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Handling Topics of Importance
As a follow-up to my previous thread on unsprung weight, I would like to cover other topics which are too short for their own posts and are related, so I am relegating them to their own thread.
Center of Gravity (cg)- the point about which all parts would be in equilibrium if the body was suspended from it. It is the three-dimensional balance point of the car. We want as low a cg as possible to help reduce the effects of cornering, braking, and accelerative forces on the car. (Known as roll, dive, and squat, respectively)
Roll Center- the point about which the sprung weight of the vehicle rolls. Not static; changes as the suspension loads and unloads. Affects amount of roll produced by lateral loading.
Polar Moment of Inertia - resistance to rotational acceleration. A low polar moment of inertia means the car is very willing to turn and have high cornering response. It is achieved by concentrating the mass of the car within the wheelbase and as close to the cg as possible. In other words, shaving pounds off the ends of the car is much more effective than from the center.
Again, thanks to Carroll Smith for this information.
Questions? I'll try to answer 'em.
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07-08-2004, 08:14 PM
Linear Mode
