some animation speed. In wire-frame mode, however, changes are instantaneous, Users can work on one or two corners of a suspension, although most concentrate on one corner. Hard points are defined in a global (automotive) coordinate system while bushings are oriented in a local coordinate system.