In this work, a dynamic model of rack and pinion steering (RPS) linkage is used for optimization of the linkage from both kinematic and dynamic points of view. Previous works in this area has been mainly concerned with only kinematic optimization. The dynamic modeling here is carried out using the concept of Decoupled Natural Orthogonal Complement (DeNOC) matrices for closed-chain systems. With the intension to ecrease the actuation power required to steer the automobile, the dynamics algorithm is applied to the RPS linkage in order to minimize the actuating force on rack and reaction forces in joints. The reduction in forces will effectively increase the part lives of the RPS system. The optimization problem is formulated in such a manner that it reduces the design parameters by one, improving the computational efficiency. The optimization zesults obtained here show that kinematic errors can be reduced considerably simultaneously accounting for dynamic considerations.

كلمات كليدي:

rack and pinion steering linkage، recursive dynamics algorithm، optimization